Holy Hell
Oh man.
You would think the story of a ride on November 7th in NE Wisconsin would be the weather. Stunning weather. Sunny and 65 degrees meant riding in shorts, arm warmers, open-finger gloves and a wind vest. November?
There is a hint.
WIND vest.
Holy HELL the wind just beat the crap out of me today.
I headed out to High Cliff State Park with the intention of doing the climb today. On the way there I dealt with a crosswind from my right. It wasn't bad, but it was there and strong. I knew things were about to get tougher.
When I turned right onto State Park Road I was now into the teeth of a headwind all the way into the park. Speed went from 16mph to 11mph just like that. It sapped a lot of energy from my legs. Perhaps that is why when I started the climb it felt like the least amount of juice I have ever had down there.
I was able to settle into a slow pace up for much of the climb, but then the steeper section began and man it was tough. Luckily my legs held up enough to remain out of the saddle for a pretty good chunk of time to keep me going.
I glanced down at my computer at one point and I saw 5 mph. Heck, I was just happy to be moving forward and upright.
Totally gassed, I made it to the top.
The trees are empty now and the view is different from summer, that is for sure. I downed two energy bars up here and then headed back home, passing though some cold air near the lake where I saw a couple of sail gliders in the water. Brrrr.
I have never seen so many cars parked at High Cliff. The place was buzzing with people taking advantage of the weather. They looked like human ants crawling everywhere.
Close call on the descent too.
People were crossing the road at the base of the climb, plus a car just stopped to make a left turn all of the sudden.
Here I come 40 mph downhill and can't slam on the brakes because I'll skid and crash.....can't go hard/fast right because that might be gravel out there....
So I feathered the brakes hard a few times and rolled through the gutter on the right safely.
Ended okay, but that was a panic to my heart rate!
And then the wind.
The only time I had a tailwind was heading out of the park on State Park Rd. back to Manitowoc Rd.
Then it was a 3/4 headwind all the way back.
The howling in my ears was driving me nuts.
Leaves would blow in giant gusts of wind that practically stopped the bike in it's tracks. There had to be some 25-30 gusting going with nothing to slow it down out there but farm fields. Whooosh....
Closer to home a gust hit me in the face and I literally yelled out loud to no one in particular, "Jesus Christ ENOUGH ALREADY!"
Now, I know part of this is my fault, having next to no training in my legs for the past month. That didn't help things. But man, this was a brutal wind today. I was totally empty as I got off the bike back at home. My arm hurt. My neck was sore. My legs were limp pasta.
I saw a lot of roadies out there today, and it seemed every one of them felt the need to wave to me today. If I didn't wave back it's not because I'm some sort of snobby jerk....just please know I was DYING out there in that wind today!
RIDE ROUTE
High Cliff Climb
30 miles
Average Speed= 12.8
65, Sun, Windy 20+ mph out there in the countryside
2020 SEASON MILES
Indoor: 125.6
Outdoor: 1,613.4