168th ride of 2020 - Monday, 12/14/2020

2020 mileage: 4098.8

today was a tale of me vs. the elements. When I began, at a bit past 1:00, it was 31°, with a sporty 20 mph wind out of the west northwest bringing the wind-chill down to 19°. However, as I told Michelle, it is not so much the cold that bothers me, but fighting that darned wind.

Given the conditions, I could very easily have justified taking the day off. But if I want to ride in much more extreme conditions this winter—and I do—given that LA Fitness is not an option for me right now with the pandemic going on, then I certainly could not justify caving in today. And, in fact, now that I'm done, I'm glad that I pushed myself to do it. I limited myself to a single round trip to Marsh Park (10.3 miles), in 1:15.

I would also have liked to tack on at least a loop in the Stonebridge subdivision on the way home (in part because this would have put me over 4100 miles for the year). For a while, early in the ride, this seemed feasible—with the wind pushing at my back, and the sun taking the edge off by peeking occasionally through the clouds (even though some light snowflakes were swirling around me). HOWEVER — on the way home, after riding into that wind for almost a half hour, I was only too happy to pass it by and head on back to the warmth and comfort of my La-Z-Boy. 😎

Link to (Relive) video of today's ride 

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