Being typical October, the winds were high and in the wrong direction. I set out to do the double today, and that's pretty much what I did. In terms of air temperature, it was perfect. The wind was from the south, so it was a quick outing to Keene, and a huge effort on the way back. The main point of today's ride was to test my legs, and see if they could handle a ride of this magnitude, as it will be a baseline ride for the spooktacular. I got some mixed results. I felt perfect all the way till about 1 or 2 miles from the Summit, coming from Keene. At that point, my right leg started to show signs of cramping. So, I had no choice but to alter my pedaling style, get out of the saddle and slow down a bit. I was thinking of not doing the Tour de Teh part. I stopped at the summit, as usual, and ate a power bar, also took on some fluids. I think I spend 3 or 4 minutes. I decided, at that point, to see what my legs would do if I continued with the planned ride. I was able to make it to Route 202 without any serious pains, so I continued. Again, seeing how my legs would respond. I made it to the top of the Banducci summit and felt ok. At that point, I was all in. My original plan was to cut across the farmlands and bypass SS. That's what I ended up doing. The winds did not change and, as expected, there was a fierce headwind on the way back. I was pretty much fighting my way through the farmlands. My right leg started to bother me just a bit. Say about every 5 to 10 minutes. So, I did what I did on the Keene part. Alternate pedaling force to my left leg, out of the saddle and stretching constantly. That seemed to do the trick, but I wasn't able to put full force into the ride, as expected. I did modest tempo through the winds and kept it that way all the way up to Cummings Valley Rd. In terms of provisions, I had taken the bottles out of the mailbox locker, drank as much as I could from my current bottles, switched and rode on. From there, I ate at the top of Banducci, having half the power bar then. And, at the top of Cummins Valley road, I had the other half. So, that point, I felt well fed. In terms of digs, pretty much none, except over the top of the Loop Monument. After that, no digs. Concentration was pretty good. Some blips of mis-focus, but nothing to deter my pace. Balance is good, considering the situation with my ailments. I think the new cleat positions are working well. Other notes, the chain derailed early in the ride. No clue why, but re-engaging it was not a problem. There were more people at the monument than usual. They were lucky, because there was a huge train on its way up while they were waiting. I saw a new animal at the mini farm. Not sure what it was, but looked to be different than the usual ducks and chickens. Maybe a Turkey Vulture, but this one didn't have the usual dark feathers. There was lots of cows in the pasture on the last leg of the ride, through the plains onto route 202.

Another note, my stomach was bothering me prior to the ride. It caused a bit of a delay in the departure. The good news is that it went away from the entire ride.