All posts by Mike

Mt Hamilton rarely disappoints

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Time for something a bit different. Been to the coast too many times, and West Alpine by itself wouldn’t be enough. Time to pull Mt Hamilton out of the bag of tricks, and turned out to be a really good day to do it! We were prepared for the cooler weather forecast but leg warmers, base layers and long-fingered gloves all turned out to be a bit overkill. Fortunately we also brought short-fingered gloves, and ditched the leg warmers before starting up the hill.

As usual we avoided use of a car to get to a bike ride, opting instead to ride to Caltrain in Redwood City, take the 9:13 to San Jose and ride from there. Definitely nicer to get a warm up before heading up the mountain, and the train schedule works out pretty well, getting you to San Jose before 10am and getting us back home, including the ride from the train station, by 4pm.

I felt ok heading up the hill, nothing great, but OK isn’t too bad. Kevin was having some knee issues at first but that went away by itself, and with two miles to go he just took off…hard. I mean really, really hard. As in, I lost sight of him amazingly fast. His time for the final two miles was faster than anything I’ve done on Strava.

The plan is to do our first century, a Santa Cruz run, on May 30th. Last year we didn’t get in a single 100 mile ride, so it’s time. Will I be ready? Just noticed that’s only two weeks off!

Work in progress- Masks, the CDC and Chain Reaction

Shop news

Below is the messaging I’m working on for our website and an email that needs to be sent out, now that the CDC has made some game-changing statements about Covid-19 and masks.  This is a work-in-progress so nothing here is a done deal yet. –Mike–
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We were very surprised earlier today when the CDC issued new guidelines about mask usage, that unfortunately weren’t guidelines at all. CDC said that vaccinated people didn’t need to wear masks whether outside or inside.

CDC did not say how anyone knows the maskless person next to them in line at the register has been vaccinated. CDC did not say there are areas of the country far safer w/regards Covid-19 than others. CDC did not give any guidance to retail stores whatsoever.

What’s our gameplan?

  • We remain concerned for our more-vulnerable customers who have compromised immune systems or have yet to be vaccinated. This includes three remaining employees who have had their first shot but not their second. So at the moment, we are planning to go mask-optional for customers and employees on Tuesday, June 15th.
  • We can allow more people into the store than we have in the past; from a practical standpoint, our new store is so much more spacious and open it shouldn’t be an issue. But until June 15th, we still need to greet people at the door and ensure they’re wearing a mask prior to entry.
  • We will stay open half an hour later on weekdays (Monday-Friday), opening at 11am and closing at 6pm. Saturday hours will remain 10am-5pm.

Even after June 15th you will be welcome to wear a mask while shopping with us. You may even find someone on staff doing so. We’ve beaten the odds; nobody on our staff has come down with Covid-19. Many of us have relatives or friends who weren’t so lucky. Let’s not blow it on the home stretch.