Almost a 40 mile ride today. Weather was a bit on the warm side, but nothing intolerable. Winds were favorable. Last night, I was deciding what ride to do next. I knew I wanted to go to Keene and Tour de Teh (R), but, in what order? I decided to go to Keene first, in order to beat the heat. I felt average getting out the door. I put it in cruise control to the summit of WTR. From there, it was soft pedaling to the base. I spared no time when I got there and headed back. The miles went fast. I was able to stay concentrated and allow my mind to settle in. I felt good for the duration of the climb. Once over the summit, I caught my breath and headed to OTR. I hadn't stopped for a break at that point, so I made my way to Route 202 and stopped there for a minute or two. Banducci was the next on order, my legs were sufficiently warmed up. I didn't have much difficulty. I did use my 32T on a few occasions. I took another minute or two break at the summit. I think I swapped out my 3rd bottle at that point. I was thinking about where to feed. No signs of hunger, so I knew I could make it past the last climb before feeding would be necessary. I headed down Banducci, practicing the tuck. Once I got near Pelliser, I saw another cyclist. He seemed to be traveling at equal, if not faster than I. I put in my mind to keep him in sight. I wasn't making much ground on him, going through the farm lands. So I thought.. How good can this guy climb? I didn't know where he was going though. When he reached Bear Valley Rd. he turned right. I've never seen any cyclists go that direction. Turns out that it's a short loop that connects to Route 202. By the time I reached the base of the climb, he was still making his way to where I was. I estimate he was about 20 seconds in the rear. This gave me extra intensive. I was pushing real hard up the climb. To my amazement, reaching 165 BPM on more than one occasion. I was able to hold him off all the way to the summit. I estimate I may have put a good 10 to 20 seconds on him. Not more, though. Once at the summit, I swapped my GoPro batteries and headed back home. Mostly fun and games and negotiating through traffic. Concentration was the better of things. I felt positive and had good morale. Ailments were minimal, but I did feel soreness in the quads towards the last 15 minutes of the ride. Balance and form is doing good. Gear is working well. Other notes, with the exception of the cyclist I crossed paths with, there were no others today.