Great day for an outdoor ride. The sun is out, blue skies, moderate wind from the North West. I decided to head out to the Alpine Forest and then to SS. This should put me on track for a Caliente ride later this month. I wore exactly what I needed. Arms, knees, base layer. The legs felt good to start. I made it to the end of OTR in good average time. The Banducci wall had some traffic mitigation, otherwise I was within my limit using my lowest gear. As always, the Alpine Forest was more relaxing. The minutes went by fast. I was within my limit by the end of Arosa. I kept the tempo moderate, conserving my matches. I made it to the summit of Banducci and took a few moments rest. Hydrated and checked the GoPro battery. All was well. I planned on feeding later down the road. The downhill was fun. The trip to SS was into a headwind, but not so turbulent or significant. I was holding 15 to 16 MPH most of the way. When I neared the back climb I took a few moments to stretch. I was getting BIO signs, so that was incentive to get into town. I was having to coach myself into keeping the tempo steady, no hurrying. I made a pit-stop at the park and headed back on the road. I zipped through town. I didn't bother checking the time at the tunnel. I made my way back on the farmlands. I was doing 18 MPH+ most of the way back. I checked the time at Boss Hogs, but forgot what the GPS read. I'm wanting to say I was around 20 minutes to the good, compared to the usual route. When I made it to the base of the last climb, I pulled over to feed and swap the battery from my GoPro camera. After that, I got back on the road. I was careful to get my legs warmed up again. I had to make another pit-stop while making my way up the climb. From there, it was non-stop. No digs over the summit, just keeping the tempo steady. Route 202 had minimal traffic. Making it to OTR was very safe. From there, it was mostly soft pedaling till Mariposa and then back home. Concentration was good. The morale was good going out the door and was more of the same on the road. Balance and form was good. Ailments were minimal. Some mild quad soreness, hints of knee tenderness in places. Nothing escalated. I feel good now. Nutrition was good. I fed a Clif Bar at the base of the last climb. I drank all my Gatorade and half my water. Gear worked flawless, although there are some mystery carbon creaking going on. Still investigating that issue. Other notes, no other cyclist out there today.