Woke early to get out before the winds kicked up. The wind has been awful the past few days and I'm tired of fighting it on my bike. When I left the house a little after 7 a.m. it was already 80F and the sun was shining! The winds were calm and I had to wonder how long this would last.

I set out to ride the route I want to use for the ride I'm hosting on Thursday. I had driven it but needed to make sure it was suitable for a club ride. What a beautiful route is all I can say. As I rode I marked the route in hopes of keeping all my "little peeps" on track. If someone gets lost they are on their own for I do not know the area I'm taking them through on Thursday. Along the way I was treated to some absolutely beautiful countryside. The climb up the ridge was well worth it for the view was so pretty. Lots of lush green pastures with rolls of hay dotting the landscape. An occasional herd of cattle could also be seen as well as some beautiful horses enjoying the sunshine. What goes up must come down and the ride down into the valley was a real treat as well. The climbing was not finished for out of the creek bottom I came, a long climb (about 1 mile). Not a tough grade but still my legs had a few choice words to share with me as I pushed my way to the top. From this point on it was rollers and the wind had made itself known. It went from calm to 20 mph in no time and of course I was riding right into it. I would have given my eye teeth for a tail wind today! I was a great morning on my bike. I logged 51.48 miles and had an average speed of 15mph (the wind did me in today). Time for a nice long nap on the couch!