Just got back from a 39 mile ride, which is a good part of the route of the one and only charity ride I do each year. The total ride is 50 miles, but since the lunch stop is about 4 miles from home, we just go home from there sometimes.
And today was one of those days. We rode 8 miles to meet our friends. The forecast was for winds 15-25 mph out of the west, with gusts to 40. We were riding west for those first 8 miles and went very slow out of necessity, since it was on a main road and I was being blown all over the road. Otherwise, it's gorgeous and sunny out, after a few days of rain and humidity. Part of the ride goes through Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge, which is always nice. Tons of cyclists through there, too. We rode from our house, to Acton, Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, a bit into Waltham, and into Lincoln, and back to Concord. After climbing the biggest hill of the ride and going down it, on the worst road surface ever, we ride through Hanscom AFB. There's a hill that I usually love going down on this road, because it's straight and wide. Well, by this time, we had turned back to the west and the wind was gusting so high, I actually started going slower as I was descending! Then, I was struggling to maintain 11 mph on a road where I am usually going 18-20. I was pretty glad to turn off of that road and stop for lunch. We sat by the Visitor's Center and watched all of the tourists who had descended on my town for Mother's Day. I actually was ready to do 15 more miles, but everyone else was "done." so we headed home. After a nice relaxing soak in a bath of Epson salts I have revived.
We did Mother's Day yesterday, so we could ride today!