Today's weather was both cool and cold. When I stepped out the door to assess the weather, it felt like it was in the 50's, winds from the North West. As such, i dressed respectively. 1 layer, arms, knees. So, I got out the door, all was good. I headed out to Keene. It was a bit cold but nothing detracting. The moment I got to the top of the descent, the wind shifted directions and I noticed it was about 5 degrees colder. Was I descended, it got colder and colder. I had no head or face protection and to make matters worse, I wore short finger gloves. I tried to keep my body warm by spinning at high RPM's. Suffice it to say, I was delighted when I reached the base. I turned around and headed back up. It took about 15 minutes before the warmth returned to my body. About the time I reached the Loop Monument, I was feeling better. Before that, I could feel my body struggling a bit to cope with the cold and effort needed for the ascent. After the second dip, I was feeling normal and I kept the tempo steady from that point on. The summit came quickly. Concentration was good. Few lapses. The cold prevented me from deviating to far. Form felt real good. Ailments consisted of very mild soreness in the lower back, as per the injury leading up to these most recent days. Gear is working flawless, I need to give the bike a full cleaning. Other notes, I saw 1 other cyclist on his way down as I was about to summit. There was smoke, that smelled like burning leaves as I was about to summit. I was wondering if there was a fire in the nearby mountains. Nothing to be seen during my brief time in that region of the ride.