How the weather changes so quickly here. The other day it was snowing, and now it's partly cloudy. I decided to head out to SS. I was hoping to do the entire loop. But it wasn't to be. The weather was not cooperating. Winds from the south today. The temperature was great. Around 50 degrees. I wore the usual cool weather kit. At the last moment I decided to take my skull cap. I'm glad I did, because it was cold on the last half of the ride. So, I made my way to the end of OTR. Doing good time. I headed up the Banducci wall. I had about 1 minute to decide where I wanted to go. I thought to myself that I wasn't going to head out to SS, so why not climb the Alpine Forest. At the last moment, I decided to go for it. It was nice. The wind was on my back for most of the climb. I was doing good tempo. When I reached the Banducci summit, I took a couple minutes rest. I wanted to let traffic by. I wasn't sure how fast I was going to descend. As, there was gravel on the road from the snow. Turns out that the wind was turbulent. So, I was riding the brakes most of the way down. The trek through the farmlands was a chore. No fun. Mostly head down and ticking over the minutes. The last climb gave more respite. The false flat, at the summit was nice, but still into the wind. Getting back to OTR from route 202 didn't exactly feel safe. I pulled over two times to let traffic by. From there it was the nice descent through OTR and the usual push over Mariposa. Concentration felt good. Despite the weather conditions. Some signs of gremlins, but mostly benign. Ailments consisted of slight right knee soreness as I was climbing. Not to detract from my tempo. Balance and form felt good. I was having to lean into the wind on the flat-lands. Hardly a lack of balance, quit the contrary. Gear is working great. Other notes, no other cyclists today.