Last good day of the year

The weather in west Michigan has been pretty great this past week. On Thursday the temperature was in the high 70's and it was sunny, although it was also quite windy. In looking at the weather forecast I was pretty sure that this would be the last good riding day of the year so I left work a little early and got out for a 20 mile ride. I did a counterclockwise variation on a route I've taken many times. I started out by heading north of the White Pine Trail. The high winds had cleared off most of the leaves so my tires only made minimal crunching sounds. The wind was swirling but was mostly from the south. This made riding north quite pleasant. When I got to 12 Mile I turned west and found out the wind had swirled around to that direction. Once I crossed 131 I headed south on Edgerton and followed the twists and turns to Algoma and once again went south. Lake Michigan Credit Union is at the corner of Algoma and 10 Mile so I stopped at the drive thru to get a little banking done before continuing west along 10 Mile. When I do this loop in the clockwise direction I usually turn at House for a winding, climbing section of the route. But with the wind I decided that flatter was better and just rode to Pine Island and headed south to Post Road. Then  it was the big downhill on Post as I cruised through Belmont and then home. It was a great ride on what will most likely be the last 70 degree day for several months. Although with the way our weather has been this year we might be riding in shorts on Christmas Day.