Cool, yes, but not raining! As I’ve said before, we can take rain, we can take wet, but the two together aren’t much fun. This morning, for the most part, was fun. Despite being a Tuesday ride (typically the harder one), the testosterone had been left at home, so Ludo, John, Eric, Nigel and I had a pretty civilized ride, with nothing getting tested until West-side Old LaHonda, and even that was pretty moderate.

Speaking of tested, I finally figured out how to shoot viewable video from my Contour HD1080 camera. Prior to this, everything’s been really jerky as each bump jostles the camera and causes it to vibrate. My solution was a bit unorthodox and definitely not very pretty, but the results were great!

I’ll post the results shortly; I’m uploading about 15 minutes of video to YouTube. It’s unedited and without audio, but you’ll get an idea of what West-side Old LaHonda is like, including the run through the forest which, until now, has been nearly unfilmable.

Regarding the “road’s gonna go” teaser, I’m talking about that section of West-side Old LaHonda where the road has been slipping away and they’ve done some cheap & temporary fill to try and keep things in place. Well, after last week’s rain, the pavement in the area is crumbling and it’s not going to be too long before the roadway won’t support a large vehicle. Our fear is that they might stop maintaining the road entirely, letting that section completely slip away because, after all, how many actually need to use it as a through road (other than cyclists)? Hopefully the video I shot today won’t have historical value in the near future.

I was having a bit of fun heading down 84, with the dry pavement letting me push through the corners a bit harder so I had no trouble keeping up with Nigel and John, but about halfway down noticed that Eric and Ludo were no longer with us. Sometimes Eric can be a bit conservative on the descents, so I didn’t think too much of it until we got to the bottom and… no Eric, no Ludo. We waited… and waited… John kept on riding for a bit but Nigel and I headed back up the hill, hoping we weren’t going to find them picking up pieces of their bikes from the roadway and admiring each others road rash. Fortunately, the more-likely and less-painful scenario played out. Eric had gotten a flat, and Ludo stayed to help (good thing, since Eric’s pump didn’t work). Unfortunately, Nigel and I had to climb almost halfway back up 84 before intercepting them on their way down!

But adding a few more miles and a bit more climbing on a nice morning with a friendly group of cyclists… there are a lot worse ways to start the day.  –Mike–