I got out a little later than usual. I had an appointment in the morning, so I had to postpone my ride. I got my new shorts, so I tried them for the first time. Initial thoughts, they fit great. I like the lower compression point. It fits my lower quads perfect. When I got out the door and on the saddle, I immediately noticed that the shorts were slippery. It had very little grip on the saddle. I'm not sure if they just need to get worn in, but I think that's just the way they're going to be. I'm thinking, perhaps there's a saddle cover that I can buy that will increase the tactility. The ride... I wore 2 base layers, arms and legs. That was perfect. I was a little cold in the head at some points. But, as I predicted, I got warmed up once I reached the bottom of banducci. I did real good time today. I felt strong going up Banducci. Partly due to the cool weather and perhaps the winds, but my legs were good. After reaching the bottom of banducci, I did moderate tempo. I reached the top of SS in well under an hour. At that point, I had an hour to try out the shorts. It still felt slippery, but I might be able to get used to it. I did some good digs going over the banducci wall, top, and top of SS. I felt strong on all of them. I usually feel this good when the weather is nice and cool. My lower back was sore at some points, but it wasn't that bad. It deminished by the time I got half way done with the ride. I experienced a little cramping on my calf muscles. Stretching and stepping down the tempo did the trick. I put most of my eggs on the return trip into the tailwinds. There was a crosswind going through Pelliser and Bailey (sp?). Under similar conditions, I could keep a 20+ MPH average, today was more like 17+. The crosswind sapped some energy out of me. I decided to shut it down a bit in the crosswinds as I didn't want to cramp and waste energy. The last climb was great. I was able to keep strong tempo. Again, my legs felt great. I did strong tempo after going over the top of the last climb. Gear-wise, everything was great, no complaints there. I'm loving the new firmware update on the Ultegra Di2. Other notes, there were more cows out than usual.

Forgot to mention... My concentration was right on. I had only a few lapse of focus. I was able to read my body and the environment really well. My balance was good. I'm sticking to my stretching while doing my strength training. It's definitely paying off!