Furious Winds in Front Royal

And once again, the weather was horrendous for the weekend. After getting 5" of snow on Wednesday and then rain afterwards, Skyline Drive was still closed, making most hikes inaccessible, and those that were open were extremely muddy. So Saturday was spent catching up with family on the phone and running errands.
Sunday was sunny but high winds were due in the afternoon. Carmen and I went to our first ever Yoga class which I actually enjoyed. Some of the positions made me feel like a contortionist but I persevered and finished the class in one piece with no injuries. I was so stoked that after we'd had lunch in town I was determined to go out on my bike. We'd sat at the restaurant watching as blue skies were shoved off the horizon by dark grey clouds and then the winds arrived, blasting down the streets and thrusting the door to the restaurant open, throwing in some old winter leaves for good measure. But despite the gales it was still quite warm so upon arriving at The Blue House I hurriedly pumped up my tires and set off on my first ride around town.
I wasn't able to do the Greenway, which is a new 5 mile loop around town, as part of it that ran along the Shenandoah River which was flooded so I decided to stay downtown and explore some of the streets. I felt quite jaunty as I pedaled along, feeling the sunshine on my face and trying to ignore the increasing wind speeds. I zoomed along the back streets, noting small businesses that I'd not previously been aware of and peering onto people's porches.

 I found the Bing Crosby Stadium, a point of pride in the town. Bing was the first contributor of the building fund, donating $1000 to a new stadium, and then after his concert in 1950 (see link) he donated another $3.595 bringing the fund total to $15,000. It's a great stadium with tennis courts out the back for the community also. Nobody was about today though, all hiding from the winds...

 I love the old houses in town. Many have flat turrets on top of their roofs, something I hadn't noticed before. Maybe a French influence? Note the little dog staring down at me from the window in the top photo. My favorite house so far is the beautifully maintained house with the intricate woodwork and detailed paintwork. I sat on my bike admiring this for some time. The paint had been fastidiously applied, it must have taken days or even weeks to do this and I wondered if, when it needed to be redone, whether they'd change the color scheme or use the same palette.

 There's a few abandoned properties in the town but these two caught my eye. The garage appeared to still be in use although it was run down but the old Elks Grill has obviously been closed for some time. Some of the old houses are being restored throughout the town. Front Royal used to look a lot more battered than it does today, so it's lovely to see these old buildings coming back to life again. I hope the old grill has a makeover too.
I continued pedaling around although sometimes it was hard going. Some of the gales were fast and powerful, blowing me over to one side or pushing me back making my legs work even harder to prevent me from coming to a standstill. Piles of brown leaves which half an hour ago had simply swirled about in front of me were now lifted up high and battered me, sometimes making me close my eyes and turn my head away; they stung when they hit my face. But I persisted on on my ride, getting a few strange looks from the locals, as I battled my way along the roads.

 Up on one of the busier streets, this hideous structure is being built. It's going to be a Dunkin' Donuts but construction has been slow, which has surprised me since it's only a few sheets of chipboard with some large plate glass windows. The chipboard walls have already endured some intense soakings and I wonder how the walls still stand. Despite them being treated I really thought, and secretly hoped, that some disintegration would have begun by now. I was equally amazed when I drove past the next morning and saw it still stubbornly standing, thinking for sure that the winds would have dragged it away.
I had doggedly ridden my bike up and down the streets but the winds were winning the battle. I was finding it harder to remain upright and a couple of times I had to put my feet down as I failed to push forward against the raging gales. Luckily, home wasn't far away and with my ears and face stinging from the rapidly dropping temperatures and debris I plodded onward. I was glad to enter a warm quiet house but that night neither I or the cats got any sleep. The winds picked up intensely, slamming debris against the side of the house, lights flickered and as the squalls whipped around the corners, they shrieked in high pitched wails. I lay in bed constantly alert and waiting for a window to be blown in, which thankfully never happened. The tempest continued through the morning on my drive to work where I found my colleagues equally bleary eyed and tired. It was going to be a long Monday.