Just a bit cooler this morning than yesterday… by about 40 degrees! I didn’t realize quite how cool it was going to be until I found myself up on Skyline at 50 degrees with no legwarmers. I didn’t feel cold; as long as I kept the motor going, that wasn’t a problem. But it was definitely on the damp side up on top, as you can see from the sun shining through the fog in the photo.

Karl, Kevin, Millo, Eric, Marcos and at some point Mike R caught up to us, don’t know when, but all of a sudden up on Skyline, there he was! A moderate pace up the hill, actually pretty slow at the start but the guys warmed up to a faster pace as it went. Sadly, we passed a dead bobcat as we pacelined on Skyline; beautifully-spotted and quite young, sad to see something like that.

The guys seemed concerned about me staying warm but that really wasn’t a problem; I was more concerned about my knees, and I doubt anyone brought spare leg warmers. West-side Old LaHonda stayed damp & drizzly, which for some reason tempered the pace enough that Marcus and I just sorta walked off the front and stayed there all the way to Skyline. Maybe the wet pavement was slowing people down, not wanting to slip. Unfortunately, the promise offered by drier pavement on the 84 descent (into Woodside) may have been too tempting, as Karl slid out nastily in a corner about halfway down, possibly breaking his collarbone (again), right at the start of Cyclocross season. Mike R headed down the hill to get his car for a ride home, and we’re hoping the best for a speedy recovery for Karl. It’s not fun to see something like that happen right in front of your eyes (and I was positioned perfectly to see the whole thing). And of course I’m trying to play it out in my mind, what exactly happened… it could have been the slightly-gusty winds that nail you as you sail through the unprotected corners. I’ll miss Karl’s wheel as he recovers.