Typical spring weather. Cool, in the 60's Winds from the North West. Great day to go to SS. The legs felt responsive from the start. Didn't take much to get warmed up. I ended up bringing my arm warmers at the last minute and installed the extra case for extra space. The body felt good today. I made it to the end of OTR in good time. Made my way up the Banducci wall and the remainder. Doing mostly high tempo. I reached the summit in 36 minutes and change. I probably would have done better had the winds been less. IE, rode earlier in the day. I reached the summit and took a few moments rest. I let traffic by and then headed downhill. I had to let a car pass as I was descending. After that, it was fun and games, tucking my way through the speedy sections. The wind was stronger than I anticipated while making my way out to SS. I was having a tough time holding 15 MPH. I knew I was losing time on this section of the ride. I made my way around the back. I switched pages on the GPS until I reached the tunnel. The downhill was a treat. Nearing 40 MPH. I reached the tunnel in almost exactly 1 hour. I zipped through town and headed back. I had a tailwind most of the way through the flat lands. The legs continued to feel good so, I was pushing more than usual. I had a cross tail on Pelliser. I was wondering what my time was going to be when I reached Boss Hogs. I calculated the minutes to the next turn. My estimates were close. I reached Boss Hogs in almost exactly 1:20 hrs. So, I didn't lose any time after reaching the tunnel in SS. The last climb was next. Again, the legs felt good. I held high tempo most of the way. I kept the power down over the top. After reaching the summit, I pulled over to swap out the GoPro battery. I got back on the road. I practiced riding no-handed. I'm getting better. Starting to fell like the younger days. I was held that position for a few hundred yards. I felt like I could put power down, even in that position. When I put my hands back down, the legs felt heavy. Very strange, took me by surprise. It took a while for the legs recover. Route 202 was mostly traffic mitigation. I hate this time of the day on that road. So much traffic. Nevertheless, I made it to OTR safely. When I was descending on OTR, a squirrel crossed the road. An oncoming car was passing and struck it.

Rest in peace...

I got to Mariposa. The legs were a bit heavy and the headwind didn't help. AS I was making my way to the next street, I could see that I was on good time. So, I kept the tempo high for the remainder of the ride. Concentration was good. I had a slight sense of urgency, so a bit of incentive there. There were hints of gremlins here and there. I think it was the time of the day. Balance and form felt good. Ailments were next to none. Gear worked great. The bike is making mystery noises as I'm putting down power while out of the saddle. Will have to diagnose that issue soon. Other notes, no other cyclists today.