Needed to do some climbing to prep for the Dolomites. Very humid and hazy. The Canadian wildfire smoke makes for nice nuclei for fog and haze. Wanted to make this manageable, so went out very conservatively. Harvard Hills were in the clouds to start. Wachusett cleared by the time of the first ascent. Not much to see at the time. Had never been on the west side of Wachusett, and it was very nice to ride through the Hubbardston area, pretty quiet and [Thanks B Swamy for the routing on the backside.]. Second ascent via Mile Hill was OK, and good to have the steady grade to just grind it up. Very hazy at the top of Wachusett the second time. Ran into Russ Holden at the entrance as he was leaving. Second ascent was OK, just trying to be steady. Always fun to descent to 62 from Princeton Center. Steady low-key last 25 miles back home. Feel better than I anticiated. Not breaking any speed records, but was able to get the climbing in.