Friend?

I read a quote online recently that went something like, "The wind is your friend, it either makes you fast or it makes you strong".

What a load of crap.

It was windy in Wisconsin today, dam windy, and I had 2-1/2 hours scheduled for the bike. Two and a half hours on a typical day on typical roads would put me at roughly 40-miles. I don't have any forty mile routes, so I decided a loop on the IM bike course was in order.

Holy shit.

With the wind and the hills, Verona to Mount Horeb was brutal. I pretty much stood to get up any hill, and often found myself in my lowest gear as I approached the bottom of a hill. At one point I was struggling to hold 6-mph going up a small hill into the wind. It was brutal.

Mt. Horeb to Cross Plains offered a little relief from the wind, but the hills were still killing me. The roller coaster on Garfoot Road was a blast, I could ride that all day, as long as I got a lift back to the top.

Then of course came the hills outside of Cross Plains on the way back to Verona. Ouch.

With the wind finally at my back, I managed at one point to maintain 20+mph going up a long gradual hill and then I topped out at 41+ coming down another. That's how windy it was.

I felt pretty good coming in to Verona, maybe relieved was more like it. Wound up at 43 miles in about 2:50. Strong? No. Fast? Definitely not. But I consider it a victory none the less.