I got out a little early today. The weather was a bit warm, but more humid than the past few days. There was partial cloud cover. The winds were from the south. I flew on the way out to the beginning of the descent. From there I did a little more than modest tempo. The return trip was pretty much as I expected. With the headwind, it seemed like I was climbing an extra 1 or 2 percent. Nevertheless, I kept good tempo, with no real digs. I had no serious ailments, other than my right hand going numb. My legs felt good, no cramping. My concentration was real good today, I was able to focus most of my energy to put as much power into the pedals. My balance was good. Bicycle gear is working well, no signs of shifting problems. I have to replace the front tire soon. I met up with Roger on the last mile or two of the ascent. I planned on going to the top in high tempo and then turn around to pickup Roger on the way up. When I reached the plateau "bridge", I looked back I didn't have much of a gap, maybe a 2 or 3 hundred yards. At that point, I changed my mind, turned around, picked up Roger, and commenced the remainder of the ascent. Being that there was a headwind on the last leg of the descent, I put it in cruise control, no heroics. Other notes, I saw a red tail hawk. They are finally removing the derailed carts. Looks like they are taking a Bulldozer approach. Crush them like cans and cart them off.