It's warm, but the air was hinting on the cool side. Great day for a ride to SS. The legs felt good from the start. Didn't take much to get warmed up. I did good average time to the summit of OTR. The Banducci Wall had some traffic mitigation, so I was always watching my 6. I was near max over the top. I was doing no less than moderate tempo to the summit. I made it there in about 40 minutes. It felt like I was on better pace. I took a few moments to recover, let traffic by, and then headed down the mountain. The descent was fun, but there was an idiot driver that insisted on passing me at the wrong moment. I made it to the base in one piece and then made my way to SS. The head wind was moderate. I made my way around the backside and then into town. The descent was fun. I was pushing my biggest gear and reaching over 40 MPH. Fun stuff! I forgot to check the time going through the tunnel. Likely in about 1:04ish hours. From there, I zipped through town and made my way back on Banducci. Going through the farmlands was mostly moderate tempo in the saddle. Out of the saddle to stretch from time to time. I made it to Boss Hogs in about 1:27 hours. I thought to myself that there would be no way I'd make the complete ride in two hours. The last climb went well. Just before starting, I checked the GoPro camera. It had enough charge remaining to the summit.
The legs felt good. I kept the tempo going over the top. I pulled over at the top to swap out the battery then got back on the road. Route 202 had no traffic. So, I was able to zip my way back to OTR. From there, it was fun and games on the descent. As I was reaching the top of Mariposa, I noticed that I was on par for a two hour ride. So, I put a bit more into the pedals. I made it back in about 1:59 hours and something seconds. Concentration was good. Minimal gremlins, I had stuff to think about. The music helped! Gear worked flawless. Nutrition was good. Minimal hunger signs. I went through both my Gatorade bottles and some water. Balance and form was good. The legs felt strong as did the body. Other notes, there were no cyclists today.