I got out at the right time. The weather was very tricky today. It was windy and a bit cold in the morning. Winds from the South East. I misjudged clothing situation. I thought it was going to stay in the 40's, so I brought my jacket. Wrong decision. It became apparent as soon as I made my way to the mail lockers. I should have stashed my jacket when I had the chance. I ended up removing it and wrapping it around my waste. So, I had to carry the extra baggage for more than half of the ride. I dealt with it. The legs were a bit finicky today. The right outer knee was sore In the first half. I made it to the summit of OTR in good average time. The Banducci Wall had some traffic mitigation. The Alpine Forest climb went quick. I felt good, but I think I was having knee soreness in the right leg. When I reached the summit, I checked the electronics. Practicing my navigation with Komoot and RideWithGPS phone apps. They're going to work just fine for the Spooktacular ride. The wind picked up as I was making my way to SS. I was very careful on the descent. No risking chances. The trek to SS was super quick, being aided by a nice tailwind. When I was approaching SS, my right quad was getting sore. I couldn't figure out what it was. It wasn't a pulled muscle. I was having to adjust my pedaling technique. I made my way around the back side of SS. I stopped at the local park to bio and then got back on the road. I don't recall the time through the tunnel, but it was around 1:20-ish hours. I stopped at the local mini mart to pick up a bottle of Gatorade. I filled my empty bottle with it and got back on the road. My right quad was still sore at this point. From SS, I had to ride through the farmland and getting punished by the wind. All things considered, I put it in my small gears and just churned away. No accelerations. Just easy tempo. I passed Boss Hogs, but I don't remember the time at that point. The last climb was a bit more sheltered from the wind. I kept the tempo steady. Careful not to make the quad soreness worse. After reaching the summit, pulled over to feed a Clif Bar. Shortly after, I got back on the road and made my way down Route 202. Route 202 had some traffic mitigation, so I took my time to let traffic by. OTR was a welcome relief. It allowed my quads to relax a bit. I made my way to the mail lockers to swap out bottles and stash my extra clothing, including my jacket. From there, I headed to the summit of OTR and then down to Keene. I had a tailwind, so I was extra cautious. I stopped once to bio and then made my way to the base of the climb. After reaching the base, I turned around and headed back. I think I checked my phone apps to see how the tracking looked. They were spot on. There was a cyclist ahead of me by about 5 minutes or so. I didn't expect to bridge, so I wasn't thinking about it too much. At this point, interesting enough, my right quad was feeling better and the knee soreness had mostly gone away. So, it was a welcome treat. I was doing steady tempo up the climb. I was also going into a headwind. The landmarks went quick. As I approached the Lower Loop, I started to get a hint of light headedness. I decided to stop at the top of the Loop and feed a Clif Bar. So, that's what I did. I was able to get some footage of the passing train around the loop while I fed. From there, it was non-stop to the summit. The morale felt so much better as the quad soreness had, to my delight, gone away! Almost like magic. Definitely biology giving me a gift. I made my way to the summit. After cresting the summit, took a few moments rest while descending and made my way back to the mail locker. I picked up my stash and headed back home. I shut it down at the top of Weston. Concentration was good for the most part. Minor lapses here and there due to lack of patience. I guess to be expected since the headwind didn't help. Balance and form was mostly good. Ailments, knee soreness, quad soreness, some hand numbness. As mentioned got better as the ride progressed. A bit of wise thinking along the way. Nutrition was good. I fed before hunger bared down. I drank about two and a half sport drinks and about one bottle of water. I ate two Clif Bars today. Gear worked flawless. Other notes, I saw at least two cyclists today and a few runners. Well done.