The last umpteen rides up Kings, on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, have not gone especially well for me. No power, no short-term zip, nothing much to look forward to. That wears on you after a while. This morning felt different from the beginnin; even heading up over Jefferson to the start of the ride had me feeling a lot better than “normal.”

Nobody at the start but us (younger Kevin was with me), but we did catch up to ex-pilot Kevin towards the end of the Huddart Park section. We would have caught up sooner but were delayed by a trash truck backing up the entire distance of Greer! Since there’s no place to turn around at the far end, it makes sense.

Not warm but not really cold, not dry but not raining. Not fast but not dreadfully slow (my times weren’t very good but I did have some fun moving on ahead for a bit, then waiting for them to catch, and repeat).

Looks like it’s going to be a very long time before they fix 84, and the added traffic on Kings and Skyline seems to be worse now, a few weeks after the closure, than it was initially. We desperately need 84 back in business! If for no other reason than to save brake pads; you hardly use your brakes at all descending 84, while you’re frequently on them, hard, descending Kings, and descending Old LaHonda you never get to let go of them.