ENDURANCE, CHECK; POWER,?

Yesterday's ride wasn't a disaster. A bit of discombobulation at the beginning got me out of routine, however. Late getting up, late leaving, a few minutes late getting to the start. It got a few more minutes late as I looked at the computer and realized I'd forgotten to switch from the time-trial read-out (which only showed BPM and RPM). Frustration because I forgot how to switch it back (actually I could switch it, but added the extra push of the "enter" button and it kept reverting to the tt screen). OK, I would just live with it.
Then I saw the screen indicating my heart was beating at 30BPM. Dang! As it turns out, I need a new battery, but for this ride, I also had no accurate reading. But, back to the topic of the day.

The first hill is short, so I gave no thought when it took an extra gear to get up and over. The next is longer and steeper. Generally, I do this in the middle ring with a cog to spare. Sometimes, I use the last one (28). Surprise! Quickly into the granny and moved right up to the 28. Once past the 24% ramp I dropped back a cog, but I gave my legs a dirty look. Where had all the power gone?
I now had the four hills on Loop 360 with which to contend. I concentrated on RPMs, keeping above 80 most of the time and no longer worrying about what gear it took to keep spinning. It wasn't until I turned onto Bee Cave that I wondered what my time was. Then it crossed my mind that I hadn't hit the "start" button on the timer. I gave it a stab and saw the "timer started" across the screen.
Now, with a following wind, the hills were not so intimidating, but I was still a gear or two short. Making the turn back on FM620, I generally kept the wind behind, on my right shoulder, but occasionally on my right. This might not turn out so bad if I could get a boost up the dam and Steiner Ranch. My hopes were dashed as I went down toward the dam with a strong wind in my face. The flat road across the dam had me in the middle ring. I got a break going up to Steiner Ranch and once over the top, the slight turn to the left was all I needed to put the wind again behind on my right shoulder.
All this time, my RPMs stayed at or above 80 and my energy level was good. Even turning into the wind at Anderson Mill didn't slow me down. It would have been nice to know my heart-rate, but the perceived exertion was only in the 7 range.
My average speed of 17.2mph (for the 1hr 41min it was on) exceeded the average for this loop, so I'm happy with that. I just need to find where the power went.