I had lab today. The crappy thing was that when I got to the lab, they were closed. So, I lost about 1 or 2 hours in my day. I was real sleepy. I decided to take a quick 1 hour nap. This meant that I was on par for a ride starting around 12pm. Fortunately, the weather wasn't scorching hot today, but it was warm. Hardly any clouds in the sky. The winds were from the North-west. My plan was to go to Willow Springs and decide whether to continue into the wind farms. I felt good, so I went for it. This is definitely good practice for the GranFondo. The summit of Willow Springs was about 2 to 3 miles south. The last part was steep and I was putting in a big effort to get over it and keep my momentum going. I was also extra precautions about the traffic. As I was making my way down, I had to pull over at least 2 or 3 times to let traffic pass. Once I made the left hander into the wind farms. Shortly after making the turn, I got off my bike to re-seat my wheels as they were making some noises. I'm not sure if it helped, but it didn't hurt and I needed the minute break. After that, I made my way up the mountain. The climb isn't that long, but there are some steep sections. One of which reaches 11%. The road still looked squishie on the edges, so I was making sure I stayed in the center of the road. After making it over the summit, it was a nice descent all the way to the 58 freeway. There was just a slight uphill to get over the freeway and onto the West-bound freeway on-ramp. Crossing the freeway was exactly as I remembered it from a previous ride. There was a nice wide shoulder and it took around 7 minutes to reach Sand Canyon. From that point on, it was somewhat hellish because I was going directly into a headwind all the way back to Route 202. To make matters worse, I was low on fluids. I had to ration what I had. I could have easily used an extra bottle or two of water and/or a sport drink. Nevertheless, once I reached the west-bound trek to route 202, I just put my mind in a place where I didn't have to count the miles. I convinced myself that I could make it without suffering too much dehydration by rationing and being very attentive to where I put my efforts into. After I reached route 202, I drank what was left of my cytomax. Then I had the remainder of my water after making it over Mariposa. I knew I had it made at that point. As soon as I got back I guzzled 2 cups of OJ, and a cup of cold water. Concentration today was good for the most part, but there were some cases of the crazies that set in on certain parts of the ride. Fortunately, I kept my cool and coached myself into maintaining focus. Ailments consisted mostly of saddle soreness, right hand numbness and some slight cramping in the first few miles of the ride. I did experience some mild dehydration. Balance and form was average, perhaps a little better. Gear is working well. From what I gather, my Gopro is working well. I didn't have to touch it since making it to route 202 on the out-bound. Other notes, I saw 2 other cyclists today.

Other notes (2), I had some stomach cramps just before departing. It subsided shortly after starting the ride.