There really wasn’t any good reason to expect I’d be feeling better this morning. It was darned cold last night taking out the garbage, and I knew it was going to be even colder in the morning. I had a good idea that Kevin wouldn’t be at the top of his game, since he’d bailed on Tuesday’s rain ride, but when Karen showed up, well, that can get him moving. But, not today.

I felt OK getting over Jefferson to the start, and I almost felt OK on the steep section through the park. Almost. I thought I’d made it, that I wasn’t going to get that grinding-to-a-halt feeling, that by the time I crested the steep part I might be able to just keep going. Nope. My breathing went crazy, like it usually does at that point, and the lead I held over Karen and Kevin quicky evaporated. As usual. But this time, I didn’t fall off the back; I was able to grind my way back up to them so, by the time we reached Kings, I was feeling OK.

As you can see in the video, Skyline was quite beautiful, with the fog highlighting the sun’s rays through the trees. Nice to see a picture here that doesn’t come from West Old LaHonda too!

After a whole lot of rides that seemed to be either ever-slower or just treading water, it was great to feel like I was, well, back on the bike again.

It was supposed to be pretty nasty Tuesday morning, nasty enough that Kevin begged out of riding, thinking it would be more sensible to spend more time with his girlfriend than slogging it out with dad. And to be truthful, I was considering putting my bike on a trainer instead, saving my hands from exposure to wet & cold. But that’s not how I roll. I dutifully got out my wet weather gear and hope for the best, “best” in this case being something really fun & wet.

Unfortunately, the heaviest rain ended up passing through much earlier in the night, and by the time I got going, things looked like something could happen, but probably wouldn’t. Roads were really wet, and had a light rain all the way up to Skyline, but then it was largely over. Cold? Yes; no way I could have survived without my electric heated gloves. Alone? Yes, nobody out there at all; didn’t see a single other cyclist until heading back on the flats after descending 84. Worth it? Yes, since the scale still showed 162 at the end of the ride; not riding would have tilted it up about 3 pounds, 1 pound of which wouldn’t have easily come off.