We started out to do a ride that we thought would be 35 miles. Since we started from a slightly different spot, we weren't sure. This ride has a steep climb near the end; the rest is rolling. Well, we ended up doing 30 miles and didn't do the climb part.
The weather was one of the strangest factors in how all 4 of us felt. It was 53 when we left, with a steady wind of about 15 from the NE (cold direction). It was partly cloudy, but supposed to clear up. I was wearing a base layer, light weight smart wool jersey and a wind jacket. i started out with my fleece head cover and long gloves. Oh, and i had my booties on, with thin wool socks. After 6 miles, we stopped at a gas station and I took off my base layer. About 3 miles after that, I took off the head cover and switched to regular gloves, unzipped the jacket. Then, we stopped to eat at mile 15. The sun went away and the wind picked up. When we headed out, I put the long gloves back on and put on a thin skull cap. I had taken the booties off at lunch. My feet were cold for awhile, but some good rollers heated me up. After about 10 miles more, i put the regular gloves back on... you get the picture. At this point we were about to turn onto Lost Lake Rd., which is the climb. All of us had various physical aches and pains, so we rode on a parallel street that I had discovered in the car a couple of weeks ago. It's lots of rollers and fun, but then you have to travel on a busy road with hardly any shoulder for about 4 miles , instead of just crossing it. I didn't mind (I realized how used I am to riding on busy streets), but my friend did.
So now the sun is fully out,it's in the 60s, and it's gorgeous. I have work to do...
Taking tomorrow off and hope to commute to work on Tuesday and Thursday.