For some reason I kept procrastinating about getting in my ride until the very last minute; I wanted to do around 40 miles for the day. Since I was getting such a late start I was only going to do between 15-20 easy miles because my knees were bothering me and it was very windy. I did not feel like battling the windy either. I had not actually planned where I was going to ride but had a general direction I was going to go. When I got about 1.5 miles into the ride I realized I had a tale wind which felt nice and my mind was off and running. after about 4 miles i thought I'd do a 20 mile ride so off I went thinking which way I was going to go. Well just about this time the wind had shifted and it was a side front wind. It wasn't too bad and I started to warm up and get into the ride. I get 8 miles in and decided I was going to make a turn and take a route that would keep me closer to home. Well I make the turn and for 3 miles I was riding into a head wind which was trying to beat me down but remember my mind was off and running (into my day dream world). I get to the end of the road and decided I would go a little further; I make my turn and instead of having the wind at my side it was still a head wind. I go another 6 miles and now I am at 15 miles. I know if I turned around and back track I would have 30 miles. I figured I'd make a big loop that would get me up to 35 plus miles and hopefully I would have some tale wind. As luck would have it I did get some tale wind but only for short periods of time. I really enjoyed the tale wind it was a major relief and kept me motivated to keep up the pace. I finally get back to the part of the route that I would be returning back home. The nice part of the return trip was the wind would rotate primarily it was a front side wind but every once in a while it would blow from the rear which wold give me a break for a minute or two when I most needed it. My last 3 miles was into a really strong head wind which for a while really slowed me down until I got serious and dug deep to power through the wind. I really felt great when I was done because I was done. I feel my fitness is improving I have lost about 8-9 lbs and have another 7 lbs to get back to where i was then another 6-8 lbs to be in my top race weight which I hope to be at come March. I still have a ways to go before i will be able to training seriously but I am on my way and it feels good. My shoulder is slowly getting better the improvements seem to be slower now but it is still moving in a positive direction; so all is going great! I am very happy with tonight's ride and it would have been a perfect riding if not for the wind.