The Kenda Attack Machine Revealed & Ride Report, such as it is

Before I begin the description of today's ride I am compelled to comment on the string of vicious personal attacks on such a good guy like me, supposedly by the Kenda clan.  However, after taking a step back and reconnoitering the situation, I realized what was really going on.  You see, unreported from last week's ride was an exchange between Grand Poobah and I.  Todd was bragging about winning the stop sign sprints and mountain top finishes while he was in Florida.  I innocently inquired what was the name of the competition he had won and he mumbled something about it not really being a race, just a spirited group ride with a bunch of senior citizens and the mountain finish was in fact a highway overpass.  To this I did what any immature 53 year old guy would do, I immediately inserted left hand under right armpit, pumped right arm vigorously, producing appropriate sound to mock Poobah's "accomplishment".  Factor that into the fact that the Kendaites are far too classy to produce the hard hitting comments and it became clear what had happened, Todd had mobilized the checkers gang from the senior citizen group he dominates and got them to post those nasty comments about me.  There, that sets the record straight.

Forecast for the start of Saturday's ride out of Cyclist Connection was 25-35mph winds with gusts to 40mph and 36 degrees at the start.  The forecast did not disappoint but for some reason, there were 12 cyclists at the start, including Steve O, Jeff S, Kenda Dave, Dave Miller our leader, Eve, John Swope, Mark V, a late arriving new guy named Craig and 3 others who were so bundled against the cold that I had no idea who they were.  Dave had a 35 and 50 mile route south to Ashville and so, off we went, with Steve O setting the pace towards Lithopolis.  After 4 miles we reached Lithopolis with a crushing cross wind from the southwest.  I celebrated the arrival into Lith by taking the sign sprint and then immediately turning the heck around.  Talk about no fun....  I had brought running gear with me as that was my back-up had no one been there to ride so drove to Clear Creek Metro Park and trail ran 8 very hilly miles with 1400' of elevation gain.  I'm at that point where I need both long rides to build cycling endurance and activity to lose lots of tummy fat so what I got out of today was good.  Mean while, David Miller sent me the below to account for what happened after I abandoned:  
I'll be anxious to read your take on today's ride.  Keep in mind, most
everyone actually completed the ride.  Six of us did the 35 mile route
and I think the rest did the 50 (only one of the 50 mile riders stayed
in Ashville to eat with us so I'm not 100% sure about the rest).  Only
one rider abandoned after, what, 5 miles?  The rest of us enjoyed a
fantastic tailwind on the ride back.  Occasionally our speed even
dropped below 20.