10/05/08- IT WASN'T UGLY, BUT PARTS WEREN'T TOO PRETTY! For today's ride I wanted to do something a bit different than the norm, so instead of climbing the usual Kings or Old LaHonda, I headed out to Half Moon Bay over '92. Yes, Highway 92, that narrow, jam-packed-with-cars road that cyclists generally avoid. The reality is that it's actually not that bad on the climb up, and it's fun when you get to the top and get to ride past literally 3 miles of cars stopped bumper-to-bumper in one huge traffic jam. From Half Moon Bay I headed back into the hills on Higgins Purissima, a road that had a lot more climbing than I remembered! And then another set of climbs up Los Lobitos Creek, which dumps you right where the fun starts on Tunitas Creek.

And today, it actually was fun. I'd taken it relatively easy until I got to Tunitas, and the climb, as usual, didn't disappoint. It took 33 minutes from the bottom to the top, which puts the effort right at my 3,000ft/hour max climb rate these days. To put that into perspective, the top professional cyclists can do about 5400ft/hour, sometimes exceeding 6000 (though numbers that high are nearly always seen as an indication of doping).

Not too many out on the coast side, which I found very surprising. Perhaps people were scared off by yesterday's foul weather and didn't think mother nature could truly pull off such a change from one day to the next, but at 72 degrees with a light breeze, the coast side was spectacular. I did come across the women in the photos though, who didn't seem to mind having their picture taken.

10/02/03- GOT SOME EMAIL on my observations about passing (without notice) the group of women from Stanford's cycling team on the ride last Tuesday. Basically wondering what's with us guys. Good question! Not sure I can answer it either, but on this morning's ride, we did have Karen, who's shown up a few time, keeping an eye on us. Not too tough to do, as there were only three of "us" today, myself, Eric and Karen.

It was impossible not to notice the change as we moved from Summer to Fall; it's not as bright out, a bit more humidity, and the temperature doesn't change so much during the ride, probably due to the "blanket" effect of the clouds. Soon I'll even have to bring the rain bike out of the garage, one of those defining moments during the year that my wife really doesn't look forward to, since it adds one more bike to the collection in the entry hall and living room. But not yet. For now, the rain is forecast for tomorrow night and Saturday morning, times I'm not out riding. Sunday is supposed to be very, very nice.

But getting back to today's ride, with a smaller group it was a bit different than normal, with no re-groups for stragglers and a pretty even pace from beginning to end. In fact, I made it back home much earlier than normal. Eric got the prize for spotting something interesting; a beautiful, large red-tailed hawk on west-side Old LaHonda.

09/30/08- WE'RE IDIOTS. But I'll get to that shortly. This morning it was George, Kevin, Eric, Chris (who hasn't shown up for a while, but is apparently hasn't missed us, having taken 2nd place at the Mt. Tam hillclimb in Cat 3), plus Billy & the other Kevin for just the climb up Kings. Moderate pace, which meant I was able to see the guys in front of me. We rolled along Skyline peacefully until I decided to try the same move Ballan used to win the World Championships last Sunday, coming around Kevin maybe 5 miles per hour faster and flying off the front. Only Ballan kept it up for almost 2 kilometers, and me? Maybe 200 meters. Maybe.

But the idiot part? We're cruising along on Skyline, just prior to Swett Road, when we come across 4 women wearing Stanford team cycling jerseys. Do we ask if they want to join us? No. Do we slow down to let them get on our wheels? No. Do we tell them it's nice to see another group out here in the morning? No. We just ride on past. Well, except that there's this guy in our group with a camera trying to take a couple photos of them as we ride past, but the only one that came out was the first one, taken from behind. Perhaps not the most-flattering shot, but you go with what you got.

Sigh. Obviously, fit college women on bikes are something we have zero interest in, but hopefully there will still be some around in a few years when my son's their age. It would just be so much easier to motivate him to ride if we could find where all the 16 year old girls who ride hang out!

09/28/08- GREAT TO BE BACK ON THE BIKE! After a couple days at the Las Vegas bike shop, including Thursday, one of my normal ride days, I was feeling pretty, well, tired & chunky. Too much food, all of it bad, too much time on my feet at the show, too much recirculated dry convention-center air. Not enough bike!

