As I've been planning for months, I wanted to do a Caliente ride, but take a different route. This time, I went to the Walker Basin via the Caliente Bodfish Road mountain climb. I did a loop around the basin and then headed back. I woke up an hour later than I planned. For some reason, the alarms I set did not go off at 5:00 AM. I got up around 6:00 AM. I shrugged it off and did my thing. Had breakfast, put the gear in the car, quick bio and then shoved off. I made it to the parking lot at around 8:30-ish AM. I assembled my gear, put on the clothing and apparel and then shoved off. I did not forget a thing. I decided not to wear knee warmers. The legs felt pretty good to start. The morale felt good. It took about 15 minutes to reach the base of the climb. When it started, I let my legs to settle in. After about 10 minutes, I micro-managed the climb. I was doing in and out of the saddle efforts. I weaved my way, especially on the steeper slopes. I had the landmarks in my mind. The climb went quicker than I anticipated. I had a tailwind, so that made things go faster. I did not stop on the climb. I figured I'd take photos on my way back. I what appeared to be a fox or coyote in the first part of the climb. After making it to the summit, I pulled over to feed. I had about 3/4 of a Clif Bar with water. After that, I headed down the mountain. I headed east and then around the Walker basin on the paved roads. Turns out that the roads were well paved with minimal dirt. Google maps shows sand on the road. This was not the case. I stopped to take photos of the local wild life and the meadows. I stopped once to Bio and then made my way back. The return climb went quick. It was steep but not too long in distance. Before I knew it, I was at the summit. The Walker Basin sits at around 3300 feet. The summit tops out at just over 4000 feet. So, the majority of the climbing was at the start. Descending was lots of fun. I stopped at one turnout to take photos. I munched the remains of the Clif Bar and then finished the descent. It was fun and games. My arms were sore while descending in the drops. I had to shake them off to keep them from cramping. This seems to be the case on descents like this. After making it back to the base, I made my way back to my car. No hurries, just steady tempo. I made it back to my car and everything looked as I left it. Another one for the books.

Concentration was good. I was a bit upset that I got up an hour late, but I put it behind me. Turned out that the temperature was better. It was warm enough to leave the knee warmers behind. That helped the morale. No gremlins to mention. I kept my patience in check. There were times where it started to veer off course. I held it together. Balance and form was good. My right hip was a bit sore, so I favored out of the saddle efforts today. Nutrition was good. I had just a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I fed a Clif Bar during the ride. Split in two parts, 3/4 and 1/4. I drank about one and a half sport drink and some water with the Clif Bar. Gear worked flawlessly. I think there was a smudge on the camera lens. I will see how it turned out. Other notes, I saw two cyclists on their way out as I was making my way back having just reached the base of the descent. I saw what appeared to be a fox or coyote on the first mile or two of the first climb.