cold, as it should be...

It's gotten cold in the PA mountains.

Evidence:
1. frozen hydration pack tubing (solid!) during riding
2. sore nipples upon entering the house (and no we're not talking the gold nuggets on my rims...) - post riding
3. tears on the way to work and school (not of joy) triggering a mad commute sprint onto campus.

While the end of rides used to be marked by conversations about food (you're always hungry coming home), NOW, i find humor in WV and I instead discussing and coveting the heated seats in my subi. ahhh nothing like a slowly warming ass on the drive home in the dark from the forest. and me slurring my speech as my face is that cold.

Rides are now short. as is daylight. i seek climbs more than ever as descents are simply painful. If there were any way to ride uphill all the time, I would be stoked.

However this is a digression from the point at hand... considering the cold we are surrounded by now in November... it is hard to imagine that the earth is slowly warming. Check out NASA. The guy interviewed isn't so articulate but the CG is sweet and based on real satellite data. Ice sheets are melting beyond repair. anyone who watched an inconvenient truth, remembers the poor polar bears stranded on floating blocks of ice. (yea that movie was total hollywood but people love white 'cuddly' bears). sell it to tbe public anyway you can...

There is much more to global warming than simply melting ice caps. first, there is still not complete consensus on whether or not it really is happening. (questionable source - yes! wikipedia's content is fickle but u get the point...). and if it is happening, is it part of a larger cyclical and quite natural trend or is it human induced? maybe it's not happening. maybe our lives are too short and data too limited to know for sure. kinda like evolution...

And, what are the implications of this? modified forest composition... IE southern trees moving north, northern trees becoming extinct? invasive species proliferation? modified wildlife habitat? rising sea levels and slowly sinking cities (an extreme scenario but watch out san fran!).

So, in short, i'm on my bike, contemplating good birds that are attracted to bad habitats (ha!) that have also all flown south for the winter (my bald eagle buddy in the forest is long gone - haven't seen him in weeks)... and freezing my ass off all the while wishing it were warmer.

I take a (non)sip from my now frozen solid camelbak and realize in truth, i'm quite happy that it's cold as it should be. it's a temporary inconvenience which I think I prefer over the more permanent and rather frighteningly possible alternative.