All posts by Mike

32 degrees felt nicer than expected

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

The day didn’t start out the way I’d have liked. Pretty restless the night before, so not much sleep, which I really thought would get to me but, surprisingly, I woke up feeling not-so-bad. Everything was going well; I’d gotten all the really-cold-weather gear out the night before, did the coffee thing and started out on the bike… and it wouldn’t shift. Di2 battery 100% dead, for reasons unknown. A rare self-discharge issue. So, back to the garage, get the rain bike, remove the fenders, move the lights and computer over, switch shoes, and, leaving the house a good 12 minutes late, text Kevin (pilot) just in case he’s there, waiting for me, and suggest he ride back toward me, riding over Jefferson. Which he did.

Met up with a guy named Brian who was taking it easy today; Cat 3 racer who younger Kevin could likely have fun with. Today, I had no problem for the first half of the climb, despite the cold (32 degrees), but the two of them (Brian and Kevin) gradually started riding away from me as the climb continued. I finished probably a minute or two down on them at the top, but felt better than I usually do on the rain bike, and the cold? It just didn’t feel that bad. I was quite surprised.

Had to head directly down 84 since I was running so late; Kevin (pilot) had to do West Old LaHonda on his own. Guessing it was beautiful.

New bike-specific (and frankly offensive) stop-sign addition in Los Altos

Advocacy & Local Issues, Ride reports (not Tu/Th)


Did a sort of “wandering around” ride Sunday, heading south through the foothills, up Moody (why?), up Page Mill (again, why?), north on Skyline in the cold (where did that come from?), West OLH loop then back home. On the way I spotted the latest assault on cyclists by, I think, Los Altos Hills. I get a bit confused about where one city ends and another begins sometimes.

Apparently, in Los Altos, it’s only bikes that have issues at stop signs, so they’ve added a second red box below the regular “Stop” sign that says “BIKES MUST STOP AT ALL STOP SIGNS.” OK… so after unintentionally recording video of a car just blowing through one (making a right-hand turn, the first subject in the video above), I pulled over to record the next 4 cars through that intersection and the next.

Not one came to a full stop. Every single car had its wheels moving at all times. One or two came close to a stop, pretty much the same way a cyclist typically does. But nobody put the brakes on, brought the car to a complete stop, then started again. Which is, I think, technically what the law requires. Note that it is possible to do this on a bicycle without putting your foot down.

If the idea is to have safer streets, effort to reduce distracted driving (specifically cell phone use) would likely yield far greater results, if “results” are to be measured by fewer lives lost or injured. More likely the impetus for this comes from motorists annoyed about the growing congestion in the area and anything that’s in front of them, slowing them down, is the enemy. Or maybe it’s even jealousy; motorists stuck in traffic while cyclists zip past to their side.

Whatever it is, it’s misguided and wrong.