Last Thursday was pretty rough; just felt slow and tired. Maybe even old. Slow, tired and old. Not a great combination. And really not happy with the morning fog either! Sunday’s ride was cut short by Kevin’s knee acting up on him; we were supposed to do Old LaHonda/West Alpine/south on Skyline and descend 9 & Redwood Gulch and return through the foothills. Instead if was just the first half, returning home on Skyline, heading north instead of south.

So I wondered how today was going to go. It definitely started out differently; I misread my watch at 6:25am, thinking it said something later. Not sure how much later, but late enough that I decided to get out of bed instead of sleeping until the alarm goes off at 6:50am. Thought I might feel less rested, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Four of us today; Karen showed up to ride with younger Kevin, and older Kevin showed up to ride with me. It was very foggy getting to the ride, very foggy at the start, and very foggy climbing the first third of Kings. Not very warm either; about 52 degrees. I let Karen and Kevin ride on ahead, although after giving them about a 100 meter lead, I went ahead and chased them down. Once. And then drifted back to older Kevin, who’s riding quite a bit more casually these days.

At about 1500 feet we literally climbed past the fog. Not just that, but it warmed up to the mid-60s too! You can see the difference in the photos above. It was like two different rides, one in foggy much, another in beautiful sunshine. I prefer the sunshine version!

I felt better than I have in several weeks this morning. My legs felt good, so I was able to spend a lot more time at the front than I normally would I can definitely use more days like today.

There are Tuesday/Thursday-morning rides where you don’t feel it, you ride like a slug, and you’re not exactly proud of the effort. You feel better at the end of the ride than you did at the beginning, but that’s about as much as you can say about it. And considering that’s what a “bad” ride is like, one where you still feel better for having done it, well, at least you’re doing the right thing.

Tuesday morning was different. It wasn’t fast, neither Kevin nor Karen nor I had a lot of fight, but on a cool (almost cold) foggy morning, it seemed about right. Karen was the strongest, Kevin the most-variable (slow start up Kings; I waited for him at the park entrance, then he rode on ahead about mid-way). As you can see in the picture, no great views Tuesday morning. Hopefully better tomorrow.