So today was a welcome relief. The original plan was that my son was going to be doing a ride with his school's bike club, but that didn't work out; he called me from Canada & 92 where the planned group had dwindled from 7 or 8 to... well, just him. All manner of conflicts prevented even the 4 who showed up from doing more than a short ride, including two girls (yes, girls, and from his own school) on a tandem that broke a chain. So I scrubbed my original plan for a ride out to the coast and headed up Kings Mtn with him, on the ride they were going to do. Like I need another ride up Kings Mtn! Still, it was fun riding at a different pace than normal, and I managed to talk him into doing the worst of the dead-end descents into hell, Bear Gulch Road. As you can see in the photo, it's one of the few roads where it almost looks as steep in the photo as it is in real life.

After that out & back we continued south on Skyline we continued south to 84, where he went on to Woodside and home, while I headed out to West Alpine. I had to get in a couple of hard climbs today, and I did. Just over 6000 feet of climbing in just over 50 miles. Beautiful weather, just a tad warm in places, but nothing oppressive.

09/23/08- WE'RE A PRETTY SELF-CONTAINED GROUP. We've got a pilot to fly us places, a bike shop owner to handle mechanical issues, a chiropractor for those nagging aches & pains & alignment issues, an extraordinary tattoo artist, a nutritionist, a GP doctor... what could we possibly be missing? Well, it could be argued that the ride is almost always guys, but that's a whole 'nother issue.

At the start it was our GP doc (George) holding court, showing us the x-ray of Karl's broken collarbone from his cyclocross race this past Saturday. Broken collarbones are pretty common among cyclists, and it's surprising that, for as many significant crashes as I had when I raced (and even a couple afterward), mine has remained intact.

Without Karl, and with George showing up on his heavier cyclocross bike, the group seemed to be in a pretty darned mellow mood this morning. Probably helped further by Kevin (old-guy pilot Kevin) being a bit tired from his Mt. Everest bike race this past weekend (29,000 ft of climbing over two days). Whatever the case, it was a very casual ride, finishing a good 12 minutes behind the usual Tuesday schedule. An enjoyable ride though, with plenty of opportunity for chat. Funny thing, though. I find on slower rides I actually get hungrier. What's with that?

09/21/08- NOT QUITE THE RIDE I'D PLANNED THIS MORNING. The "plan" was to ride the Tour for Woodside with my son, an annual event that's a benefit for his high school. 25, 55 & 100 mile options, of which we do the 75 (which is the 100 mile without some extra little loops around Woodside to add up to 100). Unfortunately, Kevin had some sort of a stomach ailment last night, so I let him sleep in a bit this morning, hoping he'd feel well enough to ride. Nope. So I take care of a few things and finally get out on the bike just after 10am and head out to Pescadero, basically chasing after the remnants of late departers for the 100 mile option. I did manage to catch up with a few, but the Old LaHonda/Pescadero/Tunitas loop is a great one with or without company.

Today I had quite a bit of company though, riding up Old LaHonda with Elspeth, a very strong woman I'd sold a Trek Madone to a couple years ago, and then later on came across Vince, someone I'd sold a Trek 2100 to maybe 12 years ago, could have been more. Darned bikes hold up too well!

Most of the ride was in fairly easy "casual" mode, actually having enough air to talk with people, even on the climbs. Most. I did work my tail off on the climb over Haskins to Pescadero though! That and there were a few rabbits to catch (riders ahead) on Stage Road that I went after as well

09/18/08- TWO DAYS LATE; THANK-YOU, "JOHN SMITH" AT SBC/ATT DSL SERVICE! Sigh. My DSL line at home went out, limiting my ability to update the website, among other things. So when I finally found some time (about 10pm), I resigned myself to calling SBC's outsourced "help" line, where I found myself doing the same thing I've done before, a 35-minute conversation with someone who can't deviate from a script, who can't understand that the problem is exactly what I laid out for him at the beginning of the call, who can't understand that you don't have to make up a name like "John Smith" to pretend to be someone you aren't, who can't understand that your really don't have to pretend at all because there's nothing at all wrong with having an Indian name when you live in India. My wife thinks I'm excessively-tolerant in these situations, but it's really not the guy's fault at the other end of the line. It's SBC/ATT's fault, and anybody else who uses outsourced call centers and doesn't properly train the staff there, and then tries to pretend that they haven't gone overseas for support.

