It’s July 3rd, a good full week into summer, just 4 days before the start of the Tour de France. We shouldn’t have to be wearing leg warmers & base layers, right? But if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s dress appropriately for a ride, and this morning, we would have been in trouble without the colder-weather gear. It would be nice if there was a webcam up on Skyline we could check before riding, but it’s really not needed; from my kitchen window I’ve got a view of Skyline near Page Mill, and if I can see even a hint of our infamous “marine layer” when I’m making coffee at 6:58am, I know what I have to do.

Younger Kevin was definitely feeling better this morning than either older Kevin (pilot) or me. Or should “me” have been “I” at the end of that sentence? Tried looking it up and still confused. So much for taking advanced placement English in high school! But the point remains; the kid was doing better than the older guys. I’ll admit that I was the worst of the older guys though; Kevin (pilot) was well ahead of me on Kings, trying to keep pace with the other Kevin (kid), but dropped back to keep me company.

It is a bit frustrating, riding more slowly than I did two weeks ago, but all the smoke in the air may have something to do with it. I started feeling it in my lungs after Sunday’s ride, and had a bit of a sore throat all day yesterday. Much better tonight though. We’ll see how I do tomorrow on West Alpine (Kevin’s favorite).