Feb 9 - windy !

As expected and as predicted, it was windy.  The 300k ride that topped 316k as plotted on the map, with the wind (or against the wind !) produced a long day.

For basically 200k we fought the wind.  Part of the ride is around what amounts to a dyke around Lake Okeechobee with a riding trail on top of the dyke.  The NE wind was brutal up there with no protection.   You'd think that at some point it would be with you but no, even when changing directions the cross wind defied expectations.

South Florida is flat, without trees basically, so this is to be expected.  It all adds to the fun -- a great workout !

I had no interest in watching someone's butt for a number of hours and my knees couldn't have taken it anyway, so I did not join any of the pacelines.  As a result, the exercise was all mine.  I got more exercise than most !

The ride started at Boca Raton just a mile from Hamid and Shab's house, going north and west to Lake Okeechobee and partly looping that, then heading east to Hobe Sound.  Once at HS, at the beach, we turned south.  At that point there was relief.  I found Jim Solanick towards the end and we rode the last 20 miles together, mostly side-by-side, chatting.

All in all it was a good day, a struggle at times but a good day.  The pretty parts of the ride were those last 100kms through Jupiter Island south of Hobe Sound and along the coast.  

Roger and Ali Holt were there from BC but I did little more than say hello pre-ride.  They are the organizers of the Rocky Mountain 1200 that I did last summer.

Alain & Vita (tandem riders) and Hamid were not there.  Vita is training for a 100km run, an ultra marathon.  Hamid is in MD.

We started at 5am and I finished about 6:45 pm.  Yes, it was a long day.  I was home at 10:30 pm after a couple of food and beverage stops.

Today ... not sure.

Onward !