Merlin. Sunny, cool, very windy with sustained WNW winds @ 16-20 mph with gusts of 25-30 mph. Totally mixed ride: Rode up to Crystal Lake with Dave on the Fox River Trail (mostly), easy pace. stopped at about 29 miles at Starbuck's in town, then split up. He returned on the FRT, I headed out West and road a portion of the Udder Century, all the way to Union before heading South and East back to Dave's house. Fully 48 miles was into some form of wind, with about 20 directly into it. The return was a blast, especially the portions heading East. On Rohrsen East from Tower, averaged +30 mph with a few sections +35 mph. Lots of climbing too - over 3,000 feet. After the Crystal Lake stop, only had two short breaks and minimal nutrition: 2 gels and a bag of almonds, 3 litres of water. Felt really strong with a few miles more than planned, could easily have done a century today. Total ride average does not reflect the effort. Dave and I were at 14 mph average in Crystal Lake with noodling around town. By the time I got to Union (into the wind almost the whole way) my average speed was up to 14.6 and I finished at 16.1 mph. I would estimate the last 40 miles was at least 18.0 mph, solo. I'm definitely ready for a century next weekend at the BCLC Ramble.