Well, the original plan was a Santa Cruz loop, the backup plan was reverse Pescadero plus West Alpine, but Kevin was suffering so badly going up Old LaHonda (35-40 minutes?) that it was clear this was going to be severely shortened. After two years we still don’t know for sure what’s causing his flank/kidney pain; the only thing I do know is that I get a lot of grief from him when he’s on a ride, and he wants to call for a sag wagon, but he’s a whole lot better out on the bike than curled up in pain on a couch at home.

But we did cut it short by heading south on Skyline, through the fog, to Page Mill, then descended and headed back through Portola Valley and Woodside to home. He hit bottom about the time the ride hit bottom, near Arastradero Park, after which he started feeling better and rode more strongly. 35 miles, not 114, not even 68. Maybe next weekend! But you start to wonder how many nice weekends are left? On the other hand, had we done Santa Cruz, it would have been pretty nasty on the coast, foggy most of the way. And now, as I type this (close to midnight), the wind is really howling and the power’s flickering now & then. Guess summer really is over.