Today my son and I did the exact same ride Brian, Andrew & I rode last week- up Old LaHonda, down 84 to San Gregorio, Stage Road to Pescadero, over Haskins Grade & up West Alpine. And, just like last week, it got pretty cold up on Skyline!
We got off to a pretty late start, since Kevin had left his bike at the shop so the first order of the day was to head down to pick it up, along with Starbucks for all. By the time we got out the door it was almost noon, and given the length of the ride, I figured it would be a good idea to bring not only flashing tail lights but headlights as well, and we came close to needing them. Kevin did fine until we got to Haskins, at which point he started running out of steam. Probably had something to do with the 4 or 5 LaCrosse games he played in a tournament the day before!
Just another nice winter day to ride in Northern California. That’s where the “no rinse or wash” line comes from. Dry roads, nice skies with a few clouds here & there to make it interesting.
You are a creature of habit.
It must have been a faster ride if you started at noon and didn’t get caught in the dark…
It was the ride I intended to do with Kevin last week, and if it was a good plan then, it was a good plan yesterday. In general, I stick to the plan. But faster ride? Don’t think so. I’ll have to look at the timing points, but Kevin wasn’t climbing West Alpine very quickly; it took 1hr 3 minutes from Pescadero Road to Skyline (I think he’s done it in 52 minutes before). I’m at least partly responsible for that, allowing him two pieces of pastry at Pescadero for “lunch” instead of splitting a sandwich. The resulting sugar spike and crash was not a good thing. Me, I can ride through that, no biggie. For Kevin, it was tough because he was dealing with cold weather and declining output. It is so important to maintain consistent output when cold! One more thing to file away… the increased importance of eating properly on a cold day.