All posts by Mike

Started out feeling, well, you know… but good ride in the end. But am I Russian, Ukrainian or Polish?

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

The plan was what used to be “the usual” but hasn’t been all that “usual” lately. And it didn’t turn out as “the usual” today either. Instead of heading over Old LaHonda to Pescadero, we cut it short, heading directly out to the coast via San Gregorio. Kevin was actually feeling pretty darned good up Old LaHonda, but the hill was getting the best of me today, putting me in a pretty dark place. I was wondering, heading up, why I could feel so much better lately on Kings than Old LaHonda. Don’t have a good answer to that.

The nice thing about heading out to the coast via San Gregorio vs Pescadero is the ability to draft someone into the usual headwind, and I took full advantage of that today. I lead the first mile or so, then followed Kevin’s wheel the next 8. Can’t do that climbing Haskins or Stage!

The new routine at San Gregorio is coffee and a “Miami-style” pastry. Not as many calories as the half-sandwich plus pastry plus coke if we go through Pescadero, but 10 fewer miles probably makes up for the difference in calories. Then we had a slight change in the “new usual” routing, heading out to Highway 1 instead of Stage Road, on our way to Tunitas Creek. There’s no difference in climbing; either way you end up at the top of Highway 1 prior to the descent towards Kings, but just felt nice to not immediately have to climb Stage after eating.

Tunitas was, well, Tunitas. We weren’t fast, but not quite as slow as I thought I might be either. Found a pair of sunglasses in the middle of the road on the way up and actually found the guy they belonged to at the top!

Oh, that Russian/Ukrainian/Polish thing. My last name is Russian (Jacoubowsky) based on what I know of family history and the name ending with a “y” instead of an “i” (the latter being typically Polish). But I’ve taken a bit more interest in the family history with what’s going on in Ukraine, and my 23 & Me ancestry info… says the family genes trace back to Poland, not Russia. Well, sorta. Did some digging around and learned a couple of things. What you quickly discover is that country names are just lines on a map, and those lines are in different places at different times. 23 & Me gives you the past 200 years, and for half of that, from around 1800 to 1917 or so, there was no “Poland.” It was part of Russia. And in fact, some of the area was actually Ukriane at one time. So, I’m not just American Mutt; the slavic part of me is “Mutt” as well.

Yes, another long break from the blog

Personal stuff, Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

It’s not like nothing’s happened to write about. The weather’s had its crazy gyrations, from mid-70s to a low of 28.6 a week ago Tuesday. Finally an ice spotting last week (not something we’d ever look forward to, but seemed strange, as cold as it had been, that there’d been no evidence). Three years since my crash on the black ice on Jefferson, with no lingering effects at all, aside from perhaps just a bit more caution when it’s 36F or below.

Weight has been creeping up a bit, as several of the Tuesday/Thursday morning rides ended up skipping the WOLH section, due to either running behind time or it just being a bit too icky out there. Hopefully that sort of thinking doesn’t prevail; one of the things you wonder, as I approach 66 in a week or so, is whether you recognize the point at which you’re just not doing the same things you used to do, or if it just happens gradually.

And there’s the transition from full-pandemic COVID mode to whatever it is we’re in now. On March 2nd we finally lifted the masks-for-everyone requirement, but staff will wear masks whenever a customer who chooses to wear a mask comes into the store. It’s a tough line, supporting those still very concerned about Covid, while accepting that it’s relatively-safe now, and we no longer have to get into mask debates with people. Most of our customers have been wonderful, but there have been a few… exceptions. I’m watching the R-eff number, which tells you how many are infected by someone with COVID. That number was .54 when we lifted the mask requirement (meaning, .54 people would get COVID from each new case); today, it’s down to .42. A good thing, that.

That’s it for now; about time to get the shop open on a kind-of-drizzly Friday morning. Besides, it’s getting really hard to type until it warms up a bit, as my Raynauds (circulation issue) causes trouble as higher and higher temps. Used to be it didn’t bother me until it got below 50. The good old days! Now, 65F and I’ve got issues.