I've always been outspoken about how riding when it is windy is just the worst. Yesterday's ride brought that to a whole new level. It was about 51 F with winds of 17 mph, and it was a struggle. Riding against the wind cut right through my sweatshirt and had me freezing cold, but as soon as I started riding with the wind it was the complete opposite. The cloud cover was spotty so I spent most of the time in the sun, and I could really feel it when riding with the wind. The ride became a constant alternating between sweating and freezing and I considered just calling it quits for the day and trying to make it up this weekend, but I thought about my goals and challenges for both the GCC and my own Garmin challenges and decided to push to at least my planned 11 miles.
I think the moral of this story is to always check the weather before you ride. Even if you don't know what it will mean yet, the only way to learn is to check, then ride. Ask yourself how that felt and maybe even keep a little log of certain limits. For example, 55 and under is too cold for just a shirt and over 70 is too warm for long pants. (Wind can have an effect as well)
On top of all of that I've decided to push my mile goal up 20 mi from 200 to 220 since my weekly expectation starting this challenge was 48, but I'm already at 39 and I have a 15 mi ride to take as soon as my phone is charged.