The weather is fantastic! Nice and cool, in the 60's. Winds from the North West. A perfect day to go to SS. I wore arms, knees, a thin base layer and some newspaper in the jersey. I decided to leave my jacket behind at the last minute. Turned out to be the right choice. The legs felt pretty good to start. I made it to the summit of OTR in good time. The Banducci Wall had some traffic mitigation, so I was constantly looking around. I was near max going over the top, but had matches left in the tank for the remainder of the climb. I was doing no less than moderate tempo to the summit. I made it there in good average time. After taking a few moments to recover, I let traffic by and then headed down the mountain. It was safe. No traffic from behind and the wind was steady. The trek to SS was mostly steady tempo. I was going into a headwind at that time. I made my way around the backside of SS and then headed down and into town. I put in a sprint at the beginning of the downhill. I stopped at the local park to take a quick bio. From there, I headed into SS. I forgot to check the time at the tunnel. I stopped at the local mini-mart to mix a powder drink. From there, I got back on the road. The return trip through the farmlands went well. I had a tailwind most of the way back. I made it to Boss Hogs in about 1:25-ish minutes. So I gave up about 5 minutes on the return. Not bad for the first ride to SS this season. I decided not to feed at the base of the last climb and waited till I reached the summit. The climb went as planned. Steady tempo, no less than moderate. I pushed over the top and then found a place to feed. After feeding, it was non-stop back to home. Route 202 had some traffic mitigation. I had to sprint to get to the left turn onto OTR as traffic was approaching from behind. The OTR descent was mostly fun and games. I was able to enjoy it. I pushed over Mariposa and then made my way back to Weston. I shut it down after digging to the top of it.

Concentration was good. Minimal lapses, no gremlins to speak of. I had a few things to think about, so it helped stay focused. Balance and form was good. Ailments were minimal. Some hand soreness while digging out of the saddle. My left upper quad was hinting on soreness on the last quarter of the ride. It didn't escalate. My right inner thigh cooperated. Nutrition was good. I fed half a banana, grapes, and some apple sauce before departing. Gear worked flawlessly. Although, the GPS mount raised when I was descending into the farmlands on my way out. My guess is that it start to get loose when I road over the water grates towards the bottom of the descent. Other notes, no cyclists today.