Today was a picture perfect day for going on a bike ride! A bit cool, but warm enough to wear just shorts and short sleeves. I put on some arm warmers, but took them off as I reached OTR, on the outbound. The winds were in the favorable direction. My legs felt fresh when I got out the door. They stayed with me all the way up to Banducci summit. When I reached the base of the descent, my legs started to feel a bit heavy. I ended up backing off the pace and let my body recover. As I was approaching SS, I noticed that I was doing good time. Probably a minute or two ahead of time. As I crested the summit of SS, I recovered for the next mile, up until I reached the tunnel, under 1hr. I then did good tempo through town, down to Pelliser. My legs were feeling a lot better at that time. So, I lifted my pace to high. Every now and again, I sat up and stretched. I continued to do good time, all the way to Boss Hogs in under 1:20 hrs. The next leg was the last climb up CVR. I felt good and held between good and high tempo, slowing down here and there to let my body recover. After the summit, it was just down to business and finish up the ride. My ailments consisted mostly of lower back pain. It felt like muscle soreness. I experienced this a bit on the last ride, but this time it lingered a bit more than I would have liked. I think I need to start doing more strength training to aid my lower back. Maybe start back on squats? Other than that, everything else was in check. Digs... I did 3 digs, one over the Banducci wall (because of traffic behind me), over the summit of SS, and the last summit over CVR. I had real good concentration today, I felt in the zone for the greater part of the ride. Leg Balance was good, still room for improvement this year. Gear is working well, although I did hear my chain skip one or two times. Perhaps going over the rough pavement is a factor? The gopro stopped when I reached Country Club, not sure why. I think it stopped a second time. I can't remember. I ended up putting it into 1080p video mode at the top of Banducci. It worked perfectly from that point on. I have the extra battery bac pac on the gopro. No need to swap out batteries with this configuration. Other notes, I almost ran over a squirell in SS descent. Almost the same exact spot that I ran over last year. I think I got it on video. When I reached the end of CVR, approaching route 202, I noticed a cyclist behind me. He must have been there for a while as he appeared to be doing high tempo and catching up to me. Going down route 202, I did what I usually do. Ride, look back, let traffic by, ride, look back, let traffic by, etc. Until there was a big truck behind me. I had enough gap, so I floored it 34+mph and made my left turn into OTR. From that point on, I didn't see the other cyclist on my tail. Perhaps he continued down route 202?