I disagree with your thoughts on Lightning Rod. The ride imo feels pretty similar to how it did last year especially when it warms up later in the day.
I agree that it is similar. To me, it feels maybe 5% slower, but that 5% loss in speed feels very noticeable to me. After years of riding that ride, I thought the forces felt much weaker.
Rode LR first time this past Tuesday and it’s mid, one valley messed my back up pretty good from jackhammering. The quad down was decent other than that pretty basic and plain