Today was a hot one! In the upper 80’s and 90’s in some areas. I was set on doing a metric century, so that’s what I had in mind. I had all my provisions ready. My legs felt pretty good from the start. It became apparent that the heat wasn’t going to let up as I was headed down to Keene. After turning around at the base. I took it easy for the first ¼ mile or so. My legs continued to feel good. I was saving as many matches as possible. The ascent went fast. The tough part was getting through those exposed areas where the sun was just baking away. After reaching the summit, I called home and headed to the mail lockers. I met mom there and swapped bottles, took a small bag of ice. I also got some cooling spray on the knees and calf muscles. Shortly after that, it was the trek to the top of OTR. Avoiding heroics, I kept the tempo nice and steady. Slowed it down when it kicked up. Then I headed down to WS. A pleasant trip. The head-wind wasn’t severe. After reaching WS I turned around. My legs felt a bit sluggish, so I took a mile or two before increasing the tempo. The headwind continued as it was, there, but moderate. I put only what was needed to get over the summit. At this point, I was assessing my provisions. I knew that I had to get to SS with the provisions I had at that moment. I had about 2 bottles of fluids left and a Power Bar. I figured that if I could get to the summit of Banducci with at least a half bottle remaining, that I could make my way to SS. The Banducci climb wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating. I kept the cadence as brisk as possible, even using the 32T. The first mile of the Alpine Forest was real demoralizing, with the heat on the back and radiating from the ground. I was in a tunnel of suffering at that point. I kept telling myself that the speed bumps are just ahead and the summit soon after. This type of self motivation definitely helped! Before I knew it, I was counting off the speed bumps until I reached the last one and the brief flat/downhill section. From there, it was the short kicker in my small gears and then down to the Banducci summit. At this point, I was practicing stretching on the bike. When I reached the summit, I took another provisions check. I had about one bottle to make it to SS. That was going to cut it close. I was already feeling the heat exhaustion in my body and legs at this point. I decided to feed 1/3rd of a Power Bar. Just a bit of insurance. After taking a few moments rest, I replaced the battery on the GoPro, stretched a bit and then headed down. When I was a minute into the downhill, I checked one of my pockets and realized I lost my Tire Squeegee. I was reluctant to turn around, so I just kept going. The trip to SS went quick. Still the heat bearing down. I was constantly reminding myself what I was going to buy. When I reached the Mart, I got all my bottles ready, I dispensed some ice and water in a bottle and bought 2 bottles of Gatorade. I refilled two bottles with the Gatorade, drank what was left, and headed back out. The return trip was enjoyable. The wind was on my back for most of the return. I approached the CV climb with a bit of wisdom. I kept the pace nice and steady, with a moderate push over the top. From this point, I knew I had the ride made. I headed back and finished the ride. When I was about 2 miles from home, I noticed that the front tire was wobbling. I stopped to check it and noticed that the tire had a bulge in the casing, signs of a blowout imminent. I let pressure out to relieve the stress. It held up. Concentration was good for the most part. I had some squirrely lapses from time to time, but nothing serious. I was in the zone for the majority of the ride. Ailments consisted of some right hand numbness, some right calf soreness, some mild knee soreness, heat exhaustion. The calf soreness didn’t escalate as I was putting attention to it. Balance and form felt good, not great. Gear worked good. The smartphone’s Bluetooth disabled when I was on my way back from WS. I pulled over to check it, and noticed that the Bluetooth indicator was not on. I turned on the Bluetooth, the Garmin GPS picked it up. The GoPro worked well, but the first battery ran out before the battery bank was depleted. I used my spare battery with the power bank and it held up till the end. The battery had a full charge when I reached home. Other notes, only one cyclist today. No surprise, due to the extreme heat.