All posts by Mike

Aren’t we done with cold?

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Is it really supposed to be this cold, this windy, this time of year? Lately I’ve been telling Kevin, as we’ve descended Jefferson towards the start of the ride, passing through that infamous corner where, just over three years ago, I cracked my pelvis in two places… “At least we don’t have to worry about ice anymore!”

Or do we? It was Kevin, Kevin, Karen and I riding up the hill this morning. And windy and cold! Kevin (ex-pilot) claimed it was just 35 up on Skyline, where he lives. We didn’t believe him. But sure enough it got colder as we climbed. Oh, we actually had a fugitive with us from one of the later rides, Steve L, who joined us as far as the park entrance. By that time Kevin (not pilot), Karen and I had broken away, although thing splintered right at the park. I might have been feeling sorta OK but not OK enough to keep up with Kevin (not pilot), who managed a sub-29 today. Karen was somewhere in-between. By the time I got to the wide open space it was clear there was no way I’d catch back up to Karen, but it made sense to circle around a bike and wait for the ex-pilot… for 2 and a half minutes I waited.

I’m not sure if I’m feeling good or not-so-good these days. I do know that I’m really looking forward to warmer weather, like we had just a week ago.

Tough ride, why heavier at the end than we started?

Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

Yes, been awhile. Again. Last Tuesday’s ride was another strong one for me, having to circle around and wait again at the wide-open space 2/3rds up Kings. Thursday, another story, as I got to watch Kevin and Kevin ride away from me. Tomorrow, who knows. Not real hopeful, since it’s gotten pretty cold again, and clearly, I don’t do cold well. But yesterday?

Yesterday it was time to do the reference ride again, Pescadero/Tunitas. We took it easy up Old LaHonda, Kevin not showing the cards in his hand. Haskins was another thing entirely; I held on all the way to Sam McDonald Park, and then Kevin left me in the dust. Just rode off and didn’t look back. I wasn’t feeling it, and when I saw a couple guys behind, just tried to make it to the top ahead of them. Which I did, just barely. Kevin was upset he missed his PR by just 6 seconds; it’s amazing how hard he can go without many miles. Maybe it has something to do with being in your 20s instead of 60s?

Almost forgot about our first rattlesnake sighting of the year. Unfortunately, it was a dead baby rattler, on West Old LaHonda. We did stop to make sure it was actually dead and, even though it was, I still moved it off the road. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a rattler, so maybe a sign of seeing more again.

Pescadero. Finally, giant cookies again! And finally, we remembered, too late, why it makes sense to split one giant cookie between us, or just bring half of it home. We were pretty bogged down the rest of the ride home, particularly on Stage. Yeah, one half of a cookie, or one half of the macaroon I ate, would have been enough.

Funny thing on Tunitas; I started to feel strong again. Able to dump the bike into a higher gear and push myself up the hill, having to wait here and there for Kevin. But while I felt decent, it was nothing like Kevin’s heroic effort up Haskins just a couple hours earlier.

Pretty sure that, had I been “off” on all the climbs, I wouldn’t have bought the plane tickets for France. But there’s still something left to play with in the Alps and Pyrenees. This will be the first year we’re doing both. Will be interesting!