But all is well now; the DSL line is back up and running, a day ahead of when they thought would be the case (probably because all someone had to do was reset a router at the central office, just like last time...).

09/18/08- EASY RIDE AS THE RACERS PREPARE FOR THE WEEKEND. With Karl looking forward to another cyclocross race this weekend (I think he won his event last Sunday!) and Eric doing the insane "Everest Challenge" race (two days with about 28,000ft of total climbing) on Saturday & Sunday, nobody was going to be killing themselves this morning. Even so, the ride up Kings, because we went through the park, was a bit on the challenging side for the first part. Those steeper sections through the park just don't get along with me.

It was an odd ride, to say the least, as conversation on west-side Old LaHonda headed into a bizarre mix of politics, religion, education & nutrition. The group at that time was myself, Karl, Eric, other Kevin, Billy & Syl. Other Kevin & Billy were doing their best to try and get something really confrontational going, and I won't even touch on the subject matter here. Let's just say that, while the group could almost universally be described as "liberal" it's unlikely that we'd be voting as a block.

09/16/08- HARD GROUP, HARD RIDE! I don't even remember everyone who showed up, but it was quite a few at the start, including most of the usual suspects (Kevin, Karl, Eric), a few of the unusual suspects (other Kevin, Billy, Syl) and Karen Brems, one of the top women Webcor riders, who needed some time in the hills. One got the feeling the "usual" suspects were riding tempo. Fast enough to make sure nobody was going to take a flyer off the front, but not quite so fast that I was left hopelessly behind. By the time we were heading south on Skyline, there were only the "usual" suspects, plus Karen, left (the others had headed back down Kings), but the tempo remained fairly quick, and we arrived back at the finish about 9:18am, a good 5 minutes ahead of schedule, with an average ride speed (for me) of 16.5mph. My guess is that I'd totally max out around 16.9 or so, but not too likely we'll do a ride designed specifically for that.

09/14/08- FIRST RIDE AROUND LAKE TAHOE FOR KEVIN, and it had been quite a few years since I've done it myself! Beautiful day, with temps in the mid-80s and just a slight breeze to help keep things cool. I'd forgotten how awful the pavement is on the California side though. Ouch! Kevin was not a happy camper; by the time we got to the half-way point (at Tahoe City; we'd started at Zephy Cove just outside of Stateline) he was about finished. Fortunately the rest & food kept him going, and the smooth pavement on the Nevada side of the lake was quite welcome.

Things we noticed, besides the great views and relatively-clean air (too many cars to really call it clean), included cars that often seemed quite a bit less tolerant of bikes than I'm used to in the Bay Area, and some really big homes on Lakeshore Drive, the road that bypasses Incline Village at the north end of the lake. Things I remembered from before included a lot of small climbs that begin to add up by the time you get to Incline Village. From there on, things get better, with "real" climbs that you can get a rhythm on. Total climbing for the 71 mile trip around the lake is right at 4000ft, so on paper, it really shouldn't be that hard. And if you're really pushing the pace, it isn't. But at more moderate speeds it seems a lot tougher. Not quite sure how that works! In any event, our riding speed averaged 15mph, a bit faster than a ride with Kevin to the coast would be, and pretty much in keeping with that amount of climbing.

09/11/08- WHAT GOT INTO ERIC THIS MORNING?  That's what I was thinking as I was trying to hold his wheel on west-side Old LaHonda. We'd gotten a bit ahead of the others (Karl, Milo, younger Kevin & Billy... I think Syl had gone back down 84 a bit earlier), and Eric, who's usually a steady (but strong) rider, started pushing the pace a bit, and then began a series of hard accelerations. I clung to his wheel for the first three or four, hanging on all the way up to the part where it flattens out a bit, just before entering the forest. I thought, I hoped, that once we got to that section, he'd slack off a bit. But no. Instead, he went hard yet again, and I didn't even try to stay with him. In retrospect, I'm wondering if a super-human effort might have kept me in his wake; it's nearly always the case that we've got more in the tank than we think. But today, I conceded to a much-stronger rider.

