Zero-sum world? If Tuesday I felt 20% better than “normal” today it was 20% less. Perhaps just a high-gravity day. Thankfully it was just myself, JR and new-guy-old-guy Bill K, and they didn’t seem in a mood to go too fast up Kings. I was the young kid today; Bill K is 62 and JR a couple years older than that.

Temps 64 to 70 degrees, so nothing like you’ll see over the weekend.

Interesting thing about new-guy-old-guy Bill. No computer on his bike. No Strava on his phone either. No way to measure the decline in capability as you get older. Hmm. Maybe not such a bad idea? He says he rides by feel, which might work well for many, but for me? If I road by “feel” then shorter & shorter rides would equate to a similar feeling. When I have the computer providing me all sorts of data, I am motivated to keep trying equal a given metric over time. Distance for example. I’ll definitely be riding slower as I get older, but I don’t have to ride shorter. Maybe it’s more relaxing riding without being pestered by such things?

Riding home from the shop Monday night, I felt like I’d turned the corner on feeling old & slow. I was making good speed heading up Jefferson, and made it home in 13 minutes, 01 seconds, agonizingly-close to a 12-something time. I was really surprised; Sunday was a bit of a slog (my ride to the coast) but maybe it was just a high-gravity day.

This morning, the good feelings in my legs continued as I climbed over Jefferson to the start of the ride. Fastest time to the top of Jefferson since May, and I wasn’t riding solo that time.

JR and Scotty showed up and set a moderate pace up Kings. Not so fast I couldn’t talk from time to time. Beautiful day, no clouds, no fog until we got to the start of West Old LaHonda, where we briefly entered, and subsequently exited, what you see in the photo above.

Life is good. But life will be better in a couple weeks when Kevin is back on his bike again, after recovering from his busted arm.