50 degree difference

How strange it was to be cycling with temps in the upper 80s today, an April Fool's Day joke deferred. Early this week I was riding with chilly knees with temps in the upper 30s. Kind of hard to comprehend, but I'm not complaining. It is a bit of a shock to the system, and if that weren't enough, I was fighting straight line winds in the 20+ mph range. My friend the wind practically pushed me up to Terpening Corners in Lansing, and I got there 4 minutes faster than usual. It was a two-water-bottle day, and I was parched by the time that I returned home. Lots of other cyclists on the road, but interestingly very few of them were in Lansing. For some reason, Ellis Hollow is much more popular than Lansing, Dryden and Freeville, which is just fine by me.

I was feeling pretty low energy for most of the ride, and it was a gargantuan struggle to keep the pace, especially on the Ringwood climb. This ride was my final push to ride 400 miles in my first month of the cycling season, and I'm short of that goal by just under 4 miles. I'm more than pleased with this pace, and now I can relax about being off the bike for 5 days, a well-deserved break.

Today was also the true test of my new helmet and shoes. The ventilation on the Giro Atmos is truly stunning, and there were moments on some of the climbs that I forgot I was wearing a helmet at all. The design is well worth the extra dough, though if you're looking for one of these helmets, check ebay carefully and be patient. Why pay $170 when you can get it for around $130? My Louis Garneau shoes also proved their worth. Today I finally had the opportunity to ride with the vented insoles, and I can assure all skeptics that it works as promised. The feets stayed cool throughout the ride, and meant that the old dogs didn't swell up at all.

One month down now, and eight months to go!

Between 3/6 and 4/3, I have:

• cycled 396.74 miles
• burned approx 21,000 calories
• climbed 21,968 ft.

Time to chill.