Cold, wet, 2 flats, let’s not do this again!

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Mike

I woke up briefly at 4am this morning, looked out the window and saw clearing skies. Ah, maybe the weather was going to hold off! Back to sleep until 6:55am when I woke up to… rain. No quite right; at most a light drizzle, but really wet streets. Thankfully, I’d already made sure our rain bikes were ready, so Kevin and I dutifully hit the road at 7:31am, a few minutes earlier than normal ‘cuz the rain bikes are a bit slower and you’re somehow just a bit less inspired when all bundled up and staring into gray skies that are literally descending upon you.

First flat, descending 84. 37 degrees, raining pretty hard. Not fun!

Just one other silly person at the start, the other Kevin. It’s a bit confusing on a ride in which the only other people are both named Kevin; I decided to call the older guy (the pilot who’s done this ride with me for 20+ years) “Captain” and the other Kevin, the 20 year old whippersnapper who shares my last name and address… well, still trying to figure that one out. It wasn’t a pretty ride by any standard; 33 minutes up Kings tells that story! Not so bad across the top (Skyline) although we did notice the temperature steadily dropping, which isn’t normal. It’s supposed to start out cold and get warmer, not start out cold and get colder.

But nothing too exciting, no drama, until just prior to heading back down 84 “Captain” Kevin notices his rear tire is low and stops to inflate it. We make it about 3/4 of the way down the hill before it’s nearly flat again, so we stop to replace it. In a very cold (about 37 degrees according to my Garmin) and steadily-increasing rain. Cold and wet enough that, after “Captain” Kevin used a CO2 cartridge and placed it on top of his gloves and the old tube on the ground, everything literally froze together. Seriously. And I didn’t get a photo! Darn.

Post-ride coffee not optional today, but required!

We then proceeded down the rest of 84 and got less than half a mile down the road before his tire went flat. Again. This time with a bit of a bang, because during the inflation he’d apparently pushed the valve up into the tire a bit, causing the tube to wrap down underneath and rip. Sigh. At least it was now 41 degrees. 10 minutes later we were off again, no more drama the last few miles, and finally, clearing skies. We were left wondering if it was going to be a beautiful day for riding just as soon as we finished, but fortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case as the blustery weather continued for most of the day.

It was a very, very good feeling finally getting up over Jefferson, half an hour behind schedule, knowing a hot shower was in my immediate future. One of those hot showers where your gradually-thawing hands become incredibly painful as they finally warm up, and one of those mornings where a Caramel Latte at Peet’s wasn’t optional, it was required.

Could we have skipped this morning and ridden tomorrow, when it will be much nicer, instead? That’s what most people would do, but we’re not most people. When it’s time to ride, it’s time to ride, and you can’t let the world tell you otherwise. That’s just how we roll. We’re stupid that way. Curiously, looking at Strava, very few others were out riding this morning. Wonder why?

Coastal Classic again!

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Mike

This has to be the most-common moderate-distance ride I do- the Old LaHonda/Pescadero/Tunitas Creek loop. It’s the go-to ride because it’s safe, it’s reliable (you know where to find food & water), it’s challenging if you want to make it challenging, or just a bit on the “tough” side it you want to take it easy. But there’s no way to really take it easy, ‘cuz you’ve got a few hills along the way-

Old LaHonda (1300ft)
Haskins Grade (800ft)
Stage Road climbs 1, 2 & 3 (about 400ft each)
Tunitas Creek (2000ft)

Total time on the road runs from 3.75 to 4.5 hours, depending of course on how much time you spend at the Pescadero Bakery! But even though it doesn’t take very long, and it’s not even very far (from my place in Redwood City it’s just 58 miles), it still feels like you’re quite a distance from home as you head out past Loma Mar on your way to the coast.

Today Kevin and I had an earlier start than usual (on the road by 8:30am) because he had to be back in time for a 1pm on-line video game contest of some sort, one of those things where you form teams and go after military objectives, which sounds better than saying you’re trying to kill as many people on the other team as possible. Kevin was a bit concerned that we weren’t going to make it back in time, but y’know, after doing this route so many times, it’s not like I don’t have a handle on it. But there may have been a reason for some of his uncertainty, as this was only his 3rd time back on the back after 17 days off due to a kidney issue and tonsillectomy.

Jerry climbing up Tunitas on a beautiful winter day! We sold him that Trek back in 2003; it’s seen a lot of miles since.

He needn’t have worried. While he wasn’t particularly fast going up Old LaHonda, finishing less than a minute ahead of me (22-something), he held up fine everywhere else. We even skipped the near-mandatory stop at the Pescadero Bakery after checking to make sure we had a few energy bars, just in case. And Tunitas Creek provided the opportunity to chase down some rabbits, including Jerry, a very good customer of ours (seen in the photo). We arrived back home at 12:30, plenty of time for his game.