09/09/08- WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT CYCLING IS this feeling that, if you keep it up, you can just keep going on forever. It might not be an absolute, but we've certainly got a whole lot of customers who seem intent on proving it true. Last week a couple of guys came in who've been long-time customers, and I asked them how old they were. 82 and 87. Do they look it? No. Do they act it? No. And the 87 year old is still riding 130 miles/week! Think about that. Sure, he's not out there in a paceline at 27 miles per hour, but he's enjoying life at just the right speed, the sort of thing a bike does better than a car, or walking, or just about anything else. 87 years old and he's doing 5,000 miles a year (the math says more but I'm making an assumption he might not be out there when the weather's nasty).

So what did I accomplish this morning? More than I thought I would. I felt a bit flat at the start, but this new thing of mine, staying seated on the climbs, is paying off. I no longer have to force myself to do that (stay seated); it's beginning to feel normal again. With great results; it doesn't seem like I'm going that fast, but my time was 26:44 up Kings this morning. Standing, I feel like I'm going faster, but I'm actually about a minute slower.

Unlike previous mornings I actually had to use leg warmers today, and it was kinda nice having some fog up on Skyline. Quite the contrast from the 90+ degree days we've been having recently. Karl, younger Kevin, George, Eric, Billy, Syl, Preben... no older Kevin (who's in Colorado helping someone move) were all out there at the start of the ride. Kevin, Billy & Syl turned back at the top, not wanting to spend time in the fog (I have a feeling we're not going to be seeing them show up for the ride when it's raining!). I really started to feel human again as I got into the ride, quite different than how I felt last night (not able to sleep well, kept thinking about too many things and how to deal with them). Riding is, indeed, good for the body and mind.

09/07/08- WHO ARE ALL THOSE OLD GUYS? AND WHY ALL THE GLARE IN MY PICTURES? Sunday was the day for the annual Old Fart's Ride, combined with a reunion of my old racing club, Pedali Alpini. And 35 years ago I felt like the young punk in the crowd, and it was the same today. I'm still not sure why I get invited to the Old Fart's Rides, since it's for those who raced back in the 50s & 60s, and I didn't come onto the scene until 1971 or so. I guess I bridge the gap between generations.

After returning from our ride through the Los Altos Hills it was time to look at the old photographs and talk about the good old days. If you've seen the scene towards the end of the movie "A League of Their Own" it was exactly like that. Spookily like that, really. People getting together who hadn't seen each other in years, sharing a common bond of having once been involved (at an intense level) in bicycle racing back in the day.

09/05/08- NO RIDE YESTERDAY, BUT DID A RARE FRIDAY-MORNING RIDE TODAY. There are very few things I let upset my regular Tuesday/Thursday ritual. Funerals, weddings, epic weather, whatever. I ride. That's what I do on Tuesday & Thursday mornings. But yesterday morning there was a doctor's appointment for one of my kids that I should have been at, so I was. I'll admit that it did feel a bit weird when I'd look at my watch and know exactly where I'd be on the ride at that time! Really weird. I did call Kevin (older Kevin, not my son Kevin) (or the other Kevin who rides with us) (too many Kevins!!!) to get a ride report, but I've already forgotten who showed up. Apparently a fairly mellow ride though. That's what happens when I'm not there. Nice mellow pace. Probably because nobody's trying to ride me into the ground so I have nothing left in the legs to sprint with.

But because I didn't ride yesterday, and felt guilty about the fact that I was thinking of things I could be doing this morning instead of riding... because of that I did the "ugly" ride. North on Canada, up 92 to Skyline, south on Skyline to Kings and back down. Only 25 miles, but it's a dreadfully painful 25 miles because that stretch on Skyline heading south just never feels right to your legs. Never. But it felt good to take on the demon, to ride into the heat (thankfully, it didn't get past 82 on the ride, and was a pleasantly-cool 63 on parts of Canada Road, a far cry from the 100 degrees it would be later in the day).

As I was heading up Skyline, older Kevin was driving home on the road, wondering what I was doing out there, where I was going, that sort of thing. Just clearing out my mind on my bike, airing out the legs a bit, making sure the engine still works the way it should. And you know what? For some reason, I felt a lot better the rest of the day, despite the heat in the shop, than I would have had I not ridden. Don't know why. But the rest of the day went a lot better than it otherwise might have. Maybe because I had all the rationalizations for things I should be doing instead of riding, but I rode anyway.

