Ohmygosh, a gray foggy morning, I roll up to the start and there’s just a couple other guys there (Eric and Kevin), but soon we’re joined by John, Jan, Mike, Ludo, Chris, and shortly after the start, Marcos. So heavily outnumbered I made no protest whatsoever about Kevin’s desire to ride up through the park, and for the 3rd consecutive time, the gate at the bottom was open!

Pretty easy ride up the hill overall, although truthfully I wasn’t in a position to confirm that, hanging out around the tail end of the group. The fog cleared about 3/4 of the way up the hill, but made a reappearance on the far side climbing up west-side Old LaHonda. The bunnies that had been so numerous on Old LaHonda before are completely gone now, replaced by the ever-increasing number of really fat Ravens. Maybe we should just call them RFRs for short?

Unfortunately, the days of predictably-dry roads are over, so I’ll be lucky to keep some of the guys in sight on the descents. I just don’t feel comfortable riding over tar stripes and feeling my tires slide a bit, while some of the guys just don’t seem to care. When it’s literally raining, not just drizzly or damp, it’s not so bad. You get consistent traction, and you’re usually on your rain bike with slightly wider tires. But today I was content to let the fearless guys ride off the front, while I wait for more “definitive” weather, completely dry or completely wet. Unfortunately, it’s the completely wet that’s coming.

Yes, I rode Tuesday, yes, it was a magnificent morning, yes, a great group of guys (not that there’d be anything at all wrong with some women showing up!). Yes, I have trouble remembering who was there a day or two later, so I’m looking at some photos from the ride right now (and yes, those photos, as always, are of west-side Old LaHonda). OK, I see Ludo, Mike, Kevin, Eric, John & Jan. Mike wasn’t there at the start but somehow magically appeared up on Skyline, obviously having chased us up the hill. He’s strong enough that he can do that. I rode at a varied pace, riding at the front group’s pace up to the park entrance, then keeping track of the back for the rest of the trip up the hill.

Tomorrow… Thursday morning… probably the coldest ride in many months, and a sign of things to come. The hourly forecast doesn’t look so bad, but you can tell something’s changed. You go outside (something often done at night when taking out the garbage) and it just feels different. Not just a bit colder, but a light breeze that feels like it’s coming from the north pole. Earlier today it still felt warm, but right about the time the shop closed (7pm) the warmth got sucked away. Where does it go? I should have known yesterday, when I was showing some of the staff in our Redwood City store the biggest Ravens I’ve ever seen, on top of the Firestone building across the street. These guys were fat, so fat it was surprising they could even fly. Not that Ravens fly all that much; they’re usually so lazy (or economical) they don’t fly unless they really have to, instead choosing to simply hop away as you ride close to them. The sighting of such fat Ravens is probably an indication that they’re getting ready for winter. Winter=fat. Is that a law of nature? I would so much like to not become one of those fat Ravens this winter. I would really like to avoid putting on the usual 6 pounds or so. I wonder, if I can remove that 6 pounds each Spring through Summer, what would happen if I lived someplace that didn’t have cooler winters? Would I never gain my winter weight, and possibly lose 6 pounds each year? Probably not.

But finishing up on yesterday’s ride, Jan took the first sprint from me at Sky L’onda, while I took the second at Albion/Olive Hill. For the first, I chose not to go tactical and led it out from the front, hitting the bottom way too fast (which gives too much drafting advantage to those behind) and couldn’t get onto Jan’s wheel fast enough when he came around. The final sprint was a more brute-force affair, almost (almost?) a game of chicken as neither of us would concede, which meant bringing it all the way to the stop sign and then having to pull up hard to avoid riding off the far end of the road. Yes, this is what I do for fun. That, and complain about the cooler days ahead.

Summer’s gone, and Fall, well, Fall is good for about three or four weeks before you get that feeling that the good times are behind you and you’ve got a few months of leg warmers and long-fingered gloves and looking up various weather reports hoping to find one you’ll like, one which shows something other than rain in the days ahead. Pretty silly how spoiled I am to think like that. Basically, you can consider the beginning of winter riding to be the closing of the Sierra passes (which would be a couple days ago), with May bringing back reliably warm & dry weather. That means I’ve written off 5 months out of 12? Pretty absurd thinking, especially from someone who goes out & rides no-matter-what.