Darn that GoPro & other tech failures on a beautiful ride

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Mike

Is it just me, or is the GoPro Hero2 the most-finicky camera/tech gadget ever? I’ve had more lock-ups and outright failures than anything else I’ve ever used, and that includes Windows 2.0! Today’s fun was from using the wrong memory card; a 32 gig micro SD in an adapter. I’ve used 8 & 16 gig micro SD cards in adapters fine, I’ve used 32 gig standard SD cards. But a 32 gig micro shows a “no SD” (as in, no SD card) error. On other cards, it will work for a while but then decide it doesn’t want to keep recording after the first 10 minute segment. And sometimes it doesn’t charge the battery, even though it says it is, and indicates it’s done. Of course I don’t discover any of this until 10 minutes after I’ve left the house, when it’s time to turn on the camera.

Taken w/Instagram! Left to right, Kevin, Karl, Kevin, Eric & Jan at the top of Old LaHonda

So instead, I’m thinking I’ll try to use Instagram to record the ride. Yeah, right. Trying to operate an iPhone with a winter glove, holding and pushing the shutter button with just one hand… oh yeah, good luck with that! It works nicely if you’re stopped though, and should work OK with regular gloves. Soon as it gets warmer, maybe on Sunday’s ride, I’ll report back on this.

But what about the ride? A bit warmer, maybe 44 degrees at the start (and you’d be surprised how different 44 feels from, say, 38). Roll call found in the photo on the left. Since it was Thursday it was a run through the park, with Kevin (my son, not the pilot) feeling a whole lot better than Tuesday and pushing the pace for the first third of the ride. I was feeling a bit better too, but instead of trying to keep up with Kevin I chose to make sure there were no issues at the back. Jan is normally stronger than me on the climbs, but he’s spent the last few weeks skiing instead of cycling. No problem, not much of a sacrifice on my part to drop my speed a bit and keep someone company. –Mike–

Now Kevin knows how I feel

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Mike

Today was Kevin’s first day back on a bike since…January 24th (just checked it out on Strava). Two and a half weeks! First it was a kidney thing, then a throat thing (tonsillitis leading to a tonsillectomy) and then the plague (sore-throat version, nice thing to add on top of a throat already raw from tonsil removal). But today he was back with us, and yes, he did suffer. He had been hoping that a few pounds of weight he’d dropped while sick was going to help him on the climbs, but that wasn’t the case; he made it up just barely over 30 minutes (30:08 I think) and really wasn’t in any frame of mind to try and get those all-important 9 seconds back. But for Kevin, 29:59 probably has zero credibility anyway; he’s routinely doing mid-26s this time of year.

Me? I was finally feeling alive, as in legs worked, lungs sorta worked. I waited a couple times for Kevin on the way up, and then again, surprisingly, on Skyline when Todd mentioned to me that Kevin had been blown off the back. He (Kevin) claimed that he doesn’t mind riding alone, but that Dad thing still prefers to keep him in sight and, besides, I try to monitor the back of the ride and keep things together.

I also experimented with Instagram today, trying to take photos while riding. Not so easily done! The combination of winter gloves and trying to use a phone as a camera with one hand doesn’t work too well (especially tough to trip the shutter button in the middle of the phone, while trying to hold it steady). You can see the results on the Strava page.

Be thankful I blurred the very ugly toenails!

Roll call? Quite a few today. Karen, Karl, Eric, George, Kevin, Kevin, Todd, Marcus, definitely missing someone here.

Best news of the day was the scale; it’s very rare that I see a sub-170 weight during the winter. Sunday’s ride took off a couple pounds and hopefully they’ll stay off!

Oops I did it again! Old Haul Road Part 2

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Mike

On the face of it, it seems so stupid, yet so addictive. High-end carbon road bike with high-zoot carbon wheels and skinny road tires. What could possibly make a dirt road attractive?

Maybe it’s the fun of the “Undiscovered Country.” Having lived in this area since birth (almost 57 years), and having ridden extensively since 11 years old, it’s not so easy finding new roads, new challenges. The obvious answer? Off-road. Trouble is, I have so little time to ride that I can’t rationalize putting a mountain bike into a car and driving somewhere to ride it. But y’know, there was a time when we didn’t have things called mountain bikes, but this crazy local cyclist, Jobst Brandt, thought the bicycle, the bicycle you had at hand, was limited in capabilities only by the user… so it wasn’t unusual that we’d have a 10 mile stretch of dirt trail (not even fire road) in the middle of an epic Sunday 115 miler. We’d do this on fragile sew-ups (usually called “tubulars” these days), threading our way through rocks and sand patches and somehow rarely had flat tires. That experience was a huge thrill for a 16 or 17-year-old kid… it was probably what convinced me that cycling really was the solution for everything.

