As I've mentioned, I hate riding into the wind, so I decided to ride backwards today.

OK, not literally. I reversed my route, thinking that it would help because the wind would be at my back during the straightaway, which would now be at the beginning instead of the end of my ride.

Bzzt. No deal. This ride was even worse than last time. The first problem was that the wind was really gusty, which makes it a little harder to compensate. Second, that darn clicking coming from the area of the pedals (Bill K. thinks it's probably my crank bearings, and he's probably right) is getting worse - a lot worse - and it's now a little embarrassing. Third, well, I'm not sure how to put this... my heart just wasn't in it. I frequently found myself 'dawdling', just pedalling along like I was sight seeing, my mind off frolicking in a field somewhere.

Jed was here when I came home (finally ready to take his car out of our garage where he'd stored it for the winter). I told him that I suppose it's more important that I ride consistently than it is that I have great rides and perfect weather every time I go out. Later I told Corinne that I won't - and can't - use the wind as an excuse any more for not riding.

It just doesn't look good on the performance graph, that's all.

Stats: 20.82 miles (I didn't just reverse, I also added a little) in a pitiful 68 minutes flat, for an average speed of 18.37 miles per hour. Blah, blah, blah!