Ok, today was the start of my preperation for the Gran Fondo. The weather could not have been better. It was nice and cool, in the 60's with winds from the north. My legs felt good from the start. I knew what I had in for me, so I started very modest. Doing average time through OTR and Highline. I made my way to Willow Springs in good time even with the modest tempo that I held. Today was the first time I tried a new sport drink, aside from Gatorade. I tried a Cytomax powder drink. It was the "fruit" flavor. In short, I don't like the way it tastes. So much so, that I wish I had tried it before the ride. It reminds me of Milk of Magnesia. Retched in taste. No doubt I'm going to send it back to Performance. Question is, do I try a different flavor? Getting back to the ride. It became apparent to me that I get insentive from drinking good tasting sport drinks while riding. The stuff I took today just didn't do it for me. So, I had to deal with that. I wasn't sure how many miles this ride was. I estimated around 45 miles, I was off by about 8 miles. The wind-farm region was a mixture of climbing, downhill and rolling terrain. The start of the Willow Springs climb gets around 7.5% in some parts. No doubt, this is where the field will spread out on the Gran Fondo. The summit came fairly quick. The downhill was a matter of staying out of the way of traffic. Fortunately, there were no cars as I was descending. I can say that regardless of the fact that the downhill had sweeping turns, there was a significant cross wind. I had to stay in the middle of the lane and lean into the wind to keep my line. Once I made the left hander, into the wind-farms, it was uphill, but enjoyable. The summit came quick. Once I reached the summit, I ate my first power bar. After stopping, I looked at my Gorpo, and i noticed that it was turned off. I was bummed out because I knew that I didn't start it when I got out the door. Nevertheless, when I commenced the ride, I started the Gopro and left it on for the remainder of the ride. The leg, heading out to 58 was mostly rolling and downhill. They pavement looked to be fairly new. The right side of the road looked solid, however it tends to sink when you ride over it. Such was the case as I was making my way to the 58. One of my wheels slipped for a fraction of a moment, I was lucky to keep the rubber side down. AFter reaching the 58, I went over the bridge and assessed the shoulder to see if it was safe to ride. Keeping in mind that this was the route the Gran Fondo will take. Turns out that there was a significant shoulder, well in excess of 5 feet. I went for it, did my usual check over my shoulder every 30 seconds or so. I think it took me a little over 5 minutes to reach the nearest exit. From there, I had to decide how to approach Sand Canyon. I knew it was about 5 miles each way, and that the amount of climbing was negligible. I decided to go until my computer read 5 miles. It took me straight out into the country side, very desolate place. I was mostly a false flat with a slight incline on the way out. There was a cross-tailwind on the way out. I wasn't sure how the return trip was going to feel. Turns out that it was fairly pleasant. The wind wasn't significant factor and I was able to cruise at a minimum of 15 mph (for the most part). All the while, I was monitoring my liquid provisions. The faile-safe plan being to stop at the nearest quickee mart and get some additional provisions. Once I got back on to E. Tehachapi Bllvd, the wind had turned into a headwind, which was what I expected. I was putting land marks into my mind. The first being the cement factory. And the next Steuber. The Gran Fondo makes a left onto Willow Springs. But I decided to go a little bit down the road instead. Once I made my way to Steuber, I cruised it to Highline. The return trip being the usual headwind dictated that I do steady, modest tempo. I was feeling good, yes fatigue, but nothing in the realm of bonking. After riding through Highline, I stopped a couple miles into it to have my last Power Bar. I removed the wrapper just a bit and ate as I road. Unfortunately, at one point, I tried to remove my bottle to drink, and fumbled it. The car from behind didn't run over it, so I turned around, picked it up. No harm done. So I continued. Eating about 75% of the bar. I decided to wait till I reached the summit of Highline to eat the rest, and that's what I did. My liquid provisions were right on the money. There were no moments that I felt dehydrated. I had about 2 or 3 swigs left of water and about 1 swig left of the sport drink. That got me home safe and sound. I knew I had it made when I reached the summit of Highline. Some time around the point of reaching the last 1/4 mile uphill, my right calf started to show signs of cramping. I was bummed out about that and was hoping it wouldn't get worse. It didn't, but I did have to adjust my riding style and stretch on every occasions. Fortunately it didn't escalate. When I reached OTR, it was mostly fun and games. I made my way home, tending to my right calf. Right now, as I write this, I'm under no pains. I'm hoping that will be the case over the next 24 hours. Concenrtation was real good. Despite the fact that my sport drink was wretched, I kept it together and did what I set out to accomplish. I was in the zone for the majority of the ride. There were hints of gremlins out there, but I'm experienced enough to know how to handle that. Balance and Form wasn't so good. My legs just didn't feel as well as my previous few rides. Perhaps it was the sheer mileage. Gear is working well. The gopro worked over 2 hours on 2 batteries and had 2 dots of charge left when I got home. The smartphone did it's job and had 3 dots of charge left in the housing and full charge on the phone itself.