Unexpected Attack

It's been way too long since I last rode the bike or trike.  Lots of stuff has happened, but none of it on a bike.  I'm starting to fall back into the trap of being too busy to try staying healthy.
The recent winter weather, making everything soggy and cold and occasionally icy, has not helped my motivation.
I ALMOST took a ride yesterday but by the time I "got around to it" it was already after 3:30 PM, meaning I remembered the LAST time we rode that late and had to contend with heavy going-home traffic on our normally less crowded roads out here in the East Mountains.  So I again gave it up for another day.
Today was that day, finally.  The sun was out and shining brightly from an almost-clear sky and I had some mail that needed depositing in the "OUT" slot at the Post Office, so I had the perfect excuse and motivation to get off my butt and do a bike ride.
Of course, the tires were a  bit saggy when I dragged the bike out of the shed, so I used the wonderful huge Craftsman air tank and topped them off.  It took a bit of poking around to find my favorite bike helmet, but I finally got going about 11-ish.  Our goat-path mile of mud and rocks from the house to the pavement had firmed up somewhat,  so I was able to get to the pavement without getting coated with mud.
I always have to dismount to push the bike up the last 20 feet or so to the pavement up the slight hill, and as I did so I realized I was in TROUBLE.
Faithful readers are surely aware that bike-riders have basic bodily functions as much or more than those unlucky enough to NOT ride bikes around the countryside.  Sometimes when "the Urge" hits there is time enough to wait for a "legitimate facility" and sometimes disaster happens.  Today was disaster.
Sparing the Too Much Information segment, suffice it to say I'm grateful for thick juniper trees so close to the roadway.  And, if you are ever blinded by a sudden flash of white from inside some trees or bushes along a bikeway, hopefully it won't be MY fishbelly-white backside at fault.
Then, after escaping that episode, I felt safe enough to continue the leisurely ride to the Post Office, short though it may be.  Trouble is, the WIND was gusting strongly and very cold, almost blowing me and my trusty recumbent bike over or off the road several times.  The chain jumped too many gears on the way up  and on the way  back, requiring me to stop and make adjustments on my knees to both release the chain from the bound-up cassette on the rear wheel AND to adjust the limit screws to try to keep the blooming machine from doing it again the NEXT time I up or down-shifted.
As usual, the trip TO the Post Office was the hard part, since it's uphill most of the way, AND the wind was eastbound and REALLY in my face, with the irregular gusting this way and that just to keep me off balance more than usual.  Coming back was mostly downhill, with most of the headwind now at my back, until of course I turned into our goat-path and bounced off the pavement and rode/walked the last mile to the house.
Amazingly enough, I've noticed feeling more energized and less foggy all day after the ride, proving again that the results are well worth the discomforts of getting going, even on a hardly ideal day.  Even though, as usual, I'm way out of shape again.
My GPS-Radio tracker did not make it to any receivers today.  My 50 foot ham radio tower fell down in 75+ MPH winds on Christmas Day and thus there is no local Igate to pick up the stray cyclist with handlebars full of electronics widgets.

Ride Started: 11:04 PM    Ride Ended:  12:39 PM
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  5.54
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
3.5 MPH                               6.1 MPH                   32.3 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 35 mins                      54 minutes               40 minutes (Thanks to Road Repair Stops)