One of these days Kevin’s knee will be in one piece and we can go that mano-a-mano thing, trying to ride each other into the ground. But for now, it’s more rides on his e-bike, bringing along an extra battery to extend its range in the hills.
Today it was Old LaHonda followed by West Alpine. A bit warmer and curiously, for the first time in a while, the heat got to me. It wasn’t THAT hot, nothing more than mid 80s, but sweat was pouring off my forehead. Maybe because I was trying to stay on the wheel of an e-bike? Not really; my times were respectable but nothing extraordinary, and there were a number of times I was actually holding back some for Kevin.
So that was today. Thursday’s ride went missing from the diary; it was a solo effort, getting up Kings in under 30 via the park so I was OK with that.
From left to right, Jean, Kevin, Kevin & meKevin (not the Pilot) decided he’d better ride with me this morning because otherwise I’d probably be riding alone, so, knee issue or not, he was out there. Of course, he was out there on his e-bike, and this time we set him up with a bag to carry an extra battery so he could ride at higher power levels and not run out. But I wouldn’t have been alone; Kevin (Pilot) showed up as well.
Now, you would think that fighting off someone on an ebike would be a tough act, but the combination of Kevin trying to take it easier on his knees plus this bizarre feeling I’ve had lately where I can push hard and just keep going… it hasn’t been that much of an issue. We did have to hang back a couple times for Kevin (Pilot) though. Now, I can talk about feeling good and climbing hard again, but that last up until we hear someone coming up behind us and, there he goes, Jeff Z on his new Trek Domane, yelling to me “18 pounds of love!”
Kevin (not Pilot) and I ended up waiting for Kevin (Pilot) at the Park Entrance and again at the wide open clearing. It would be nice sometime to see how quickly I can get up Kings, but it’s also kind of nice not knowing, but thinking it could be pretty fast.
I still wake up each ride morning thinking this might be the day where the steak ends, where I don’t feel that good on the climb. But it’s been about 4 weeks straight where I really haven’t had a bad day.
Weather was really nice for the first part of the ride, kicking up to 62 degrees up on top before dropping to 51 as we found our way to West Old LaHonda and back up to Skyline. It was on West Old LaHonda that we came across Jean, a good customer whom you may have seen out on her bike, wrapped up head-to-toe in white, no skin showing to keep herself protected from the sun. She actually does repeats of West Old LaHonda; this morning it would be three of them.
One of these days Kevin’s knee will be in one piece and we can go that mano-a-mano thing, trying to ride each other into the ground. But for now, it’s more rides on his e-bike, bringing along an extra battery to extend its range in the hills.