It’s comforting to know there are some things you can count on, no matter what, right? Like Tuesday & Thursday mornings, from 7:31am to somewhere between 9:37 & 9:45am, I’m out there on my bike, doing the regular Kings loop, just as I have for the last few decades. Rain or shine, healthy or not. This morning was more in the “not” camp, as I’m getting over some sort of a short & nasty cold, the sort that, after it eases up, leaves you without a voice. That was me this morning.

I was guessing it would be a 36 minute ride up Kings, “old & slow” sort of thing, but it never works out that way. You start up the climb and your body just goes into auto-pilot mode, and 32 minutes 38 seconds later, you’re at the top. And as usual, you feel better and better as the ride goes on. Why can’t everything in life be like that?

Smaller group today than Tuesday; just Kevin, Kevin & Tom (is he going to be a regular now?). Warm? Yes, but also pretty humid. Much more humid than any of my recent rides in France actually! Unfortunately, the best I felt all day, the only time I really felt good all day, was on the ride this morning. At the shop the excess humidity really did a number on me. Just gotta find a way to make a living riding a bike I guess!

I broke one of the most-important rules regarding the Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride today. The one about leaving promptly at 7:45:00am, no matter what. Kevin was running a bit behind this morning, not sure why, but it takes me about 11 minutes to make it from home to the start of the ride, it was 7:33, time to get going. Got to the start, explained the situation to Mark P, George, Jr, Tom C (haven’t seen him in a long time!) and Marcus. 4 minutes late Kevin finally shows up, acting like he’s surprised we waited for him, he was just going to race up the hill after us.

Once we got going Kevin and Marcus flew up the hill while the rest of us rode a bit more, er, casually. Not that I felt like I could have ridden up much faster. I did consider telling Mark P & George they could kick it up just a tiny bit, when I realized I was in danger of slipping below 30 minutes for the climb up Kings, but thought better of it.

This wasn’t a strong day for me, and George suggested that maybe, between my breathing and the platelet meds, I might be thinking soon about riding in the foothills instead of heading up Kings twice a week. Seriously? I’ll be slowing down a bit more, maybe, but I’ll fight it out, because missing out on Skyline, on the views from West Old LaHonda, and descending 84… that would be really tough.