This weekends hill work is paying off. After resting yesterday I did my usual morning ride. An 18 mile loop which is rolling but has a nice hill in the middle and at the end. Since I do this ride at least twice a week it is my progress measure. No wind today - my partner and I rode it hard. We topped the last hill at an average of 18.2mph beating our best speed this year by 0.5mph. We didn't draft each other this time - if we did I am sure we could have done a little better. My best speed ever on this loop was last year when three of us - each doing 5 minute pulls topped the last hill at an average of 18.7MPH. This morning the knee was almost pain free - just a litttle twinge at the end of the last hill and some stiffness during the cool down. The conditioning is coming back - but it is always such a painful process.