I took the day off in order to have brunch with my mom and step-dad around 11:00. Despite that I wanted to get a ride in before going over and hanging out with them. I sent a text message late Sunday night over to Joy to see if she was interested, and of course she was. We agreed on a 6:30 a.m. rendezvous for the next day. I woke up early enough to get some breakfast in me and watch the morning news before going out the door. The weather was calling for strong winds out of the south getting stronger as the day went on. I hoped that we'd get our ride done before the worst of the winds arrived. I was also seriously considering calling off the ride. I had a litany of excuses too, but reminded myself "Have you ever gone and went on to regret it?" Thankfully today would be no different. The ride down to meet Joy was pretty stressful. Normally I would descend Democracy full tilt, but with the winds that was nearly impossible. I was forced to ride my brakes for the duration of the descent after having a serious case of the speed wobbles before the arches. I nursed Shadow down Democracy at around 17 MPH all the way down. This didn't leave me feeling very confident for the remainder of the ride. I caught up with Joy and she'd already put in a few miles before joining me at Via Firenze and Democracy. We started out toward Las Vegas Blvd. and the winds were just awful. We were both getting tossed around pretty good with the wind coming across us from the left. As we made the turn onto LVB things "improved" as we took the winds head on. The ride down to Jean was a grindy sufferfest. Pretty much the only thing we could do was put our heads down and push. I'd be lying if I said I never thought about quitting. I can think of at least three different times I seriously considered just turning around and heading home. As we got further and further away from town, and closer and closer to Jean, the harder it was to justify turning back. Once I saw the climb that is just before the tracks I knew there was no turning back. Joy and I enjoyed a nice break at the Terrible's on the west side of the freeway before heading back. Both of us were giddy at the thought of enjoying a nice tailwind for the return trek. Mother nature certainly didn't disappoint. As we made the turn onto LVB for the return I looked down and I was close to 20 MPH at only 100 watts! Needless to say, the remainder of the return trip was a dream. As we started the final descent into town I really ramped it up. I'm surprised we made it past 40 MPH. Rounding the turn onto Volunteer, I was about as burned up as I could get. My hamstrings were super angry and tight. I had to stand on a couple of occasions while we worked out way east to Via Inspirada just to stretch them out some. Joy and I had discussed continuing east to Sebring Hills, but opted to just bite the bullet and take Via Inspirada and battle the headwinds again. We also decided that we'd have a nice break at Gäbi Boutique Donut & Pastry for a well earned donut and coffee. Joy and I hung out chit chatting for around 45 minutes before heading out for home. I still needed to climb back to my place and get in a shower before leaving for my brunch date. The ride back to my place went pretty well. I really pushed myself up Democracy and took advantage of the tailwind to help set a PR. A challenging day on the bike this morning, that's for sure. I'm glad that I stuck it out despite wanting to give up. Had a great time despite the wind and the cafe stop was great with some amazing company to boot. New bike fund: $52.60 (+$0.00) 109 vehicles @ 2.4 per mile, 0.7 per minute, Speeds: 43.1 mph (avg), 65.3 mph (max) -- https://www.mybiketraffic.com/rides/view/106048 Give your activities the names they deserve. -- by Bandok.com Mostly cloudy-Partly sunny, 61°F-62°F, Feels like 60°F-64°F, Humidity 29%-33%, Wind W 5mph-WNW 6mph -- by Klimat.app -- myWindsock Report -- Weather Impact: 4.3% Headwind: 59% @ 14.5-17.8mph Longest Headwind: 01h 1m 37s Air Speed: 19.6mph Temp: 57.5-59.3°F Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr -- END --