All posts by Mike

Not the best time for a comeback, but I had to try

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Kevin left, Kevin right on a very cold morning on Skyline
Sometimes you do what you have to do, even knowing ahead of time it might not make sense. This morning, I just had to get back in the swing of things and do my regular Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride. Which, coming off being sick for, what, 10 days???… well, I knew I wasn’t going to be fast. Just hoping to get the job done. And while I’d gotten in a small ride on New Year’s Day, younger Kevin hadn’t ridden in two weeks, so I was figuring, what are the odds, am I going to get up and find him saying “No Dad, I need more sleep”?

Well, the morning came and Kevin was actually looking forward to the ride. Me, not so much, because it was cold… I mean really cold, as in coldest since last season. But no turning back, as the other Kevin (pilot) had already texted asking if I was going to ride, and of course, I said yes.

So what’s it like when you go from a house that’s maybe 62 degrees to maybe 32 outside? Well that hacking cough you had, the one that’s sensitive to sudden changes in temperature… let’s just say the first few minutes weren’t much fun. And then, adding insult to injury, my Garmin decided to lock up, so I didn’t even have the pleasure of seeing exactly how cold it was. I just knew it was really cold, and I was really slow. More on that shortly.

The two Kevins were in pretty decent shape (hate that the younger Kevin can take time off the bike and it doesn’t seem to matter), while I was lagging off the back. Badly. Probably 40 minutes up Kings. No power to speak of, and that became a problem, because when it’s really cold, what keeps it from being a problem is your ability to keep your steam up, riding at a steady and reasonably-strong pace. And my pace was steadily slowing as I approached the top. I told the two Kevins to ride on ahead, do the full ride, and I’d head down 84, leaving off the West Old LaHonda loop. But y’know, as they started to move off, I remembered… the only thing harder than not staying on the wheel in front of you, is watching it ride away. So I hung on for the ride, all the way to 84.

Descending 84 just wasn’t fun. The cold was getting to me; I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom and maybe work up some steam and get home. And when I did get home, it took a long time to warm up in the shower. But, I did, and 20 minutes after I got home, Kevin arrived. No problem for him; he and pilot Kevin were riding consistently and enjoying the ride. Thankfully, as I get more rides in, the cold will be less of an issue. Looking forward to that!

Not the view of Mt Hamilton I was looking for. Not a week I’d want to re-live either!

Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

Upper right, those two little dots, that’s my view of Mt. Hamilton today.
Today, New Year’s Day, is my annual Mt. Hamilton ride. I was going to make it a big deal this year, publicizing it here, sending out an email, telling people which train to catch and everything. Encourage a lot of people to do soemthing BIG on New Years Day. Something I’ve been doing for well over 20 years. Maybe it’s well over 30. A long long time anyway.

But not to be this year. A week ago Sunday I had a bit of a sore throat, nothing too bad, so Kevin and I did a shorter-than-normal loop up West Alpine, mainly to be back in time for the one Sunday a year the shop is open. I was hoping that riding would burn it out of my system. Not so entirely sure it would be that easy though since my wife had come down with a nasty hacking cough a couple days earlier, but had to try, and I didn’t feel that bad. Nobody was feeling great Christmas; but I wasn’t doing that badly and did an easy solo ride Thursday morning. Not Kevin; he isn’t into the “burn out a cold” program like I am. Saturday, I actually left the shop an hour prior to closing and didn’t even consider a ride Sunday. That’s pretty unusual for me. Yesterday (New Years Eve) I started to feel a little bit better, but no way could I commit to Mt Hamilton. If I woke up feeling great, great!

Typical readings from my Garmin today. Hey, at least I haven’t flat-lined!
Needless to say, I didn’t wake up feeling great, and Kevin felt worse. Still, I did feel better, and there was no way I was going to miss yet another day on the bike. I was getting concerned I’d be losing “mind over legs” control, if you know what I mean.

And… it wasn’t terrible. It was slow, and it took about 15 minutes before I could breathe without coughing, due to the sudden change in temperature. Same thing happened when I got home two hours later. But in between, I was on my bike, taking it easy, and feeling pretty good. Average power output down by 25% and any thoughts of chasing people down in front of me shot. Hated that, but there was also a certain peace that came from knowing that just wasn’t in the cards today. Just a couple hours on the bike, feeling the pedals turn, shifting gears, using the brakes, enjoying some of the most basic silly things imaginable.

Hopefully this thing is on its way out. I’ve had extended bouts of bronchitis before, usually in the summer, where I’d be hacking for maybe 6 weeks. And I’ve had plenty of times I’ve lost my voice for a few weeks in the winter. But never, ever, anything quite like this. That feeling, until today anyway, that you’ve totally lost track of what it feels like to be well. But that feeling is within my grasp now. I can tell. I’m coming back.