Real dirt rides with a Golden Ratio are exceedingly rare and I kinda forgot this is one of them. I was also surprised to find out there's a Cobani Gyro & Kebab in HMB. It must have opened fairly recently. Combine that with beautiful weather and it was a no-brainer. When I got out to the freeway though, I saw a huge cloud bank hugging the ridgetop which didn't look promising. The traffic on 92 was terrible for some reason and once we were on the coast side, it was fully overcast. Originally I was going to have lunch after the ride, which would've been a little late, but with the traffic, I decided to have lunch slightly early and before the ride. I also figured I'd give the marine layer a chance to burn off. It ended up being the right call as the sun started to come out while I was eating. I'm glad the sun came out because the wind would've made it too chilly to go just shorts and short sleeves. It only got warmer as the clouds continued to disappear. I feel like the wildflowers right now are at their peak and it's nicer now than when I did this ride 2 1/2 months ago. It's not superbloom, super concentrated, like some years but there are more varieties of wildflowers everywhere and it's really pretty. The singletrack section of Cowell-Purisima Coastal Trail was fully overgrown with wildflowers. Thankfully there weren't any bees. Purisima Creek still had small muddy crossings but many of them. The dirt seemed dry otherwise but it had to have been on the damp side because it was tacky and slower rolling than usual. I was wondering why climbing 15% was feeling harder than the 23% at Briones on Tuesday. The Epic EVO does feel more stable climbing and the front wheel tracks and doesn't feel loose or wants to lift off the ground like the Stumpjumper does when it's steep (and/or loose). Both Purisima Creek Trail and Whittemore Gulch were so beautifully green and lush. Also the Epic EVO is the perfect bike for descending Whittemore Gulch. So much fun! I was definitely in my happy place. Pretty bad headwind once I got down off of Higgins Canyon though. Not my happy place.