All posts by Mike

Wild past week; behind on EVERYTHING

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Shop news

Sunday- Normally would be a good tough ride to the coast, but we had a special event, an introduction to Trek Travel right here on the Peninsula. More soon as I get photos up, but basically “The Loop” with a stop for lunch at the Alpine Beer Garden which, by the way, I learned is where the internet started. About 50 people showed up and I think everyone had a good time. Kevin and I policed things on the road while Steve stayed at the start-finish area, talking with people who dropped by (at Edgewood & Canada Road, an intersection that sees a LOT of cyclists!). So, a grand total of maybe 27 miles at a very slow speed.

And then I was off to Reno Sunday night, arriving home late last night, attending the Interbike trade show that recently moved from Las Vegas to Reno. Reno is a MUCH friendlier place, to be sure, but the show saw quite a bit of shrinking from the move, as it’s not nearly as easy to get to (as Las Vegas) and the hotels are spread much further apart, so you can’t walk from your room to the show. More on the show later too!

–Mike–

Unintentional experiment- what happens if I don’t use inhaler? Results as expected.

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Heading up Kings with Kevin & Kevin
It’s every single Tuesday & Thursday morning, no matter what. The clock goes off at 6:50am, there’s a very specific ritual that involves getting dressed, putting on a heart monitor, coffee, something to drink, airing up the tires, using the toilet and… for me… using an albuterol inhaler 15-20 minutes before heading out. The routine never changes. Once in a blue moon I somehow forget to strap on my heart monitor, and that’s really not fun because I don’t get a Strava “suffer” score. But today, I did worse. Somehow I forgot to use the inhaler. Which means, in theory, my breathing is reduced.

Heading up Kings with Kevin & Kevin, I didn’t notice much difference, not at first. Pilot Kevin wasn’t going too fast, and younger Kevin seemed OK with that. For a while. I was hanging in nicely while the two of them were in casual cruise mode but on the steep part after the big hairpin and before the wide open clearing, younger Kevin picked up the pace, going from 250 watts, which I was able to keep up with, to just over 300. It didn’t take too long before I blew. They rode away from me at what looked like a rapidly-accelerating pace, such that any chance of recovering and making up some ground quickly went away.

At the top I found out that yes, younger Kevin just kept on pushing things, dropping Pilot Kevin and motoring on strongly. I was fine across Skyline, and even helped keep the pace up on West Old LaHonda, although still about 30 seconds slower for that segment than my solo ride on Tuesday. Nevertheless I paid for it, gasping for air pretty seriously towards the end.

So yes, I now have proof that I’m much better off with Albuterol than without.