But for years, decades even, my road bike has pretty much stayed off the dirt, at least if it could be avoided. That is, until last week, my first run over Old Haul Road, from the Loma Mar (Pescadero) side and heading into Portola State Park and the infamous hellish climb back up to Skyline. Today, I figured I’d reverse it, dropping down into the park off a different road, one that Keith (one of our semi-regular Tuesday/Thursday-am riders) took a couple weeks ago. Riding with me was Jeff K, one of our reps who’s come with me on a number of rides, although most have covered familiar territory.

Beautiful views from W Alpine

The ride started out like many, ascending Old LaHonda, but instead of heading down the other side, we went south on Skyline before descending West Alpine and admiring the spectacular views of the coast. And then, shortly after the normal turn-off for Portola State Park, it started to get silly. I’ve put together a video of the 10 minute descent into hell, on a twisty single-lane “paved” road that actually leaves you wanting more.

Honor Camp left, Medium Security right

Once at the bottom, we over-shot the normal choice for getting across to Old Haul Road, riding down into a deserted correctional facility, looking, essentially, for a way out. It was there; I even started down the “jeep trail” a bit before deciding it wasn’t it and back-tracking to a gated dirt road that was signed as leading to Portola State Park.

A very long .8 mile later and I was back in familiar territory- Old Haul Road. It wasn’t much different heading north than it had been the preceding week heading south, and once again my high-

My bike on Old Haul Road

performance “road” bike proved its worth in dirt & mud. We had one more opportunity to back track when we came to Towne Fire Road, which signage indicated would end up on the eastern slope of Haskins Grade (Old Haul dumps you off on the west end). That sounded interesting! Unfortunately, after a few hundred meters you plunge down to the creek, which, at that point, is very wide and very cold with no way to cross other than walking through it. So back up we go, soon exiting Old Haul Road at Loma Mar where we rejoined civilization.

The rest of the ride was the basic “coastal classic” heading out to Pescadero (lunch at the bakery, of course!), Stage Road north, then return on Tunitas. At San Gregorio we were flagged by Perry, a

Climbing Tunitas with Perry & Jeff

cyclist who’d had a flat but no way to inflate the spare tube he carries (he had his CO2 cartridge but forgot the head). We got him going and he sped on up ahead… but we caught back up with him again at the Bike Hut on Tunitas, where he’d gotten another flat. This time I assisted him, finding the tiny piece of glass in his tire that would have caused yet another flat, and the three of us rode together up Tunitas, over the top and home.

This was not an easy ride, but it was a lot of fun exploring new territory… and exploring is certainly the appropriate word!

We rode in the rain so you didn’t have to

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Mike

Bad timing or what? It was dry when I left the house this morning, it was dry at the start of the ride, and the weather forecast said dry for an hour or two more, after that, light showers. But maybe all those who didn’t show knew something that Eric and Marcus didn’t? Just a few drops heading up Kings, not much on Skyline, and fine heading down the backside of 84 and up the other side of Old LaHonda. Only thing not-so-nice was a headwind coming from the coast. But by the time we hit Sky Londa for the descent home, things had changed. In fact, 100ft short of the intersection is the exact place it changed.

Of course, shortly after getting back, it stopped raining. And didn’t rain again, all day.

Rode with a World Champion today

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Mike

Our most-decorated semi-regular Tuesday/Thursday-morning rider came out today, fresh from taking the Women’s World CycloCross Championship (50-54 age group) in Louisville Kentucky… that would be the always-classy Karen Brems. I wish I had been feeling good enough to spend time with her and hear the stories, but I’m still getting over this nasty cold bug so nearly all of the ride was, for me, in survival mode. Even though Karen was taking it pretty easy… everyone, in fact, was taking it pretty easy.

Everyone? Actually, I don’t know that to be the case. The start of the climb up Kings was easy, until I got dropped, and since Marcus showed up, and Kevin (pilot), and Chris, and George… the regular testosterone brigade… who knows what went on up there. But I do know that Todd, Karen and Eric were taking it relatively-easy. Thankfully it was a no-drop pace of Skyline, else I wouldn’t have got the video of my snot-rocket blessing. I didn’t know for sure that it came my way, yet I had the presence of mind to wipe the camera lens right afterward.

As a kid it seemed like Mt Everest. That kid was right.

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Mike

This might have been the toughest 52 miles I’ve ridden. Any sane person would have bailed; my son’s still not riding due to his tonsillectomy, Andrew begged out because he was sick, and me? I had a plan, and I execute the plan, pretty much no-matter-what, despite what feels like a bit of bronchitis coming on (which I sometimes get at the tail end of a cold).

