Today's weather was cold. In the low 40's, winds from the North-West and turbulent. I wore 2 base layers, including a compression shirt AND long sleeve jersey. Arms, knees, skull cap, face mask, and full gloves. I had two ailments I was concerned about before the ride even started. Saddle soreness and my right knee has been acting up the past few days. To my delight, these ailments never escalated and, in fact, felt better on the bike than off. Despite the cold weather, I felt good right out the door. I'm liking the new saddle position. I think my form felt better this time than the previous trip out to SS. I started with a modest pace. I got warmed up fast. I did good time to Route 202. The wind, however, prevented a good overall time. Given that I have new gear, in particular the 32T rear cassette cog. I was anxious to see what it was going to feel like going up the Banducci wall. It really did feel good to have that extra gear. I was between my 25, 28, and 32. I was using my 32 while in the saddle and upshifted to the 28 or 25 while out of the saddle. It really did make the climb more comfortable. I recovered on the false flats and did moderate to good tempo to the summit. I took a breather at the summit and commenced the ride to SS. It was still cold at this point and I took a good look around to determine if the clouds were going to hold up. It looked good, so I commenced. It was mostly fun and games on the descent. I practiced my tuck position on two occasions. The trek to SS was mostly moderate tempo, the usual boring stuff, but good to recover from the climb. I think I reached the SS tunnel close to 1 hour +/- 2 minutes. After SS, I held moderate tempo on the return Bandcucci. Pelliser had turbulent wind conditions, mostly a hinderance. I could only hold 17 mph, and not much more. The wind was from the West, so I had a tailwind only on the East bound roads. After reaching the last climb, I held good tempo most of the way. I recovered on the false flats and made my way home on the downhill, mostly fun and games. Concentration was good, I did have a few lapses and even a bit of the crazies, but I was able to talk myself down and get back into the zone. There were a few gremlins out there, somewhat a distraction, but not a game changer. Balance and form felt real good today, I really did feel like my legs were in sync. Gear was working flawless. No front derailleur grinding while in the 32T as it was doing on the previous ride. It seems to be mostly dialed in. I have to install the back plate, and will hopefully receive it sometime this week (from Action Sports). Ailments consisted of cold exhaustion, and not a whole lot else. Other notes, nothing going on in SS in terms of race.com activity.