I Hate The Sea, and All She Be Havin' in'R

Yar,

the seas were angry and full o' remorseless, man-eatin' monsters,



but this fine Spanish sea-vessel is a mighty tamer of wild waters.



Saturday's ride was a 3+ hour slog into howling NorthWest winds that were gusting to 35 mph. At one point, the PowerTap showed 220 watts and 6 mph! 220 watts isn't exactly Tour de France winning power output, but at 6 mph?! Normally at that power output I'd expect to see maybe 20-22 mph on a flat road with little wind. At the time, I was going up a very slight incline, but the wind was howling so hard that we had to pedal forcefully just to remain upright. But the u-turn in Liberty Hill was lots of fun. If I'd had a sail on my bike, I probably could have hit 50 mph on the return voyage.

Even without the sail, we were hitting speeds in excess of 30 mph with relatively little effort. It was like motor pacing but without the vehicle.