(I lost about 2 miles of data as I forgot to start the timer at departure).
I wasn't sure where I was going to ride when I woke up this morning. It was contingent on the weather and how I felt. When I got up, the weather was cloudy. As it got closer to departure time, the wind started to pick up. I was planning on doing WS + Tour de Teh (R). I decided to ride Keene n Back and then figure out where from there. When I checked my phone, it said the temperature was around 61 degrees. When I stepped out, it felt more like 55 degrees. I wore the standard kit + arms, knees and I brought my skull cap just in case. When I got to WTR, I stopped and threw on the cap. I was much more comfortable. My legs felt better than average. The wind was turbulent, so I played it safe on the descent to Keene. After reaching the base, I headed back. Stopped at the Chavez center to remove my cap. The wind was on my back, so I was getting a bit warmer. I kept my other layers on. Today was one of those days where I knew things "upstairs" could go sour. Fortunately, I kept thinking to myself of some things I've been interested in for the past week or so. My flow of thoughts were steady, so I didn't experience many lapses. I'd say I felt cautiously optimistic. The miles went quick. I stopped one more time to take photos of the animals. There was a calf that was on the outside of the fence. I was concerned and thought it would be a good photo opportunity. As I was reaching for my phone, the calf became startled and squeezed his way through the fence towards the inside. I put my phone away and continued the ascent. From there, it was no stopping. I felt good in the legs. Again, I think it was more of a mental hurdle for this climb. When I reached the summit, I had to decide where to go. The weather was on the off side, so the morale wasn't exactly high. I ended up going to OTR to see how I felt once I made it to the summit. As I was nearing the summit, I was feeling good (not great). Enough to add Banducci. Banducci was good. Being that I was warmed up, it didn't take long to settle into a solid tempo. I was relieved to make it to the summit. Thinking to myself, if it were any other day, I would have gone down the mountain through CV. I ended up heading back. As I was making my way down, I felt like a bio was overdue. It gave me extra incentive. I made it back home in time! Ailments were next to none. Just the usual fatigue in the legs and mind. Perhaps a bit afraid what was going to happen today. Balance and form felt good. Gear worked well. It took a while for the HR monitor to kick in. I blame it on the cold weather. Other notes, no other cyclists today. But lots of motor cyclists.