The mission was to do 5 1/2 hrs Zone 2 91 - 149 watts and 60 cadence for being over geared (33 x 33) some of the 10+% grades for the 3 mountainous 100 milers I’ve thrown my hat in the ring for over the next few months. The new 1.5mm canted shim + the more rigid insoles with a bit higher arch did the job of locking the right arch and ankle towards delivering the same force to the pedals as the left has always done. ✅ Here’s a funny for those that have never ridden to Forest Falls before: and even though I’ve ridden to Big Bear probably 40-50 times in my 30 something years of living in the Inland Empire, today was my first time riding to Forest Falls! So I hook a right off of Highway 38 to head there. The road gets steeper than I’d encountered climbing 38 so far. I can see a thickening of trees up ahead. The road continues to pitch upwards ever more radically. I finally come upon a sign that says Forest Falls then the population then the altitude of 5700 ft. I look at my Garmin 1050 and it says I’m at 4700 ft? So I proceed… I’m thinking that if there is a general store it should appear pretty quickly as I enter the quaint community. Nope! There’s a fire station, I ask someone outside a storage building across the street, where the general store is? They reply “about a 1/4 mile up on the right. I set off climbing again. I’m 1/2 mile up more steep road and no store! I ask another person on if I’ve ridden past it? He says no, it’s a 1/4 mile up on the right! I double take… then take off again. I get another half mile along and no store. I stop at the post office. No one there. A fella pulls up out front. I ask him. He says… (and I 💩 you not) - it’s a 1/4 mile up on the right 👁️ I asked him is this some kind of town joke or prank? He says “What?” I tell him he’s the 3rd person I’ve asked over the span of a good mile or so and all of them said “a 1/4 mile up on the right!” He assured me his info was right… It did turn out to be a quarter mile on up and almost at the other end of the community up such a series of steep pitches upwards that would make it impossible to get to the store in snow season without a snow mobile or tractor. Quaint and beautiful place and the lady behinds the counter was super friendly and helpful. I lost my phone signal on the way up so had no music to babysit my mind. She let use her WiFi to restore signal and reactivate my music for descent back to the IE. Th e weird part was having to pedal to come back down the mountain as by the time I headed down, there was a 15-20 mph headwinds blowing upslope! There was 3 more weird moments to share about this ride: back on the SART I rode upon a coyote in full squat dropping a nugget right next to the trail and he didn’t even flinch as I wizzed by at warp speed. Pretty sure my Insta camera got him in his own flow state moment. I’ll see if I can either grab a clip from that footage or screenshot to add here. The next one was a guy with his bike upside down in the middle of the bike path. I stop to see if he needs help after letting him know I’m a former bike shop mechanic at the Pro Shop level. I spot a link in his chain that’s twisted 45 degrees! I’m wondering how he caused this? Then I look at his rear derailleur, freewheel and pulleys and realize they are abso impacted as in encased in grease and sand! I asked him where was he going? He said out to do the Sunset Loop in Redlands. I asked in if he ever does maintenance on his bike? He said he’d thought about it! I told him to walk his bike up to Tippicanue and call someone to get a ride home. His entire drive train including the derailleurs and everything that has bearings in them need to e replaced! I saw nothing salvageable there. So I ride on… I come upon a large fella on an e-bike stopped in the middle of the trail next a guy wrestling with a blue carbon fiber bike on the ground. At first I through he was a homeless guy as his clothes were torn and I saw blood. Then as I passed, I thought it as a women. Small in stature wearing a blue jersey and black shorts. Almost looked like Jules from Irvine as I grabbed my brakes to do a uturn to check out what’s going on. The big guy was stumped on what to do as it appeared the fella wrestling with the bike had been riding with his head down and ran into a section of chain link fence that appeared to have been cut loose from its post and pushed out from the top into the bike lane at about chest high for the weight of someone climbing over it. He failed to see it and crashed. The e-bike guy rides off and I set about evaluating the guys wounds and signs of damage to his bike. No serious punctures or broken bones and I determine his bike is still ridable but a few scratches. I asked him where he lives and he said he lived over by UCR area. I told him to mount up and I’d escort him to his exit off the trail and to call his wife to let her know what happened and that you’re ok and on your way home. Road with him to the park by Mt Roubidoux and headed left and I headed right. That’s it… I think the Inland Santa Ana River Trail is some kind of Bermuda Triangle! Between myself and being stung 3 times now in the exact same spot on top of my head in the exact same area of the trail and all this just today alone… something vodoo is whirling around that trail! On another note: I’m so excited even though I can see it will take some dedicated focused miles to develop the right legs muscles to match the lefts. But the evidence is clear that there is now more power available from the right quad. Next Level Dragon Mode 🐲🔥🦶🏽🦵🏾🫁🫀🫡👁️👍🏾💗🚴🏾😊 coming up!