All posts by Mike

The catch took a very long time

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

We knew it wasn’t going to be fast; Kevin and I were still feeling the effects of Sunday’s tough ride, although really, it wasn’t that hard, it wasn’t that long, it wasn’t that hot. Are we really that out of shape? Maybe.

Just to two of us at the start, with Kevin (ex-pilot) joining us as we started up Kings. As the climb went on I gradually started feeling better. Nearing the top I thought I spotted someone well ahead; she (Christy V) pulled off for a moment just as we arrived. Kevin (not pilot) had to water a tree, which seemed to take forever today, as Kevin (pilot) and the woman rode on ahead. I don’t know how long we were delayed; it didn’t seem THAT long, but by the time we got back on the road, they were nowhere to be seen. Rounding each corner we’d be looking into the next straight section, thinking we’d see them, but no. Finally, just as we were running out of the rolling stuff at the top, there they are. I pulled hard to get us back to them; we talked a bit about our regular Tuesday/Thursday ride, and figured we’d regroup at Sky Londa. But. Kevin, Kevin and I get to Sky Londa, and no sign of her. Not knowing if she’d had a flat, we retraced our steps back up Skyline, towards Kings, and… nowhere to be seen. We later found, through Strava, that she’d taken some sort of a wrong turn, but where? One of life’s mysteries.

Where have I been?

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

I’m not even looking at the date of my last entry; it’s been so long that it’s been tough to even think about putting up a new one, because doing so makes me thing about what I’ve let go by. I’m still alive, no real changes to health besides a run-in with ulcers on some of my fingers when I didn’t keep on top of my Raynauds (my circulation issue that cuts off blood to my fingers, sometimes my toes, when it gets cold). I’ve since figured out a new regimen for the meds that’s taken care of it, but it’s still going to take a while for one of the ulcers to heal. It’s not a lot of fun. Had more bloodwork to make sure there were no serious infections (there weren’t), and the platelets are still in a good place too.

Still been riding, although there have been a number of Tuesday/Thursday-morning rides cut short a bit, lopping off the West Old LaHonda section, because the combination of cold and fog was making the finger ulcers worse. And last Sunday we were supposed to do another ride to San Leandro for Kevin to get his second Covid shot, but the weather looked questionable so we drove instead, and did a short ride afterward, just 30 miles. Of course, it was completely dry in the morning! And by the time we got out… it rained.

But today, Kevin, Colin & I finally got out on a “real” ride. Reverse Pescadero with West Alpine. I crawled up Old LaHonda, over 25 minutes, and on the run to the coast, into a headwind, I passed on taking a turn at the front, letting a very strong Kevin and a very strong Colin do the hard work. Not my proudest moment, to be sure. But I began to feel not-quite-so-bad heading south on Stage, so there was some hope. We did the usual stop at the bakery in Pescadero, fueling up on a Coke, sandwich and pasty, before tacking Haskins from the hard side. Kevin and Colin got a gap on me pretty quickly, and I never could close it. Kind of figured I’d fall further and further behind (like on Old LaHonda), but somehow finished the climb not too far behind.

West Alpine? I finally came into my own. Why does it take so long to get warmed up??? Test of my patience I guess? I held back for Kevin and Colin but we all finished together in 49-something. I can live with that, especially as slow as I’ve been riding lately.