Another nice morning, actually nicer than most because there was…. NO FOG!!! No damp roads. Sure, low 50s at times, but that’s really easily dressed for. Surprisingly, just me & Kevin (not the pilot) and very, very few other cyclists out on the road. I was tempted a couple of times to suggest to Kevin that he kick up the pace just a bit, to get up Kings under 30, but never did, and not surprisingly, we got to the top just over 30. But it was a good 30, not one of those days where you seem to have been done in by the climb while posting a slow time. And with just the two of us, there was no delay at the top waiting for someone to get rid of extra coffee or diet coke, we just turned the corner and kept going. A steady pace, not really fast but never slacking off either.
Kevin had a meeting with someone at 10am so he skipped the West Old LaHonda loop and on some days, I might have been tempted to head down with him. But not today. Don’t know why, but I felt like I just needed to keep pushing on, and started thinking about the possibility of finishing the ride within the traditional timeframe of days gone by… arriving back at the start between 9:18 and 9:22. And in fact I made it by 9:20. Yes, I did wonder what it might have taken to make it 9:18 but I don’t think I left that much on the table. Average weighted power was 218 watts, and, finally, average speed of 16.0mph. I haven’t seen that high an average speed in a very, very long time. Unfortunately Strava doesn’t make it easy to looks for power & speed stats, but I did go back the past few months. Things are looking pretty good.
Before I started today’s entry, I thought I’d look up the entry from 9/11/2001. There really wasn’t much to say; perhaps the lingering question is how I was able to watch coverage of the first plane striking the WTC towers and still get out and ride. I really don’t know why I even knew about it, why I would have turned on the radio or TV prior to my morning ride. But I remember it quite clearly. I don’t recall who else showed up, nor was it mentioned in the diary entry, but I wasn’t alone. Since it was pre-Strava, I don’t have the usual ride details.
09/11/01- A VERY SAD DAY. But first, to answer the single question asked over and over and over on the phone today, yes, we’re open. Please be careful while riding. This morning, in the aftermath of the tragedies brought upon us by terrorists, cars were even less attentive (or more distracted) than usual. Felt kind of funny about going out and riding, just after watching the first tower collapse on the news, but did anyway. Eerie. You don’t realize how much noise planes make until the sky is clear of them. In some ways it was reminiscent of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Please be careful out there.
