The Wind is a Liar!

All week I had been planning to ride on Wednesday afternoon.  Joe Diaz, our beloved weatherman,  and the Weather Underground all promised the weather to be fairly warm in the high 50s with about 9 mph winds.  HURRAY!  I could get outdoors at the end of February!

On the way home from work, I watched all the flags blowing, not quite straight out, but I could tell it was  pretty windy.  Should I ride outdoors or should I ride in the comfort of the indoors?  That was the question. Those of you that know me, know I do not like the cold and wind in combination and I rationalized I only had one thing I hated..the wind...it was pretty warm out hovering round 65 degrees. 

Once at home, I went to the Weather Underground...a weather site that tell you hour by hour what the wind speed and temperature is from various weather stations that you can choose for your destination.  I chose the weather station along my route.  It said Zero wind!  And it said 65 degrees!  I  wondered if  on my ride route there would be no wind...it could be possible.  I got ready, got dressed for windy weather...thinking the wind was a liar and set off for my ride while there was still enough sun light to complete it! 

When I arrived I greeted a woman who was walking by as I was getting my bike ready.    I told her,  "This is my first ride outdoors this winter."  She said, "Well this weather must be  heaven for you then!"  I agreed as  I stood in a slight wind and the warm sunshine.

Off I went in a southern direction!  The breeze was coming from the west and was not at all bad.  I was happy that I could feel all the training I had done indoors and at the gym doing hamstring curls and other forms of torture to get my legs stronger.  I was maintaining a 19 mph speed.  This WAS heaven! 

I got to my turn around point and started back. As I rode back it was getting colder.  AND the wind was picking up.  I now had a head wind to cycle through to get all the way back to my starting point.  OK, I thought I am  going to channel the focus and determination of Cadel Evans and  will get myself home in one piece.

And that is just what  I did with maximum speeds of 11-12 mph!  URGH!  It was  tough going feeling  like someone was pulling me back with a r ope around my waist.  Later, I met a woman in the parking lot who cycled in after  I did.  We discussed the horrid wind and guessed it was between 15 and 25mph.

When I got home, I discovered it was 18 mph. Well, the cyclists mantra..."The  wind is your training partner" comes to mind...and  so it was.
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UPDATE on weight loss goal: As of 2/23 I have lost 5.6 pounds of the 10 pounds  to be lost by March 16th.