CONSTANT VIGILANCE! 2

After four days of inside exercise you would think I'd jump at a chance to get out and ride as soon as the weather moderated. I monitored the weather forecast closely. Saturday morning early the sun was out, 40 degrees, no wind. Forecasted to go to 54F, I prepared to depart, to the extent the bike was in the "go" position, I had my gear on. Then I saw a few things flying past the window. Where did this wind come from? Marilane called to say the flags were standing out straight. I paused and pondered. 54 degrees is still pretty chilly, wind out of the south meant I'd have a side wind both ways on my east-west course. I'd been beaten up by the wind several times on this course and decided to pack it in. Besides, I had the manuscript to my sequel to work on. Several hours later I walked out to check the mail. Hmmm! Still windy, but not biting, and the temperature seems pretty warm. I checked the thermometer: 65. Bummer, this was doable. I hate riding in the late afternoon, so while I could have, I went back to the computer.

With Saturday missed, I felt more pressure to ride Sunday. The high Saturday actually got to 70 degrees at my house. I checked the forecasts for Sunday. But first I'll mention that I don't understand why after missing the high temperature by 15 degrees, several stations still were calling for freezing Saturday night (and one station hadn't moved from predicting the mid-20's. I made plans to get out two hours after sunrise (or about 9am). I had to start early because the forecast called for a front to move through, with a cold northwest wind, starting around noon. They actually said afternoon, but a look at the system convinced me it would come earlier than that. Sure enough, the temperature only dropped to 39 at my house. I re-evaluated and decided to get out at 8am instead.
Since the first hour on my Sunday ride heads south, into the wind, the earlier the better, before the sun had a chance to strengthen the wind. Sure enough, I had a breeze in my face, but after two right turns headed me back east (actually northeast) on 620, the wind, now quite strong, was at my back. Yipee! Steiner Ranch caused no problem today. Home before the front.
I'm still a little frosted (pun intended) that I didn't continue to monitor Saturday's weather and get that ride in. Constant Vigilance! And its companion: Believe, but verify.