Near the top of Kings. The deer on the left did something funny; they walked across the road in front of us, trying to get away, moved up the hillside and we saw them again on the other side of the hairpin. Kind of like how spectators at the Tour de France rush from the downside of a hairpin to the upside as the riders go past.It’s bad enough that I haven’t kept things up here as I should; the “almost daily” part of this seems like a ship that sailed a very long time ago. Probably two years ago, and I can look to some strange stuff that went on then (not bike stuff) for some of the reason. And then, when I try to get caught back up, the webhost for the diary is down! So I can’t update when I want to update!
It’s been a really rough summer, having to watch the ‘Tour from the sidelines (well, no, in-person it would be on the sidelines; I’m watching from 6,000 miles away). And then the craziness that Covid-19 has brought to the bike biz, and add to that trying to get things moving for the shop move (we’ve been paying full rent for the new place since April; that’s going to come to maybe $90,000 by the time we move in, and I can think of a lot better ways I’d rather be spending that money than on an empty building!).
Love that needle on the bee stinger “assembly.” Ouch.But for now, we’ll cover yesterday, and why I didn’t sleep much last night. A nearly idyllic morning on Kings, albeit alone, until I got stung by a bee just as I got to the wide-open clearing with 1.5 miles to go. It must have hit my helmet because the instant it bounced off my arm it managed to sting me. No way that could have happened if it hadn’t already been angry and prepared. It’s like, c’mon, you’ve got to be kidding. All the stuff that’s been going on, and now I get stung by a bee? The good thing is that it was, in fact, a bee, not a yellow jacket. I react really badly to yellow jackets. But you could see the stinger and see it pumping venom into my arm (one of those few times I wish I didn’t have “readers” on my sunglasses that allow me to see things close up!). I know enough to scrape it out, not try to pull it, which would pump more venom into my arm. Even saved the stinger part and put it on top of my garmin so I could get a photo when I felt like it.
I considered turning around right then but no, it wasn’t a yellow jacket, let’s just keep going and see how things feel. I stopped a bit further up, to check up on my arm and get a photo of the stinger (it later fell off my garmin but it was a scary enough image to remember without having to save it). Kept going, got passed by a few guys, the the slower of the three I managed to catch back up to and gradually grind on past. Got to the top, exchanged pleasantries (wondered if they were going to be doing West Old LaHonda) and, when it turned out they weren’t going to be heading the way I normally would, I decided to head back home, straight down the hill.
This morning, I’m suffering a bit from lack of sleep because that arm (left) has been itching pretty badly. Allegra helps. It’s not swelling too much, but it’s not much fun. And that’s kind of how a lot of things have been lately- not much fun. It’s time to have some fun.
If not for the orange skies, this would be a pretty cool picture, with the island coming up through the fog.So it was looking like another lonely morning, with Kevin still nursing his banged-up knee, but that was OK, I was down for that today, unlike many past solo rides where I really felt a need for company. I enjoy a mix of solo and group rides, but when it’s solo after solo after solo, it gets old after awhile, and you have too much time for introspective thinking, with your mind sometimes going to dark places.
But today, I started out with a bang, leaving just a minute or two late so I had to go flying up over Jefferson… and it felt good. Surprisingly good. Legs working, lungs kinda maybe ok. No surprise though that nobody else was at the start. I’d texted the other Kevin (pilot), but he’d reserved a ride with someone a bit slower and leaving a bit later. So I wait until the GPS-accurate time of 7:45am rolls around and I’m off and riding, still feeling pretty good.
And I kept feeling pretty good right up to the park entrance, which was… closed. Darn. So much for powering up through the first part of the park! There should be two separate Strava segments for the section through the park; one for when the gate’s open, the other for when you have to dismount and squeeze between the rock and the edge of the metal gate. So momentum lost, but I still felt OK, still pushed as I could, still got gassed on the steep section where the deer watch you.
The upper gate? Open. Go figure. Last week the lower gate was open and upper closed. So I make the high-speed high-g turn onto Kings (yeah, I wish) and try to maintain a reasonable pace, and then, look back, just before half-way, and there he is. Again. Jeff. Long gone are the days I could try and hold his wheel for a while. He waited at the top for a few minutes and we immediately headed South on Skyline. About 57 up on top, slight smell of smoke but not too bad, not at all like it is as I type this, at the shop, at 6pm. Ash falling almost like rain.
Even on Skyline it takes some effort hanging onto Jeff’s wheel, but on the steeper short sprint sections, I could still find something in the legs to push, hard. The legs really felt pretty good today. At least they did until West Old LaHonda. Jeff is dangerous when he feels good. I held on for dear life until the big U-turn at the end of the valley, and then my wheels came off. I phone in the rest of the effort, and even then, still got one of my better recent times.
Up on Skyline Jeff continued north while I descended 84. The interesting thing today was that nasty little hill after you’ve finished the descent and head towards Tripp Road? I was able to keep it over 400 watts all the way up. I really thought I’d be a bit cooked by then, but cooked or not, the legs were still working. Made it back to the start by 9:21, which puts me on a schedule similar to the old days (when I was fast). The only bad part about the ride was thinking that I was supposed to be flying to France this afternoon. Tonight I even looked up the seat map for the plane; a 787 with about 40 passengers. Everyone had multiple rows all to themselves. Social distancing to the max!
