Today was warmer than the previous ride by a long shot. It was around the mid 80's. The winds were from the North-West, so I had a tailwind on the way back. The primary purpose of this ride (besides the workout) was to see how the bike responded with different wheels. More on the later. I forgot to start the GPS, so I missed about 1 mile of data. My legs felt good as I made my way up to the top of the descent. I was cautious about the downhill because the wheels I were riding today are a little more sensitive in the wind. Needless to say, I made it to the bottom safely, while soft pedaling most of the way down. The ascent proved to be a real challenge, as it was the first time of the season that I rode in this heat. I had to really gauge my efforts, otherwise risk overheating. My body felt good. But the heat exhaustion kept me from maintaining a higher tempo that I'm used to. I was able to make my way up the climb without blowing up or having to slow to a crawl. I was having to get out of the saddle every minute or two just to let my body use different muscles and prevent cramping. My leg balance was pretty good, I didn't have to make conscious adjustments. I put my attention to a virtual horizon and let me legs follow. Overall, I made it to the top in one piece. I'm contemplating on doing my rides earlier. Now for the gear stuff. As I mentioned, the primary purpose of this ride was to determine where the clicking and creaking noises are coming from. I fitted my old spinergy wheels to the bike and rode them today. One thing that I noticed about the wheel as I was descending or going above 15mph, was that there was a periodic clapping noise. I seem to remember this from the past. My intuition is that the tire may have become slightly unglued at the stem. When I got to the bottom of Keene, I inspected the wheels for damage and there didn't appear to be any. So, thumping noise aside, the bike still made noises, but not quite as much as with the other wheels. Getting out of the saddle and stomping on the pedals still produced a noticeable amount of noise. However, I believe it was less by as much as 30-40%. With that said, I'm not exactly sure what to do next in terms of purchasing a new set of wheels. I think i'm going to put the bike on the trainer and stomp on the pedals to see if I can replicate the noise. Other notes about the ride, I saw the paramedic helicopter land today just as I made the base of Keene.

My weight is hovering around 144-145lbs.