We thought we’d get in under the storm, and maybe we would have if we’d stayed on “our” side of the hill. I told Kevin it might not be a bad idea to “stay low” and do a boring ride in the foothills, but he wanted to do “his” ride, Old LaHonda/West Alpine. At least I let him convince me that 4 layers (baselayer, jersey, jersey/jacket and waterproof lightweight rain jacket) would be better than 3.

Slow going up Old LaHonda; Kevin is still not on his game. He started out fast, and I’m wondering how quickly I’m going to get dropped, but he faded after 4 minutes or so. From that point on it was the usual, where I’m able to push on ahead for a bit at pretty high power, then throttle back and wait for him to catch up. I’m still pretty surprised I’m able to do that, and honestly wondering if a supplement I’m taking, L’Arginine, might be responsible (I’d read that it can help with asthma issues and I’m willing to try just about anything that can help with my breathing).

It stayed dry for the first half of West Alpine and then… it wasn’t really “dark” clouds moving in, just a whole lot of gray. Contrast went to zero. Hate that. I like contrast in my life. And then it started getting cold but hey, we were climbing, so not so bad. But by the time we got to Skyline it was down to 35 and light rain. Thank goodness for all those layers! Tights instead of leg warmers might have been the better call, along with our rain bikes (with disc brakes & fenders).