alright. Today's ride was pretty crazy. But first, I hit over 10k miles today. Now back to the ride. The story of the day was the wind! It was from the south and it was FIERCE! The way out was a dream. A very generous tailwind to say the least. I made a good dig over the top of the Banducci Wall. 1/2 the incentive was that there were cars behind, so I got out of the saddle and mashed the pedals over the summit of that small section. I wanted to do the full SS ride, but decided against it due to the traitorous winds. It was very dangerous. I was getting knocked all over the place on the Banducci descent. Very unsettling! The return trip was all about steady tempo. No going for speed records today. I actually made it to Boss Hogs in under an hour. But the winds did not relent. I ended up going 10 minutes over my average ride for this course. The primary concern and purpose of this ride was to see how my legs would handle the new cleat position. From what I can tell, it's looking promising. I was able to put the pedal to the medal over the Banducci wall, and I didn't feel any bit of soreness. However, I still need to do the double, weather permitting, to test my legs further. If that plays out well, then the Spooktacular ride is a go, unless I have problems in the remaining days. My concentration was right on. A few drifting thoughts, but I was able to regain focus pretty quick. Balance, well, from what I could tell, it was good. But the wind conditions made it difficult to judge. Other notes, I stopped at the donkey farm. The mule was very friendly and approached me without any timidness. I also saw 2 ambulances, a fire truck, and a parametic truck going westbound on Route 202. Something must have happened near by.

Forgot to mention, I ate my bailout bar today, half on the Banducci Summit, and the other at the end of Cummings Valley Rd.