Yesterday's ride: I was able to get out into an afternoon that was bright, sunny and not too cold but was quite windy. I tend to favour a hilly route when it's very windy as I'm going to be slow anyway so being a bit slower because of a headwind doesn't matter much (odd logic perhaps, but it works for me

)
A dog walker commented that "That headwind isn't helping" as I climbed Lyth Hill and I brightly responded "No, but it'll be nice on the way back"........ We'll come to that in a bit.
I got quite buffeted by the cross wind from Exford's Green to Plealey but it didn't seem too bad heading up the climb to Oaks as it was a bit sheltered. I took my usual back way to Pulverbatch by riding around the edge of Broom Hill then headed for Wilderley and Smethcott. It had been pretty nice riding so far despite getting blown about but it had taken a while so I decided not to do the longer version of the ride and instead head into Leebotwood.
I'd been looking forward to that tailwind, which should be directly behind me, however as did my last stint directly into the wind it seemed that it wasn't as difficult as earlier. When I finally turned to have it behind me I was getting along quite smartly along the old Roman Road to Longnor but felt that surely I could have been going a bit quicker. At my drink stop near Longnor the wind didn't feel blustery like it had earlier and that appeared to be the case the rest of the way through Ryton, Condover and back up to the A49. Yes, I could tell that I had a tailwind but I wasn't getting the benefit I'd hoped.
Something that cheered me up not far from home was coming up to a junction with a favourable gradient and the tailwind, and being able to accelerate away quicker than the driver behind me expected. Silly but it felt good.
24.3 miles for this one at 11.9 mph average.
Checking the Met Office website later on I found that while I was riding
into the wind it was around 24 gusting to 37mph then when I had it behind me it had dropped to just 11mph without any recorded gusts.

Isn't that just typical.
The usual view from the top of Lyth Hill.
Looking in the direction of Oaks the cloud looks a bit threatening. It did stay dry throughout though.
Fresh new tarmac on the road to Habberley. A good incentive to ride that way and sample it fairly soon.
Usual view to the Wrekin between Pulverbatch and Wilderley. The sunshine was nice.