All posts by Mike

I’ve got to get back to this!

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tdf trip planning, Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Wow, what happened, all the time that’s gone by. Sunday was supposed to be a Santa Cruz run via Soquel San Jose road, and I’m trying to remember why it went south. Oh, right, I discovered I had a broken saddle rail (carbon rails; sometimes they do that, and this one had a zillion miles on it). And Kevin’s leg was acting up a bit, so we ended up doing a bit of a contorted ride, heading over Old LaHonda, up West Alpine, then south on skyline, descending 9 to Mt. Eden and the back across the valley.

Tuesday morning’s ride was a slog for me, better for Kevin and Colin. And then Thursday. Oh my Thursday. Because Kevin’s leg was still an issue, he rode his ebike, which would be fine, but Todd showed up. Fast Todd. Always in shape Todd. It wasn’t long before the two of them were riding on up ahead, with me several minutes behind. I’d like to blame some of it on having dressed too warmly; it was upper-50s on the way up Kings! And then everything fell apart. I mean, even more so. We’re all heading south on Skyline and it’s getting colder, and then wetter, with Todd at the front, holding a pretty good pace just above 28mph. Which I figured was why I didn’t see Kevin on my wheel, since his ebike tops out at 28mph. But as the road tilted upward slightly, I should have seen him catching up. Finally, at Bear Gulch, I tell Todd we should pull over and wait a bit for Kevin… but after a minute or two, he’s still not there, so time to head back up the road to search for him. Just me; Todd’s got to get to work.

I ride, and keep riding, and like, where is he? What happened? Did he have a seizure and ride off the road? Not likely, but all sorts of things go through your head. Finally I’m all the way back to Skegg’s and there he is, with a flat tire. OK, normally that shouldn’t be a big deal, except he neglected to bring a spare tube. I had a patch kit, but… the CO2 inflater wouldn’t work because the pin that punctures the cartridge had broken off. Which mean, first time in maybe, well, way over 10 years anyway, we had to call Becky (Kevin’s sister) to drive up and bail us out. Ouch. I would normally have considered riding home by bike instead of the sag, but the combination of cold and wet and standing around for a while didn’t make descending a very appealing option.

It’s a bit of a let-down, the way my cycling has gone the past two weeks. The prior 5 weeks, things were going great, multiple rides to Santa Cruz, faster times up Kings. And then it all fell apart. Maybe I’m in recovery mode? Taking a breather before the tough stuff coming up in France starting… well, first ride will be a week from tomorrow!

And lots to do in the meantime, which has also kept me from updating things here. Just found out that, to get back into the US after being overseas, you have to have a negative Covid test 72 hours prior to departure. Or is it prior to landing in the US? There’s a kit you can purchase where you essentially test yourself, in the presence of a medical person in a remote location (a zoom sort of thing). Hopefully it will arrive in time; otherwise, we need to waste some time during our final days in France, looking for a test lab. At a time when we won’t have much free time.

Film at 11.

What time did Burt get up yesterday? (Tour de France coverage)

Tdf trip planning

Some people are even more faithful to the Tour de France than I am. Me, I do like to get a bit of sleep now and then. Doesn’t seem like it lately, but I’m not the type to get up to start watching the race coverage at 3:30am. Given the choice, I’d rather fly 6000 miles, take a train or two to either Grenoble or Lourdes, get up at the leisurely hour of 7 or 7:30 and then ride my bike a few hours to see the race in person. Much easier than getting up at 3:30am right?

But yesterday, Saturday morning, the ‘Tour’s first day, they also had a single-stage women’s event on pretty much the same course the men were riding. Only it started four hours earlier. Coverage beginning at 11:10pm Friday night. So I’ve got to wonder, did Burt watch coverage continuously from 11:10pm until 8am the next morning?

Last year Kevin and I didn’t make it to the ‘Tour, due to Covid-19 restrictions. We had everything set up and ready; all the routes planned, hotel reservations and plane tickets (completely refundable, of course). I didn’t give up until just two weeks to go. It was a bit sad, watching the opportunity come and go, and certainly would have been a race to talk about.

This year, it was 50/50 odds whether I could pull it off or not, at least early on. Europe got hit hard by a second (or was it third?) wave of the virus, and it wasn’t until early-May that things looked like they might settle down. In the meantime Kevin and I had both been fully vaccinated, I’d purchased completely-refundable (and very inexpensive!) plane tickets, secured hotels (a different place in Lourdes; our usual, adjacent to the train station, had remained shuttered during the Covid crisis) and waited for the release of the official, detailed tour routing.

And it looks like everything is a go! Covid is settling down, we’ve got all the transportation arranged, and on Thursday, July 8th, we’re off to France. Kind of hoping it might be a bit less crowded than past years, although I don’t think I’ll ever again see the crowds that used to storm the country during the Lance years.

And we’re bringing in some reinforcements while Kevin and I are gone; Chris Weber, longtime manager from back in the day who’s going to be doing the service triage, and Bruno Colchen, former service manager who will be directing customers on the sales floor. We’ve also got a couple new younger employees, River and Simon, also working the sales floor. Plus Christoper, the new young guy in our service department working behind the curtain, where the magic happens.

I think I’m close to being ready. Tomorrow’s ride to Santa Cruz could prove otherwise!