Rode solo, as usual -- one of these days my riding buddy will come home from vacation and maybe I'll have someone to ride with again! Then again maybe not -- at least not until the heat breaks. No one I know likes to get up at the crack of dawn and get started before the sun rises.

Started at 5:45 a.m. to beat the heat. Started at the parking lot for the pony rides in Griffith Park, up to the L.A. Zoo, over to the L.A. River Bike Path, up to Victory then back down all the way to Fletcher Drive, then back to the bike path entrance at the zoo. Instead of heading immediately back to the parking lot, I took a detour - turned right instead of left and followed Zoo drive for an additional couple of hills and an extra 3 miles. Back at the car by 7:15 a.m., just as it started to climb into the 80s. 18 miles instead of my usual 15, and a little faster than last weekend, so I feel pretty good about that, and the hills are getting a little easier.