I was pretty stoked about the ride since I haven't done anything north of Nicasio and Point Reyes in ages. The weather forecast was mostly right. Very cold in SF for the start and finish of the ride, very windy (more on that later), and warm in the afternoon but because of the wind chill, the amount of time that it was genuinely warm wasn't as long as I thought it would be. There was the normal debate about what to wear to start the ride resulting in returning for more layers. When you were out of the wind, it was fine. In the wind, it was freezing. The early part of the ride, we made slow progress with power meter issues for Jill then a rear tire sidewall blowout by Spirit Rock. We had a role reversal - last weekend I was crushed and Jill felt great. This week she was feeling fatigued and I felt pretty good. This wasn't the original plan and we talked about what to cut out. I think it ended up being the best, most pleasant version of the route. I've never seen the Nicasio Reservoir so dry before. It was basically a small pond in the middle. It was much drier and golden in the hills than a month ago. The closer we got to the ocean, the greener it got though. I was also surprised to still see wildflowers. I tried the Skratch Labs Sport Superfuel Drink Mix for the first time. It provides 400 calories per bottle. Because I wasn't sure how I would like it and the more involved nature of mixing it, I decided to just make my first two bottles with Superfuel and went with the regular Hydration Mix for the rest. I figured the first part of the ride is when I get the hungriest and don't often fuel enough. The taste isn't as sweet as the Hydration Mix (both Lemon and Lime). It basically tastes like unsweetened lemon water. And it's a little viscous. Weirdly, it leaves a sweet after taste. I felt pretty good all the way until we stopped for food in Point Reyes so it's promising so far. I got a meat quiche and yellow cake cupcake with chocolate frosting from Bovine Bakery. I had them heat up the quiche which took forever and it wasn't even luke warm. In fact it was still cold in the middle. And the cupcake was dry. I gotta say, Bovine is overrated. Their pastries are pretty mediocre. Afterward, I was just left more hungry than before. So rather than do BoFax and East Peak, I showed Jill the Cross Marin Trail in Sam P. Taylor. Far more pleasant and it also meant we'd be going through Fairfax... for more food! We stopped at The Way Station first but they had a live band. They were loud and not very good so we went back to M & G Burgers & Beverages which Simon had told me aren't very good but I was in the mood for fries. I got a hot dog, fries, and a root beer. All of it managed to be subpar. Simon was right! The warmest part of the day was from after SPT until the bike path in Mill Valley where the headwind just hit us out of nowhere and got stronger as we approached the city. There was some weird protest in Sausalito that held up traffic pretty badly. The bridge, always the most dangerous part of any ride, was easily the windiest it's ever been when I crossed it. The bridge was howling and I was getting pushed around so much. There were also quite a few tourists on the bridge riding all over the place. We made it past the north tower okay but when we got to the south tower, a woman on a cruiser bike in front of us was hit but the wind and came to a full stop and couldn't get going again. It caused Jill and I to stop. Jill managed to get passed her. I tried and I think ended up pulling so hard because of how strong the wind was that I picked up my front wheel maybe? In any case the wind just took my front wheel out from under me and before I knew it, I was on the ground. Unfortunately, it blew me to the left, the side I don't normally unclip, also the side with my camera. I think mostly landed on my knee, which has some road rash on the side and front but my chest also landed on my camera - hard enough that I bent the metal lens hood. Looks like I can't take the hood off to replace it because it also no longer sits square on the lens. The side that wasn't hit has a gap between the hood and lens. The other side doesn't have that gap anymore. The wind was knocked out of me and I just lay there for a second. A guy helped grab my bike which maybe it the curb next to the tower because there are some scuff marks on the top tube. I didn't follow my own rule on the bridge - pass the sketchy riders as soon as possible, especially before the towers. As far as I can tell I didn't break any ribs. Seems like it's just sore. I did get a painful cut somehow as I landed on the camera on the plastic fastener of my HRM. Just that little stop too caused my body temp to drop. By the time I got back to my car, I was shivering. Burping seems to cause the sharpest pain. I think getting out of bed tomorrow is not going to be fun.