Today was the shake-down cruise for the Bike Fridays. Originally it was hoped the weather would get nicer and we could finally get in a killer (and it would kill me) ride to Santa Cruz. And of course I’m determined to ride in weather a bit closer (as in, warmer) to what we’ll experience in France. Trust me, there will be no fog in France. Rain, yes, that’s a given. But it’s going to be warm and muggy.

Trying to avoid Old LaHonda as much as possible, we rode up Kings, as we usually would on a Tuesday morning. Not much fun later in the day when it’s busier; getting behind slower cyclists (what, slower than me?) and having cars back up gets tiring, and they won’t pass, even where it’s safe to do so. The crackdown on drivers dangerously crossing into the other lane has definitely been effective, but maybe went just a bit overboard.

Curiously I was about the same speed on the Bike Friday as I would have been on my regular bike. I took that as a good sign for the trip ahead. We stopped a number of times to address small issue; the bikes have been used for 10 or 11 trips so far, so it’s surprising there aren’t any large issues showing up.

Once up top we headed south to 84, then down to LaHonda for refueling. Kevin and I split a roast beef sandwich, and ate a Snickers Peanut Butter something. Not terribly impressed with it. The Mtn Dew was top notch, though.

Heat was definitely getting to me on the way up West Alpine, but that’s a good thing, that’s what I need to get used to. Most of the time Kevin was stronger, but we did trade a few punches on the way up.

Then down Page Mill, looped back up into Portola Valley & Woodside, and ended up with just barely over 50 miles. Most disappointing thing on the ride? No lemonade stands! A nice 4th of July day and no lemonade stands? What’s the world coming to?

Sunday’s ride was in glorious sunshine and temps warm enough to wear short fingered gloves and shed the base layer and leg warmers.

Not so this morning. Back into the local hills; there’s really no alternative ride where we can get such a good workout in so few miles. At least Thursday might be an opportunity to ditch the base layer; weather says a low of 55 so maybe no fog.

Watching this weekend very carefully; would really like to finally get back to Santa Cruz again but absolutely positively not interested in riding with cold weather gear and having to figure out where to stash it when it warms up. Without Mr. Mustard atop Skyline, it’s very important that we have room to carry a Coke or Mtn Dew to drink at the top of Highway 9.

As for this morning’s ride speed, it was pretty subdued; Kevin had quite a few sore muscles from the many seizures he had yesterday. Those really take a toll on him physically. Hopefully he can get them all out of his system before France, which is just two weeks away. It’s going to be a lot more crowded this year; you can tell just from the plane loads. Stuck in economy+ with no chance for an upgrade in either direction. We leave Wednesday, arriving in Geneva 11:30am Thursday morning. Get on a train at 12:30pm, arriving Annecy about 2:15pm. Unpack, build the Bike Fridays, take a short test cruise around part of the lake and then get ready for a pretty big day seeing the ‘Tour on the Grand Columbier the next day. The plan is to ride myself into shape!

The first big test will be the stage on Friday, featuring the Joux Plane, and the likelihood of not making it back in time to catch the last train to Annecy, requiring about a 60 mile ride back. Several other stages are similar, with time schedules that will be tough to meet, but the Plan B, riding all the way back, will be entirely feasible.

But yeah, gotta get Santa Cruz under the belt!