09/02/08- WHO ARE ALL THESE GUYS??? A bit strange this morning, as we started out with a moderate-size group that picked up a couple as we went along, and then started shedding them after we got to Skyline. No way for me to remember who's who in the zoo on a ride like this, but we did have most of the regulars, including Preben, Eric, George, Kevin, other Kevin, Billy... and add to that once-in-a-while Syl. No Karl, as he was helping crew for a friend swimming the Catalina Channel.

Kevin (old-regular-guy Kevin) really wanted to head up through the Park, but the best I would offer was a compromise... anybody could head through the park who wished to, and I'd meet them at the Park entrance a mile or so up the road. No takers; everybody rode up together. I should point out that, from the first pedal step on my bike this morning, things just didn't feel too great. Tight shoes (meaning that I was retaining water; never a good sign) and just plain low energy. I resigned myself to a dreadfully-slow climb up the hill, but hoped as the ride went on that I'd feel better.

And yes, I did feel better! The guys weren't riding up the hill too quickly, chatting away as they often do, so I was able to hang onto the wheels in front of me for quite a while, all the way up to the clearing about 3/4 of the way. At that point I was a bit gassed and watched them gradually ride away, but at the top, instead of the 30-minute time I was expecting, it was 27:14.

From then on it was an ever-shrinking number of riders; at the start of the west-side Old LaHonda section, Kevin, George, Preben and maybe one or two others opted to keep going, heading out to the coast or perhaps for a climb up West Alpine. That left Eric, Billy, Kevin & Syl, but even that's misleading as Eric and I had a bit of a head start and didn't see the other three until we'd stopped at Skyline, and Eric deserted at that point so he wouldn't be late for work. By the time I got to the bottom of 84 (into Woodside), it was just me, as the others headed off in a different direction. It's kind of funny that I felt so alone those last few miles, which isn't at all how I feel when I'm out riding by myself on a 60 mile ride. Nope, doesn't make much sense to me either!

08/31/08- YOU'D THINK I'D LEARN ABOUT THE WIND ON THE COAST but it seems like I never will. Kevin (my son) and I did the Woodside/Old LaHonda/Pescadero/Tunitas loop, and, as is often the case, faced some pretty good headwinds on the way into Pescadero, as well as the entire length of Stage Road (which takes you from Pescadero to Tunitas Creek). Kevin's sort of stuck in a 27:3X rut on Old LaHonda; his best time so far is 27:32, today was 27:35 and a week or so ago it was 27:38 if I recall correctly. Pretty consistent!

Not too many people out on the roads, aside from the Alto Velo ride that passed by us after we'd descended Haskins Grade, and a group of 6 guys on Tunitas Creek who'd ridden yesterday from Oakland to Half Moon Bay, and were riding home today. Fully loaded with camping gear on pretty heavy bikes, and yet they were moving very quickly up the hill. We just barely caught up to them and they stayed with us until we got to the faster, flatter section on the last couple of miles.

Those last couple of miles did fly though! Kevin's time from Highway 1 to the top of Tunitas was just under an hour and 5 minutes, probably 10 minutes better than previous rides, and only 15 minutes or so longer than it would take me to do it on my own. Kevin's finally progressed to the point that I feel like I've gotten a good ride in, which is a significant milestone. If he keeps this up, by next summer he'll be ready for his first 100 miler, no question.

I'm thinking we're going to try a new variant of the ride to the coast. No more clockwise rotation on Haskins & Stage, which is guaranteed to put you into the wind. Instead it's going to be out to the coast via 84, south on Stage Road to Pescadero, over Haskins Grade and then, in place of Tunitas, we'll climb up West Alpine. Not as pretty a climb as Tunitas, but at least no headwinds!

08/28/08- KARL'S SMARTER THAN I AM. Probably not an earth-shaking revelation there, but this morning there were three of us who'd gotten away from the rest of the group on the descent into Sky Londa (myself, Karl & Kevin). It would have been way too easy to sit on at the back, so I pulled alongside Kevin where it flattens out before the final climb to the finish, figuring that Karl's going to be sitting on my wheel and I'll just pull him to the top (with him behind me). But there was a slight tailwind this morning, putting speeds up a bit higher than normal, and eliminating some of the benefit of sitting behind, and Karl took advantage of that, and my lack of awareness, and simply pulled up along my right side and outsprinted me for the line. In fact, when he realized I had no clue whatsoever where he was, he even told me he was on my right (probably to make sure that I didn't move over, but it also put me on notice that this wasn't going to be my day!).

