It wasn't supposed to be a story about the wind. The story I planned on when I left the house late this morning was a little story about a peanut butter sandwich. It would have been about how I took it along on my ride today, and how it fueled the extra miles that I needed to ride my longest ride yet this year. I would have added that the idea came from a bike blogger who wrote, more or less, that anyone can ride further -- assuming they have the time. That one just needs to pack an extra peanut butter sandwich. (Naturally, I packed a peanut butter sandwich and put it in my jersey pocket for the planned photo op.) It would have been a cute, and mildly amusing, little story. And indeed, here's the photo for that (untold) story.
Today's ride was not about peanut butter sandwiches. Today's ride was about the wind. The wind was from the north at 5 this morning, and I waited for the temperature to hit 60 before I left. It felt much colder in the shade as I headed north, and I headed inland quickly. Winds from the east over the weekend pushed the warm water from the shallows near the beach into the middle of the lake, causing an upwelling of colder waters. The near shore lake water temperatures are in the upper 40's. Cold. I rode north along the usual route past the PSPS, over Hill, north a bit, and then (remember this) east for about 3 miles. The turn east felt fine -- the headwind I'd had on the way north felt like a cross wind until I crossed the highway at Stanton Corners, at about mile 14. That is where I took the picture above. My story required more miles, so I continued east for nearly 4 more miles.
The wind began to feel a bit like a tailwind, but there's no place to turn south along that stretch of road. Even the gravel roads peter out to sand and two track as they get near the Pigeon River. 120th is the first road with a bridge -- so I turned south about 17.5 miles into the ride. I didn't get the expected tail wind, but the crosswind didn't seem too bad, and I added a new 'town' to my list of places visited on my bike. Olive Center -- the photo shows pretty much all there is to it. I turned back west at Tyler and -- yep -- into a headwind. I was pretty far inland, so although it didn't seem quite fair, it wasn't all that strong, yet. After 2 miles riding into a steadily rising wind, I headed south for a mile to get some rest. Then 2 more miles west -- steadily increasing wind -- more south, more west, more south, more west. Cursing the lake breeze. Cursing myself for forgetting that when the water is cold and the ground inland gets warm, the lake breezes form. I live here, I should know this. I should not have ridden that far east today. The ride total was 35 miles -- which only exceeded my previous long ride by about 3 miles -- but it felt like much, much more. My shoulders hurt and my brain felt fried. 2/3 of the ride into the wind. Out on the road, the wind was the story today. WNW at 15 near the lake. The moral of this story? What else? Mother Nature Bats Last.
Today's ride was not about peanut butter sandwiches. Today's ride was about the wind. The wind was from the north at 5 this morning, and I waited for the temperature to hit 60 before I left. It felt much colder in the shade as I headed north, and I headed inland quickly. Winds from the east over the weekend pushed the warm water from the shallows near the beach into the middle of the lake, causing an upwelling of colder waters. The near shore lake water temperatures are in the upper 40's. Cold. I rode north along the usual route past the PSPS, over Hill, north a bit, and then (remember this) east for about 3 miles. The turn east felt fine -- the headwind I'd had on the way north felt like a cross wind until I crossed the highway at Stanton Corners, at about mile 14. That is where I took the picture above. My story required more miles, so I continued east for nearly 4 more miles.
The wind began to feel a bit like a tailwind, but there's no place to turn south along that stretch of road. Even the gravel roads peter out to sand and two track as they get near the Pigeon River. 120th is the first road with a bridge -- so I turned south about 17.5 miles into the ride. I didn't get the expected tail wind, but the crosswind didn't seem too bad, and I added a new 'town' to my list of places visited on my bike. Olive Center -- the photo shows pretty much all there is to it. I turned back west at Tyler and -- yep -- into a headwind. I was pretty far inland, so although it didn't seem quite fair, it wasn't all that strong, yet. After 2 miles riding into a steadily rising wind, I headed south for a mile to get some rest. Then 2 more miles west -- steadily increasing wind -- more south, more west, more south, more west. Cursing the lake breeze. Cursing myself for forgetting that when the water is cold and the ground inland gets warm, the lake breezes form. I live here, I should know this. I should not have ridden that far east today. The ride total was 35 miles -- which only exceeded my previous long ride by about 3 miles -- but it felt like much, much more. My shoulders hurt and my brain felt fried. 2/3 of the ride into the wind. Out on the road, the wind was the story today. WNW at 15 near the lake. The moral of this story? What else? Mother Nature Bats Last. 
The photo below was taken about a half hour later, with the orange light still playing off the water and the dark gray clouds trying to claim the entire sky, but not quite managing to do so.
