All posts by Mike

It was a lot like last Thursday, and not at all like last Thursday

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Last Thursday, temperature averaged 39 degrees for the ride. Today, temperature averaged… 39 degrees. Last Thursday, there were 4 of us (myself, Kevin, Kevin & Karen). Today, there were 4 of us (myself, Kevin, Kevin & George). Last Thursday, I was starting to come down with whatever this nasty cold going around is. Today, I’m starting to recover from whatever that nasty cold going around… was. Last Thursday, I couldn’t get my heart rate up and was well of the back. Today, I actually rode up ahead of “pilot” Kevin and George, catching up to (younger) Kevin on Kings and finishing just over a minute ahead of them. To be fair, “pilot” Kevin was pretty worn out from a really hard ride yesterday, but anytime I’m not last on a climb feels like a minor victory!

Yes, it will be really nice when we can definitively say good-bye to the end of the cold & wet season and welcome warmer & sunnier days ahead. I’d hoped last Thursday would have been the last cold day, but at least I did a fair amount better today, giving me some hope. I even took on Kevin on that steep pitch at the end of West Old LaHonda. First sign of real improvement in a very, very long time.

Tough solo ride

Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

Not sure exactly what the plan was, but it involved riding with my son for sure. But Kevin’s nasty cold isn’t clearing out as fast as mine, and he’s more the sort that wants to take a rest when not feeling well, vs me thinking I can burn whatever it is out of my system.

Normally, I’d head to the coast, but done enough of that lately, so decided to loop south through the foothills, then torture myself up Redwood Gulch. Redwood Gulch is never a pleasant experience, but today, it seemed like it was the “easy” ride up Highway 9 to Skyline that was the real challenge. Looking at Strava, it really surprises me that I was actually faster (by 3 whole seconds) that a month ago. Of course, I was 7 seconds slower on Redwood Gulch, so I’d say pretty much a wash.

Skyline was really windy as the storm slowly moved in. I finished well ahead any rain, but did get blown around a bit. The usual beautiful views reminding me just how nice an area we live in.

The good news is that, despite how hectic things have been at the shop, riding still helps keep my blood pressure in check! 124/74, for me, is very good.