SST Weather

By: Mitch Clark
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyrxiqTmH1E

“The Politics of Time” (1984)

I’m really feeling autumn now. In more ways than one. The winds blow predominately from the east. Which makes my lunch rides fast. When I head out, that is. Returning downtown is work. I’m usually in my drops. Fighting Euros.

Euros is the Greek God of the east wind and is associated with autumn. Every autumn the east wind amazes. It’s stealthier and stronger than the weather apps report. Euros makes for thrilling cycling. If you are headed west.

The Minutemen song I’ve posted was recorded on April 24, 1983 at a dried riverbed in the Mojave Desert near Victorville, CA by Bruce Licher. Given the time of year, it was a tune for Zephr, the “fresh wind of spring rains.” Are there any songs about Euros? I don’t know. Autumn is SST weather for me so I went with the Minutemen.

Sure as the bursts of red and yellow in the trees, every autumn blows a wave of nostalgia through me. My ears crave something from SST. It might be the sound of the VW Beetle that opens “Double Nickels on the Dime” or that amazing, flowing, mixolidian nude-descending-staircase-ish guitar figure that kicks off “Up On The Sun” I want to hear. This week it’s been the thick sheets of angst and melody that drive “Flip Your Wig.” These albums were such a big part of my adolescence. When that autumnal nostalgia starts coming on, that alternostalgia, I feel I need to hear these records. It’s a Seasonal Affective Disorder of the ears.

So, how funny to see this today in my FB feed – Husker Du circa 1985.

Thanks Dangerous Minds.

But back to the wind. We experienced a Lake Wind Advisory on Sunday. Upfull calls headwinds like those “invisible climbs.” Angry wind gods are terrain changers.

I’ve been wearing my Rapha City Wind Jacket a ton lately. Whether I’m out for some invisible climbing on the weekend or just cruising through a drizzle down to The Root for a quick bite, this jacket is essential. Saturday I wore it over a long sleeve jersey. The conditions were chilly but not frigid. I rode for two hours under an iron sky. What amazed me about the jacket was how light it felt. If I didn’t hear it flapping occasionally like a spinnaker in the breeze, I would’t have even known it was on. It’s more like a force field than outerwear. I didn’t feel constricted or weighted down by this layer. But, more importantly, I didn’t feel the chill of the wind.

Come Sunday I was looking for another reason to suit up. The day was overcast but by the time we got on the road, the sun was out. Euros had wiped the sky clean. It was still windy but now it was warm. So, off goes the jacket. And, once again, I was amazed. This jacket tucked itself so easily into the back pocket of my jersey I forgot it was there. It didn’t take any fancy folding either. I just stuffed it my pocket. Poof, it was gone. Brilliant gear.