Bits and pieces of the ride coming up OLH on their one-way trip to Pescadero

Bits and pieces of a ride coming up OLH on their one-way trip to Pescadero

So I set out at 9am on my own, on a ride that would bring me to a road I’d often heard references to but never ridden (not too many local roads I haven’t ridden!), and another that I first rode maybe 44 years ago and have been smart enough not to ride since. I did have an opportunity to choose an alternative; I could have done the Alto Velo ride (and tried to hang on for as long as I could), or maybe bum along with Zack, who I saw heading out for a ride as I rode over Jefferson. But I stuck to the plan. Over Old LaHonda & Haskins to Memorial Park, then across Old Haul Road to Portola State Park, after which I would ascend from the depths back up to Skyline.

It was nice not having to push myself on Old LaHonda, a benefit of the cold I’m getting over, so I cruised up at a 25 minute pace, talking to some of the many, many older guys from Woodside who were doing a one-way to Pescadero, where they had Bloody Mary’s, cars and designated drivers to haul them back home. Even though I don’t drink, there seemed to be a certain civility, almost sensibility to their ride. But, that’s not how I roll, it wasn’t the plan.

The gate for Old Haul Road off Wurr

A relatively-clean bike at the start of Old Haul Road

The climb over Haskins wasn’t too bad; about 11:30 I think, so overall I was doing about an 80% effort. I arrived at Old Haul Road thinking this could work, especially after Zack mentioned it was one of his favorite roads (although he wondered why I was on my nice bike, not my rain bike). I admit it was a bit eerie out there, seeing absolutely nobody for 50 minutes, only very large droppings from very large animals and lots of signs to beware of mountain lions.

Old Haul goes straight, the Bridge trail to Pomponio Rd goes left

Creepy faces on a few trees on Old Haul Road

Old Haul Road can definitely be ridden with standard road bike equipment at the right time of the year, which I rationalized this was, because it had been a month since it had rained. Zack had recommended the short steep parts be done in the saddle to keep your rear wheel from slipping, but I had no problems with that. I can’t do a decent track stand, but steep technical climbs don’t bother me. Go figure. The main issue with Old Haul Road, at least the first time, is that you don’t have a good sense of where you are (how far you’ve gone, how much further to go).

Bike’s a bit dirtier after Old Haul Road!

Turnoff to Portola State Park from Old Haul

I made a point of checking out the various trail heads along the way, but the main choice appears to be taking a bridge across the creek to Pomponio Road (which connects to West Alpine just about the Buffalo ranch) or continuing on what quickly becomes a very slippery clay surface to the park headquarters, and then up the main road. I have no idea which route is tougher; I just know that the route out of Portola State Park from Park Headquarters is not fun!

Thankfully it’s a “stepped” climb, so you get a chance to change gears now & then, but the climb out of Portola State Park is a whole lot steeper than anything on West Alpine… which means that, by the time you get to West Alpine, you’ve been, er, tenderized. There were parts of it that brought back vague memories from so many years ago, but overall it just seemed steep and nasty. I was so thankful seeing the “Trucks use low gears” in the other direction, as I neared West Alpine. Normally, the upper part of West Alpine is nothing to look forward to, but today, it was. Known territory. And just over an hour away from home!

This would be a tough ride even if you were feeling on top of your game. Old Haul Road certainly opens your eyes to the joys of getting a road bike off pavement, but a real CycloCross bike would make it a lot easier. More work getting to the dirt, for sure, but there are an awful lot of nice loops you can do off the beaten track. Here’s a link to the official map for Portola State Park, but keep in mind it doesn’t do a great job of showing the various legal options for exiting Old Haul Road. Could be there are only two, the one I took (shown in the Strava segment) and the one using the Bridge trail.

“We appreciate your Business.” Really? We do, but I question Max’s Cafe on that point…

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Mike

“CLOSING EARLY FOR MAINTENANCE. Sunday Hours February 3rd 8am to 3pm. Serving Breakfast and Lunch. We appreciate your Business.” Sign on Max’s Café Sunday night, 7pm, day before Superbowl.

Planned ride- Old Haul Road. First time ever!

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Mike

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide (Direct link to this ride)

I’ve lived in this area my entire life, explored it on bike since I was 11 (46 years), and yet have never ridden Old Haul Road, the former logging road/narrow gauge rail line that runs between Loma Mar (near Pescadero) and Portola State Park. Tomorrow morning I plant to change that!

Not nearly as worried about Old Haul Road, which isn’t paved but supposedly has a very nice road-bikable surface, as I am the hellish climb out of Portola State Park. I think I’ve done that twice; I know the first time was on a Schwinn Varsity when I was maybe 12 or 13, and I remember thinking it best not to ride down into the park too quickly because somehow that would make it harder coming back out. Maybe it wouldn’t have seemed so nastily-steep if the Schwinn Varsity had come with easier gearing (42×28). I believe I rode it again 15-20 years ago, but not really sure.

Film at 11! Actually much earlier than that; should be back from the ride by 2pm or so, plenty of time to watch the SuperBowl. –Mike–

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