D*Alex

This morning, I had some time to kill before spending the afternoon in the machine shop, so I decided to get in a nice little 40 miler, break in a new set of tyres, and get ready for a club ride this weekend. I had my route all planned out-across the river, south past the thruway, down to a nearby town, and back-all on country roads-41 miles total, and 2.5 hours, I figured.
All looked good, warm weather, blue skies (rare here), and I set off. Within 5 miles, though, I encountered a 35 mph headwind! I was riding in the drops, grinding along in my 53-17, dropping down to seriously low gear-inch counts on the hills, and geeting thoroughly exhausted. After 30 minutes of this agony, I decided to modify my route.
The next crossroad had some tree cover, so I took it, and planned to use it to chop off some 15 miles from my route. Big mistake-you ever try to keep upright in a 35 mph crosswind? Arrggghh!!
Eventually, I made it to my return path, and I must say, riding with a 35 mph wind to your back is an incredible ego-building experience! I felt like Lance Armsrong-keeping up with traffic on level roads! And, since I was riding almost the same speed as the wind, no buffetting, either!