Alright! This one is ride # 365 since I've had the GPS. Today had the worse wind conditions this year. Not only was the wind going North, but there were gusts over 30mph. I decided to cut the ride short due to the wind conditions. It was great on the way out, especially climbing up Banducci. On the way down was another story. Being that I was decending with mountainous terain, the winds were turbulent. So, I couldn't get in a tuck and just cruise it. The wind was knocking me all around. I had to feather the breaks the whole way down. When I got to the lower slopes, I openned up the gas a bit. There were 2 cars that caught up to me, but by the time they were on my tail, I was doing 40+MPH. At that point, I was riding with complete caution. I took up the entire road, because if they passed me and there was a gust of wind, my butt would have been flat as a pancake! On the false flat, just before Pelliser, I was doing 42MPH. That's when the cars passed me, because I was able to get into the right side of the road, and the other lane was wide open and clear. Now, the return trip... It was the ride from Hell. With the winds blowing West, I had almost no reprieve! I could hardly keep 14-15 MPH. And I was leaning to my right the whole time. I was completely off balance. Then into the headwind, I could hardly keep more than 12MPH. There was dust blowing everywhere. I'm surprised I didn't get anything in my eyes. My walkman had dust accumulated on the outer skin. I stopped just at the base of the Cummings Valley climb. Drank some gatorade and commenced. At the summit of the climb, I decided to eat my reserve ration, a nutrigrain bar. Just enough to reward and get me home. The rest of the way was just automatic pilot. So, the pace for the whole ride was just steady tempo, no digs except one being the top of Banducci. Ailments, I think I had some soreness in my left calf. My had was a tad numb at points. I think my right lower back was a tad sore at some point. Nothing to hinder my progress though. Concentration was pretty much on full alert mode. Constantly looking aroud for traffic and just trying to stay upright and on the right side of the road! Balance, I was thrown all around, nothing more need be said. My gear worked flawless. My walkman had its batteries run down before the ride started. But I was able to charge them for about 20 minutes. That was enough to last me the entire ride. I've created mp3's of some midi music that I like. Some of them have a good beat and are fun to dance on the pedals while out of the saddle.