OMG, what a ride, what a day! After our monsoon-like return from Roxbury yesterday, marked by blinding rain and flooded roadways, today’s weather was spectacular! With rippin’ westerlies of 20-25, the only choice for a beach ride was to start at Captree and brave the tempest, knowing full well that our return, assisted by a ferocious tailwind, would be all the sweeter following the arduous westbound effort. With bright sunshine taking a bit of a bite out of the 58-degree chill, we struggled west as far as the Jones Beach marker. It would have been much easier for all concerned if we could have worked a pace line better. Not succeeding at that, we called it sooner than I would have liked and turned around a mile or so short of the Field 6 boardwalk. Needless to say, the return leg, being hurled along by that mighty tailwind, was a total blast. Gina and I were able to effortlessly maintain 20mph, topping out at 26. Stuart and I later teamed up to finish out the last five miles or so together, at only a slightly diminished pace. Yet another peak experience on the bike with great conditions and even better company!