All posts by Mike

Seems to be my new solo go-to Sunday ride

Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

Back in the day, a Sunday ride wasn’t a Sunday ride if it didn’t head out to the coast, preferably Pescadero, then back via Tunitas. But when riding solo, which I’ve been doing quite a bit lately while Kevin (my son, not the ex-pilot) is trying to heal his knee, I prefer staying on “this” side of the hill (the bay side). Somehow that became an extension of the Los Altos loop, heading up Stevens Canyon and over Mt Eden, then going through the maze back to Los Altos, with food & coffee at Peets, before heading home.

No big climbs yet somehow it ends up with just over 3000 ft of elevation gain. Lots of opportunities to ramp up a bit of power on the rollers but hard to really exhaust yourself, particularly in my case, where I need to stand to maintain power.

This is actually an improvement from just a couple months ago when the Tuesday & Thursday-morning rides were nearly always being cut short due to time constraints, since Kevin (my son, not the ex-pilot) was riding so slowly due to his knee issues. I was beginning to wonder if I was seeing the beginning of the end, changes in a routine that has been unchanged for 30+ years. More likely the Tuesday & Thursday-morning rides might have to start 5 minutes earlier than they have, so I can get back in time to eat & shower prior to work.

The one thing that has been missing… it’s been a couple years, I think, since we’ve done a Sunday ride to Santa Cruz. That’s a ride I don’t want to consider doing solo. Did that once, quite a few years ago, and it’s just a bit too much time to yourself.

https://www.strava.com/activities/12761242553

The Fat Lady Singing… not hearing her yet, not as long as I’m still chasing rabbits

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Got the text I hate to see on a Tuesday or Thursday morning. Ex-pilot letting me know he’s leaving 5 minutes early up the hill. Meaning I have to chase someone down, and that’s tough on me. Mentally tough because, well, miserly loves company. Both of us are on the wrong side of the curve, getting slower as we get older. At 68 & 69, improvement has a different look to it- it’s about slowing the decline. Chasing rabbits uphill… I guess that should help slow that decline. Maybe beats talking about how slow we are?

But it gets worse. I’m “looking ahead” at the various places where you can see the road maybe 1 or 2 minutes in front of where you are now, and now sign of ex-Pilot. I’m putting out everything I’ve got, and the assumption is that he’s riding slowly or else why would he leave early? No sign of him at the wide-open clearing, no sign at the pretty steep part just prior to the last switchback. Let’s face it, I’m not going to overtake him by the top of Kings, where I’m sure I’ll find him waiting.

Er… no, he’s not there. Which means either he’s a no-show and I’m chasing a ghost (hate it when that happens), or I’m slower than I thought, or he’s faster than he claimed, or he left more than 5 minutes early.

I finally catch up to him just as I descend into Sky Londa. He left 10 minutes early. The good news is that I was actually close to a regular schedule for the ride, maybe making it back about the same time I did 5 years ago! But that wasn’t going to happen because ex-Pilot really was taking it easy today. So half the ride, the tougher half, I was really making tracks, in a relative sense. The last half, I was taking it easy.

Overall a good ride, with my computer telling me I’m riding at “optimal” effort. I’m not going to dig too far into the question of optimal for someone in what sort of shape.