Hot? Yes, it was hot. Refilled my water bottle at Sky Londa, whereas normally I'll go through just 3/4 of a bottle for the entire ride.

Let's see, who'd we have this morning? Karl, Kevin, Eric, Billy, other Kevin. Milo had actually shown up for the first time in many months, leaving a bit ahead of us (we knew this because Eric had arrived at the start a bit early and seen him go through). Pretty easy ride up the hill, allowing me to stay in the saddle once more. We did pass a couple other riders on the way up, including Ayelet, one of our customers who's training for a big ride in Israel soon. She may not be the fastest on the climbs, but nothing stops her; we see her all over the place. Today she was going to ride Skyline south to Page Mill, and hopefully didn't melt.

08/26/08- THAT WAS FUN! Actually, I initially mistyped "fun" as "fin"... which means the end... and maybe that was closer to the truth?

I really wasn't feeling very lively this morning when I rolled up to see Chris (way too fast), Karl (too fast & too strong, and yes that's different than just being too fast), Kevin (too fast), Eric (too fast and can ride forever) and George (too fast too). At least Preben wasn't there (way too fast for someone 14 years older than I am!). So I resigned myself to being blown off the back on the climb, and that being the case, figured this was as good a time as any to really suffer and try to stay seated for the entire ride. That would be quite a departure for me; over the past couple of years I'm generally moved towards standing pretty much for the entire duration of a climb, regardless of length.

Surprisingly, it didn't go so bad! Sure, I was struggling for a while to stay on wheels, and the first half of the climb was well below my usual pace, but for the second half, those same wheels rode away from me a bit more slowly than normal, and I managed to hold a fairly decent speed. I'd be lying to say it felt good to force myself to stay in the saddle, and by the time I got to the top I was pretty well cooked. However, my recovery seemed much better than normal, and when Chris performed one of his trademark suicide pulls across the top of Skyline, I was actually able to stay with him. And believe me, it was quite the ride.

Somehow I managed to remain in the saddle for the entire ride (and you'd better believe it was difficult; it was as if some force was trying to pop me upward each time it got a bit steeper!), and the overall ride pace was probably the fastest this year (measured by the time we got back to Canada Road, which today was 9:17am). I should mention that we picked up the other Kevin and Billy on West Old LaHonda; they'd ridden the dreaded 6am "morning" ride (isn't 7:45am, the start of our ride, still considered to be in the "morning?") and headed up to intercept us.

All in all I was pretty well spent but also pretty pleased with the results. I'm going to work at staying in the saddle a lot more in the future, and basically adopt a more disciplined style of riding. Riding with a purpose, as it were.

08/24/08- DO I GET TO SEE MY PICTURE? That's what one of the women I passed on the way home asked today, after I took one of my trademark backward photos as I passed by. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it came out too well.

It was a beautiful day for a quick ride to the coast, and I do mean quick. Not much time as it was a track day for my son at the Velodrome, so I headed out over 84 (yes, I rode up 84 from Woodside, not Old LaHonda) and down to San Gregorio. Usually I get to pass more cyclists than pass me, but not today; on the way up 84 a guy had started up the hill just ahead of me, and I never caught up. In fact, he was gone from sight less than halfway up the hill! And then, a few miles out of San Gregorio, fighting a reasonably-stiff headwind, I noticed someone gaining on me from behind. Nothing I could do about it, as he gradually closed the gap and finally passed by. I could have grabbed onto his wheel, but instead chose to do the honorable (stupid) thing, letting him get out in front a bit and then trying to keep the gap from widening.

No stops along the way, just a straight shot out and back via Tunitas Creek. It's really pretty amazing that from Woodside, you can get out to the coast & back in under 2.5 hours. Of course, back in the day I'm sure I could have done it in under 2! But that was then, this is now.

08/21/08- 3-FOOT PASSING LAW REVISITED/THAT WAS WAY TOO CLOSE. I've wondered whether cyclists really need a law that requires cars to pass us no closer than 3 feet. I generally don't have too many issues out on the road, and it would seem that common sense and courtesy go a long way towards making the world a reasonable place to drive and bike.

