Great day for a ride to SS! Perfect temperature. Winds from the North West. The legs felt pretty good to start. The morale was good, very concentrated. Now that I had to order a new MP3 speaker, the old one was sent back. I was going to use my Sony Walkman, but it refused to start, even after plugging it in for a half hour. I ended up using my smartphone as an MP3 player. It worked. Not great, but got the job done. The miles went quick today. Very little setbacks. Although, I did have a problem before the ride started. The Di2 wasn't responding. I had to diagnose the problem with the PC interface. It found no problems. I'm not sure what I did, but after swapping batteries, cleaning and pushing buttons, it came back to life. I had no issues on today's ride. I was counting off the streets as I made my way through OTR and Banducci. Banducci felt good. I wasn't red-lining it too much. But I was holding a descent pace. I made it to the summit in good time. The descent was a treat. Reaching speeds in excess of 40 MPH. Going out to SS was more or less what I expected. The usual grind through the wind. I was keeping track of time, and noticing that I was doing good. I was trying to calculate where I would be, and if it seems realistic. I made my way around the backside of SS. Having fun on the descent. I made it through the tunnel in 1:00 and change. I zipped through town. The legs continued to feel good. After getting back on Banducci, on the return, I was starting to think about what my time would be, when I reach boss hogs. I made my way through the farmlands. Reaching Boss Hogs in under 1:20. So, I didn't loose any time, on the return. The last climb was good. Just before, I had to pull over to swap out the GoPro battery. I was holding a solid tempo. I felt strong in the upper body, and the legs were responding well. I pushed it over the top. After reaching the summit, I took a few moments respite and continued. I was using my Fidlock water bottle system for the first time. I was having problems at this point. The bottle didn't want to remain seated into the universal adapter. I have to experiment with it, more. Once I got that squared away, I put the hammer down and made my way to Route 202. There was little traffic, so no worries. From there, it was mostly fun and games. The usual grind up Mariposa. Concentration was good. I had a few things to think about, and the morale felt good. Balance and form was good. Ailments, some right knee soreness, that lingered for a few minutes, in the middle of the ride. Towards the end, the quads were getting a bit sore, but not so much to detract from the tempo. Gear worked well. The Fidlock water bottle holder system will take some getting used to. I like the fact that there's no cage to get in the way. Once the bottle is in place, it stays. The problem I had today, was that the universal holder wasn't holding the bottle properly on the last half of the ride. I had to pull over on two occasions to adjust it. Removing the bottle is easy peesy. Drinking takes a bit getting used to, as the adapter gets in the way of squeezing the bottle. Putting the bottle back in the holder will take getting used to. I was fumbling on a few occasions. Other notes, I saw one cyclist as I was descending OTR.

Other notes, I put in a PB on this route, for this season.

Other notes, the HR sensor wasn't getting a good signal till after I was making my way up OTR.