I told myself I wasn’t going to get discouraged, I wouldn’t spend too much time figuring out ways to shorten the ride and skip the coast. The choice of Kings was surprising; it’s not like I don’t ride up it enough as it is, so I generally go out of my way to avoid it on a Sunday! But I was on my own today, Kevin having decided to spend the day with his girlfriend. Besides I was also curious about how much traffic there might be on Kings on a weekend, around noon, since Highway 84 has been closed. Turned out, not much; total car count from Jefferson to the top of Kings was just 35 (that’s actually the number that passed me going my direction, not total count of cars on the road, but still really low, averaging a car every two minutes).
From Skyline I headed South to West Old LaHonda, then out to the coast via 84. Headwinds, yes, but not terrible and I wasn’t trying to go fast, just get there. At San Gregorio it was coffee, one of their Hazelnut twisty sort of things, and Bob, who was doing an out-and-back via Kings/Tunitas/Stage. Rode with him the rest of the way back; nice guy, just a few months older than me and in pretty good but not annihilating condition. A pace I could just barely carry a conversation, something not possible if I’m on a ride with Kevin. Thankfully I rode up Tunitas much better than I rode up Kings though. This was yet another ride where I finished much better than I started.
