My Fastest Ride solo - Ever?

I had nothing yesterday and the pedals felt heavy but today was just the opposite! I had my fastest 50 ever, with no drafting -- and finished with an average of 17 mph. I did use the wind strategically as it was blowing quite hard out there, the remnants of yesterday's tropical storm, and from the north to the south, so I rode into it for basically the first 30 and with it behind me the last 20. At mile 16 a rider came up from behind, Lane, and was sociable enough to ride with me for the next 14 miles. He can do 100 miles in 5 hours (he told me about his time -- 5 hours -- in the Hotter Than Hell ride), but he was happy to ride with me for the company. I never drafted him, but did increase my speed to keep up. We parted at mile 30 as he was going north and I was going south. At that point I was at an average of 15.6. With the wind behind me I averaged about 22 mph for the next 8 miles, hitting 27 at times. I ended the ride right at 17, which meant that I averaged almost 19 mph from when Lane and I had split.

The last 3-4 miles are all slightly downhill to my corner and with the wind I poured it on to keep the pace above 22, which helped me end right on a 17 mph average.

Why the difference from yesterday? I will never know.