(This is my last big weekend ride, building up to the Spooktakular ride on October 25th). The weather is changing. I somewhat misjudged it. I got up around 7AM and it was in the 40’s. Took my nap after having breakfast and got up around 9:30AM. It was still cold. I decided to wear double arms, knees, head cap, thick base layer and newspaper. Turned out that I didn’t need the newspaper or headcap, and perhaps the knee warmers. Nevertheless, I got out after 10AM. The wind was from the South East and somewhat turbulent. The legs felt pretty good to start. I made it to the top of OTR in good average time. When I reached the summit, I pulled over to remove my headcap and the newspaper in my jersey. The Banducci wall had traffic mitigation. I was near max going over the top and was doing out of the saddle efforts. The Alpine Forest climb was more relaxing, albeit higher tempo. An odd combination. The time went quick. I was at the speed bumps before I knew it. I was near max when I reached the top of Arosa. I made my way around the backside and had fun on the descents. I reached 40 MPH. Then I headed to the Banducci Summit. I made it there in good time. Although, I had a tailwind part of the way. I took a few moments to recover and let traffic by. Shortly after, I headed down the mountain. I played it safe and feathered the brakes on the way down since there was a tailwind at that point. There was just one car from behind, so it was mostly safe. The trek to SS was very quick. I had a nice tailwind. I was doing over 25 MPH on most of the flat segments through the farmlands. It felt quick and was lots of fun. I took a few moments to stretch after reaching the entrance to SS. I made my way around the backside and then the descent into town. I put in a good sprint. I reached 40 MPH on the downhill while in the tuck. I stopped at the local park to take a quick bio. From there, I headed into town. I made it through the tunnel in about 1:12 hours. So, I was doing good time, but the tailwind had something to do with it. I stopped at the local mini mart to mix a powder drink and then got back on the road. The return trip was a game of patience. There was a headwind most of the time. I was using my small gears most of the time and held moderate tempo. I think I passed boss Hogs in around 1:43-ish hours. After reaching the base of the last climb, I decided to wait till I reached the summit to feed. I took it easy on the climb. I was doing in and out of the saddle efforts at moderate tempo. I kept the tempo going over the top. After reaching the summit, I pulled over to feed a Clif Bar. After I finished, I swapped the GoPro battery and got back on the road. Route 202 had a lot of traffic mitigation, so I was playing it safe by letting traffic by at every chance. I had to merge with traffic to make the turn onto OTR. Descending off OTR was mostly fun and relaxing. I pushed over Mariposa and then made my way to the top of Weston doing the dig. I shut it down once there.

Concentration was good. I had a few things to think about. My patience was in check with minimal lapses and no gremlins worth mentioning. Balance and form was good. Ailments were minimal. I experienced modest quad soreness, some hints of soreness in the knees. None of which escalated. And the usual hand soreness. Nutrition was good. I had a bowl of oatmeal with a half a banana and some grapes. I had some grapes just before the start of the ride. I fed a Clif Bar with water and two bottles of the sport drink. Gear worked flawlessly. The bike is whisper quiet. The new chain that I installed yesterday is working perfectly. The only take aways were the knee warmers. The left knee warmer kept slipping, so annoying. I’m questioning if I should buy new ones.
Other notes,
I saw one cyclist in SS and another one or two cyclists on my way back.