Training objective: 2 hour tempo ride with the cadence at 70-80 rpm's and the heart rate between 145-150 bpm's. Took out the Specialized Epic FSR Pro Carbon World Cup again (returning it tomorrow morning). The Specialized proprietary "Brain Shock Technology" is quite something - you just float over any corrugated gravel surfaces - quite a change from the jarring hardtail... And I definitely used all 12 gears on th 1x12 SRAM XI Eagle today - phew, I forgot how tough those hills are (never mind in the heat) - and how many! I kept telling myself, "okay, right, this is the last hill coming up", but no there was another one, and another, and another... Average power estimated by Strava to be 205 Watts, and I managed to bag 5 new PR's including the brutal climbs (there were only 7 segments on this whole stretch). I've since created some new ones so I have some targets to hit. :) Definitely need a couple of weeks to get my climbing legs back after all that time on the flats in Amsterdam. Rest day tomorrow, and boy am I looking forward to it! :) Oh yeah - only saw one snake on the road today. Didn't notice any game as I passed by Botlierskop... though trust me, I was tempted to pull over and enjoy the scenery a few times (okay, to catch my breath) but nooooo, it was all work and no play as I kept my head down and kept grinding away... :) Picking up another demo bike on Tuesday morning (a Giant Anthem X 29er) - if they'll let me keep it a couple of days, I can do an easy recovery ride on Tuesday, then a 2 hour tempo ride on Wednesday to compare it to the other bikes. Otherwise, I'll need to do the tempo ride on Tuesday while I have the demo bike...