Well this morning was hardly challenging, weather-wise. A bit cooler than before, hitting a low of 41 degrees, but until we see 30-something, it doesn’t really qualify as cold. Mark, Ludo, Eric, new-guy Jarret, John… I think that’s everybody. Oh, forgot Mike! Mike, who decided to take us up through the park. It must have been meant to be, as it was the 3rd time in recent history that the gate at the bottom was open, allowing us to ride up through without doing the cyclocross thing. Overall, a pretty reasonably-paced civilized ride, at least until the upper reaches of west-side Old LaHonda, when Jarret decided to push things and suddenly it was just Jarret, myself and John, with the others trailing in sensibly behind. Somebody’s going to have to tame Jarret. Maybe Karl, when he’s back from cyclocross. In the meantime, I’ll be studying his rear wheel, looking for opportunities to latch onto it and get taken for a ride.

One thing I’m beginning to notice about the other guys I ride with. When they’re not feeling great, they hold back. If they’ve got a cold, or are recovering from a tough ride the day before, they’ll take it easy. I could probably learn something from that. For me, it’s always been about pushing myself as hard as my body would allow, which is often at odds with what my body might desire. I’ll start slowly if I’m not feeling well, but as soon as I start to feel better, I’ll push my limits. A case could be made that the other guys are a lot smarter than I am.

Normally I would have posted this morning’s ride much sooner, but I had hopes that I could get some video footage edited and put here with it. Nope, not yet. I’ve gotten a lot better at actually shooting the video while riding; I know how to keep the bike steadier, where to point the camera, and what sort of shot looks best (basically, get some other cyclists in front of you so you don’t have just a jumpy video that says nothing about the experience of cycling but makes a great sales tool for Dramamine). I’d have the videos posted sooner if Adobe Premiere Elements was easier to figure out!

Unseasonably warm, no clouds, but I’m ready for daylight saving time to end because it’s not much fun waking up when it’s dark! Eric, John, Kevin & Ludo out there with me today, and for the first time in months a truly “casual” ride with an average speed below 16mph. A sign of things to come as the pace gradually decreases at about the same rate that, if not careful, our waist increases. I’ve never really tracked when rock-bottom is reached, but it’s definitely related to temperature.

I’ll work on getting the video stuff going shortly, and maybe look at past entries when I get a chance and compare the pace of the ride with average monthly temperatures. It would be interesting if it turned out to be a direct relationship.

Sure, it’s a bit cooler this time of year, but with just a couple clouds in the sky and dry roads, what’s not to like? Almost makes it worth getting up early to ride.

Nice group, with Kevin (the pilot, whom we haven’t seen for a bit, must be that work thing?), Eric, Ludo, Bob and new-guy Jarret. Nice guy, Jarret, even though he might be a bit too fast. Different backstory than most, being a cross-over BMX/roadie. Who knew? At first I was thinking that’s unusual, you’d expect a BMX/mountain biker mix, but there’s at least one outstanding example of a BMXer turned road phenom, Mark Cavendish. And dang if it’s not the case that Jarret can sprint.

On the way up the hill Kevin thought he saw someone a bit ahead of us, and around one corner I thought I caught a glimpse of… something. I wasn’t so sure, until seeing Chris at the top of the hill. He was probably close to idle and riding away from us on the climb. If he wasn’t such a nice guy, I’d think him anti-social. Me? I let Kevin go on ahead while I checked up on the rear of the group (when everyone’s taking it easy, I can do that).

Nothing earth-shattering today, or at least I’m pretending I don’t mind that I was marking Chris in the sprint at Sky Londa and didn’t realize Jarret was coming around me until too late. Hate that! I knew a bike was there (I heard the sound on my left side) and didn’t think much of it, because it wasn’t Chris, whom I’d passed, and the other guys wouldn’t be able to pass me. I wasn’t thinking about Jarret! Too late, and from all indications he’s strong enough that the only way I’m going to be able to take him is by going tactical. The game’s afoot.