I asked Kevin before starting out this morning, is it two months out of the year, or three, where we get to ride without leg warmers and base layers? Some days I’m prone to thinking, y’know, about the time we get back from this ride, would be a good time to start. Quite a bit warmer! Of course that’s relative; it was 36F on the way out, about 40F on the return.
Beginning to see a few others out there again, as people get bored of Zwift and will brake wet roads when it’s not actually raining. About those wet roads. Just one hour of rain last night, around midnight, but because there was no wind, the roads were a mess. And I caused it. How? I cleaned my bike the night before. Sigh.
Kevin was feeling ok, I was not. Big surprise. I got myself to the top of the hill on one of those days were you’re actively thinking about the various places you might turn around. But you don’t, because you can’t, because you know you will feel better, later in the ride. A virtual guarantee. You don’t feel like that’s possible, climbing Kings, but eventually you find yourself capable of something more than the measly 210 watts showing on the computer.
You’d think I’d get tired of posting photos of West Old LaHonda, pretty much this exact shot. But today seemed especially nice, unexpectedly so.
After Thursday’s ride, where I felt so bad going up Kings I didn’t even want to write about it… so bad I was beginning to wonder if everything in my future was going to be in decline… I didn’t have the greatest expecations for today’s ride. I figured 30 minutes up Old LaHonda, and actually made it in 27-something. Which was horrifyingly slow for Kevin, who later blamed me for ruining a day where he thought he could be posting some really good numbers. Yeah, well, I’m a bit skeptical, especially since, after the run out to the coast, he was insisting that he was pulling me the whole way and that was absolutely false. I was able to ride to his side mode of the way (don’t worry, never when cars were present, and the Garmin Radar units give excellent warning way before they arrive) and, for the last two miles, I was pulling solidly into San Gregorio.
It’s not like I was strong… I wasn’t. But I was feeling far better than I have in at least a couple of weeks.
Oh, and did I mention we stopped about halfway up Old LaHonda for a mountain lion sighting? Except it wasn’t; since it stood motionless in the distance, we have to assume it was a statue of a mountain lion, but meant for what purpose? Why would someone put something like that about 100 feet off the road, where it could be seen and mistaken as the real thing? It was located just before 442 Old LaHonda, right hand side of the road while climbing.
OK, back to San Gregorio. I was ok just blowing through and mentioned that to Kevin, but he apparently didn’t think I was serious (he complained about this stop later). The usual cup of coffee, plus an almond cake for me, coconut rum bread pudding for Kevin. Damn fine coffee, as Agent Cooper (from the TV show Twin Peaks).
Stage Road wasn’t easy but wasn’t impossible either, with beautiful views of the valley we’d just ridden through enroute to San Gregorio. One of those days everything looked 3D.
Tunitas. Slight tailwind and it was here that Kevin started to complain about how I was holding him back. It’s not like I don’t know the way home; I finally convinced him that, if he felt that good, he should take off and try and get a good time. Eventually he got bored of me and started riding hard just as the climb began. He pulled ahead pretty quickly but I never got that feeling I’d be lucky to finish on the same day, and got to the top in about 54 minutes, just 3 minutes behind him. A couple weeks ago, it took something like an hour and 4 minutes, so big improvement!
So feeling a lot more hopeful today than Thursday!