Looks more like an oriental tea garden that something buried between hospital buildings.

I slightly overdressed this morning, looking at the fog-shrouded hills from my kitchen window so put on a base layer. Refused to use leg warmers, just because. Of course, the fog did what it’s supposed to do and burned off before we got to it.

The “we” today included Kevin, Karen and, long-time missing from our Tuesday/Thursday ride, JR! Unlike the past three rides, Kevin felt better this morning but I didn’t recognize how much better until too late, causing me to self-destruct before we even got to the park entrance. I kept sight of Karen in front and JR behind.

Up on top we encountered what a text from the Sheriff’s Dept warned- Skyline was shut down at Skeggs. A body had been discovered adjacent to the road and they were still looking for the bad guy. Turning around, we made the most of it and descended Swett to Tunitas and ride back up the last (the easy) part before descending Kings.

Only 22 instead of 30 miles but it still felt like a nice ride.

The best came later; I had an 11:30 Doctor’s appointment so, with plenty of time on my hands, headed down to Kaiser an hour early and spent 40 minutes relaxing with coffee and pastries in an idyllic setting (as seen in the photo at the top of this page). It felt so nice to just relax and not have to rush for once. High point of my day!

And then there was the ride home. First commute ride in a week on my regular bike, not an e-bike. Did you know it’s a lot more work climbing Jefferson without a motor assist? But also very satisfying getting home under my own power.

So today made three strong rides in a row, which is a very unusual situation for me this time of year.

Kevin and I weren’t sure where we’d be going until we got out towards Woodside. The only thing we knew for sure was that we were riding over Jefferson, then heading South. It was tough passing up Old LaHonda but, with quite a bit of fog visible on Skyline, it seemed like maybe not the best day to ride to the coast. So instead we did the Redwood Gulch, Skyline & return loop.

Redwood Gulch. Why. Every time you do it, it’s why. Curiously, today I was moving better on the climb than Kévin, finishing more than a minute ahead of him. Not that it mattered though, since the Garmin didn’t record it. I did have the video camera on though, so I figured out the time from that. 12:16, which I haven’t done for a year or so.

Climbing the rest of the way on 9, I was thinking how many times I thought we were further up the hill than we actually were, and postulating that, each time that happens on a climb, it takes a little bit out of you. We eventually got to the top, only to confirm our belief that Mr Mustard is no longer to be seen.

The run north on Skyline netted us a PR, which surprised me, but I was pulling pretty strongly. That very rare day I’m able to pull Kévin along. I was seeing pretty good power numbers too.

Could be that I’m getting used to, and seeing the advantages of, weighing a bit less than last year. My weight is stable (so not indicative of any continuing health issue) and I’m beginning to get back that twist-the-throttle-and-go feeling that I’ve been missing the past couple of years. We’ll see how long it lasts.