 

Until today.

 

I didn't even really know what happened until I played it back in mind mind immediately afterward. Karl, Kevin and I were on the return leg of our usual Tuesday/Thursday morning ride, heading north on 84 in Woodside, approaching Tripp Road. We were not only single file, but single file on the very edge of the road... I mean riding in tight formation, with maybe just a couple inches (really) of pavement to the right of our wheels. If there was a "good citizen" award for cyclists sharing the road, we would have gotten it. No reason for us to impede cars if we don't have to (the shoulder's in pretty good shape there, and being the first day of school for many, there was more traffic than usual).

 

And then the black SUV went past us.

 

It didn't blast its horn. It didn't swerve. It simply didn't deviate from its course. And it passed each of us by maybe, what, 6 inches? Could have even been a bit less. It was RIGHT THERE.

 

If one of us had had to swerve for an obstacle, it would have been game over. If the car had had to move over just a little bit to let a wide car pass in the other direction, game over. If one of us had chosen that exact time to look back and check traffic, and moved out into the road just a little bit (as often happens when you look back), it might have been game over.

 

As it was, there was this immediate sense of marvel at the precision with which the car passed us, the three of us riding perfectly straight, with the car just inches away from our left hands. It was an almost unbelievable experience. But within seconds that amazement was replaced with one of those "What just happened?" feelings, and the more I play it back in my mind, the more upset and annoyed I become.

 

That car should not have passed us in that manner, which means it should have waited until it was clear in the other direction so it could give us a bit more room, instead of assuming that "Share the road" means making assumptions of a perfect world at 24 miles per hour.

 

So I'm changing my tune, and not just asking for a 3 foot passing law for cyclists, but demanding it. A relatively-narrow two-lane road (like 84 near Tripp, specifically right near the "singing gas pipes" on the west side of the road) is no place for 3 bikes & two cars to share the same strip of road. The car should have waited until it could pass us with reasonable clearance, and there obviously needs to be a law defining what "reasonable clearance" is because I doubt that particular driver thought he or she was doing something reckless.

08/19/08- SOMEHOW, I DID IT. Somehow, this morning, I held off Preben on Kings Mtn. I'd like to say it was easy, I'd like to say it was no big deal. But truth be told, I really didn't want to die on the second half of the climb again and watch helplessly as Preben closed the gap I built and ride on past. Eric, Karl, Chris, Kevin... there's no way I'm going to be able to keep up with them. The best I can hope is to beat them in a sprint, and even then only if I've had a chance to rest up a bit first. But Preben, geez, I've got 14 years on the guy, I really ought to be able to at least keep up with the guy!

The high point of the morning actually came after the ride ended, when I came across my son (younger Kevin) and his friend Mac, who were on there way out to do a ride up Old LaHonda. Mac's been riding with his Dad for a while, but this was the first time he actually rode over to the other side of Old LaHonda, where my son showed him not only the incredible views of the coast, but also the faces carved into the rocks and the outhouse-style building with "Downtown Improvement Project" written on it. It would seem that I am managing to pass on some of the joys of cycling to my son.

08/17/08- WHY WE RIDE #397 BECAUSE WE LIVE IN ONE OF THE GREATEST PLACES IN THE WORLD FOR CYCLING!

I've been a "road" biker for 41 years now, beginning in the way-back days on a 40-pound Schwinn Varsity that, along with a AAA "Bay and River" map, made me realize that, with a bike, the entire world was at your disposal. At least it seemed that way.

And now it's my job to get everyone else I can to feel the same way. Of course, the bikes are a lot better these days, and you've got a cell phone if you run into trouble. But the roads, they're still there, and once you head into the hills, they're surprisingly light on traffic. In fact, we have many roads that likely see far more bike traffic than cars!

Today's ride, up over Old LaHonda, down the other side to San Gregorio, and then heading up the lightly-traveled Los Lobitos Road and Tunitas Creek, provided a showcase for such roads, and we saw many of our customers along the way. Many bikes, few cars, great weather. If this is a cycling paradise, what is?

