Weekend Rides

I got a chance to do a little riding over the weekend on my trip to Silver Lake. The funeral was Friday morning, and it rained and snowed and was generally pretty cold and miserable. Still, I was fired up to ride. So, when it finally quit raining that afternoon, I bundled up and hit the road.

My plan was to ride from Pentwater to the lighthouse near Silver Lake and back. I didn't think it would be a long ride, but I figured that would be fine for a cold day. The ride down to Silver Lake was great. The legs felt great, the bike felt like a rocket, and the weather wasn't too bad. I shifted to the big ring and hammered all the way there. So much for my easy ride. Sure, there were some nagging thoughts about the ease with which I was riding and that just maybe I was riding slightly downhill with the wind at my back. But, when you feel good, it's hard to listen to those thoughts. I would have liked to know how fast I was going, but my bike computer crapped out after about 10 minutes in the cold. The only tough part about the ride down was going through some bad crosswinds right when I got down to the lake.

I decided not to take Termite Bridge.


I got off the bike for a few minutes once I got to the lighthouse. I stretched a little and ate a granola bar. I decided not to linger, since I was really feeling the wind and starting to get chilly from standing still.

On the way back, I snapped a quick picture of the lake and the dunes. The water definitely looked cold.

I just turned the corner past my grandparents' old house when the wind hit me, and then it started snowing. I rode most of the way back fighting a wicked headwind and stinging snow (at least I was wrong about it being uphill on the way back). I was absolutely beat by the time I got back. I'm guessing I did the ride from Pentwater to Silver Lake in about 40 minutes, and it probably took me over an hour to get back.

Still, all that complaining aside, I'm very pleased with how I performed in the wind. Even when I felt I was struggling, I'd look back and be surprised at the gear I was still pushing. I also seemed to recover well in the brief moments when I got a break from the wind.

On Saturday afternoon, my Dad and Sarah and I all went for an easy ride near my parents' house. That one was much more pleasant, but also much less of an adventure. We had a sunny day and no wind or snow, and that was fine by me.