I didn't want to do any of the rides the clubs were doing so I went solo. I wanted to do one of the hard rides I used to do before I became such a wuss. I chose a loop over the mountains into another valley and around the other end of the ridge and back for about 80 miles and 7500 feet. The climb up to 5400 feet wasn't bad, roads were very quiet and wind was at my back. I met another rider and I told him where I was going. He warned me "you gonna be a Popsicle on the downhill".
It was cold on the descent but not freezing but the wind was awful. It was blowing me around and the noise from my vest rattling was deafening. At the bottom it wasn't as bad but it was headwind for the rest of the ride, at least 30 miles. The last few hills were rough.