The whole gang was in blue jerseys today! Sonny couldn't ride yesterday so we rode today. It was great for traffic, especially on the way home with most people preoccupied with the Super Bowl. I've never returned from an East Bay ride so quickly before. Even got home in time to watch the 2nd half of the game. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a normal amount of traffic during the ride. It's not a lot but having expectations of a quieter ride made it feel like there was more traffic. I drove to the start without any warmers on knowing it was going to be warm today and that we'd be taking layers off pretty early into the ride anyway. Was also hoping it wouldn't be too cold at the start. When I got there it felt pretty warm, so didn't have to put on any warmers but I did put on my new windbreaker for the wind chill and it was perfect. I was already starting to get warm after just a few blocks of riding. After Kira's boot camp on Friday, my legs were feeling good and I was planning on going harder today but one of the first things Sonny said was he was going to be slow today. Oh-oh! Bob talked me out of working too hard on a long weekend ride. The hard efforts are for shorter weekday rides. Okay! I did put in some efforts here and there. The extra fitness meant I was in front of the guys more for photos and I could catch up pretty easily after they passed. On Morgan Territory, there was a deer standing in the middle of the road. As I approached it headed back to the hillside. I was expecting it to hop the barbwire but instead it limbo'd under it. It was funny they way it contorted itself. All the hills were green and there were some wildflowers, not as many as I was expecting. Also some cherry blossoms. The backside of Morgan Territory being so green was absolutely beautiful. We were cursed with a headwind on the way back which made the ride down Camino Tassajara feel harder than it normally is. I always remember it as an climb then a down but the down felt very short today.