If you think you're not in shape for a great ride, think again. You don't have to be fast to enjoy our local hills, just persistent. Maybe we don't have a cafe at the top of each climb, like they do in Europe, but we do have Alice's on Skyline at 84, a great place to stop for lunch after your first climb up Old LaHonda. So find a friend and head for the hills. Your first time up, sure, you might want to stop a few times along the way to catch your breath. Or to admire the views! You will make it. And you'll wonder why it took you so long to discover our hills. --Mike--

08/14/08- RIDE REPORT FROM KARL- Mike: Only Eric and I at the start.  Overcast below and warm and sunny halfway up Kings.  Eric was tired and so we went easy, through the Park.  Met Andrew at the top of Kings.  Picked it up on 35.  I took the Skylonda Sprint from the front.  We met up with the dark side group of rasta Kevin and Billy. 

08/13/08- AT LEAST THIS TIME I HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR WRITING LATE! That excuse being that Tuesday night I had to catch a red-eye flight back to Wisconsin for a Trek dog & pony show (showing off their 2009 line & programs to dealers). But that didn't stop me from putting in more than a full day on Tuesday, starting with the usual ride up Kings, this time with Kevin, Eric, John (I think?), Karl & Preben. The run up the hill was basically a rerun of the past few with Preben, where I was fine for the first half of the climb but then faded enough for Preben to catch me about 2/3rds of the way up and then keep motoring on. Thankfully I did manage to have enough energy in reserves for a decent sprint.

And then there's that silly flight back to WI. Why in the world would anyone get on a plane at 11pm that would arrive in Chicago at 4:30am? Just 3.5 hours, not even enough time to sleep. The alternative would have been to fly out very early in the morning, having to get up around 4am, and that would have rendered me pretty useless all day today. I did manage to get a couple hours sleep in the hotel (they let me check-in around 9:30am), and I was reasonably functional, and should be in pretty good shape tomorrow.

08/10/08- THROWING THE BOOK AT KEVIN THESE DAYS- that would be my son Kevin, not middle-aged Kevin who was really silly yesterday, climbing Mt. Diablo three times while preparing for a nasty event called the Everest Challenge. No, we're talking about young-guy Kevin (15), who rode the 40 mile version of the Tour de Max with me this morning instead of the 70 mile that he rode last year, because he had a track session at the Velodrome later in the afternoon.

The 40 mile version of the Tour de Max was described as "rolling." Uh... no. It did initially roll through "the loop" but then on its return to the Los Altos area, proceeded to head up an endless serious of "junk" climbs, the sort that aren't long enough you can get a rhythm going, but still something you start to feel in your legs by the time you've done a few of them! 40 miles and about 2900ft of climbing, so no way could you call it a mountainous ride, but I'd suggest that "rolling" is a bit too understated.

Great food at the finish, lots of nice people out riding, frequent sag support and wonderful weather. What's not to like? And the proceeds all went to a great cause (it's affiliated with the Lance Armstrong organization).

And then, just a few hours later, it was time to head down to the track and see if dad's adjustments to his gearing might pay off, and if Kevin still has an interest in riding the track (he'd been making noises lately that he'd rather just do a longer road ride and skip the track completely). He kinda sorta was hoping things wouldn't go well, but of course it didn't work out that way. He forgot that he's made some friends at the track, and he got, by far, his best 200 meter time to date. Overall, I think he had a pretty good day. But he's still looking for all those 15 & 16-year-old girls riding bikes. Actually, he did see a few on the earlier ride, so maybe there's hope?

08/08/08- KEVIN'S BACK, TODD'S GONE, NEW GUY DISCOVERS TOUGH LOVE. Just another day on Kings Mtn? Not quite. Kevin's back after his two-week "Tour of the Volcanoes" trip up in Washington, and we were joined by a new guy (and, as usual, I'm forgetting names again... even though he's a customer who bought a bike from us... Andy?). Eric, Kevin & Karl weren't burning holes through the pavement on the climb, but they weren't exactly hanging back with the new guy either. I, on the other hand, given even a mild excuse to throttle back to a more conversational pace, had no problem at all doing so! He was pretty strong and had no problems hanging with us up on Skyline, but unfortunately had to head back down the hill for work instead of continuing on the west-side Old LaHonda loop.

That might have been a wise move on his part, as the pace began to pick up as we made the turn off 84 and onto west-side Old LaHonda, just as we passed by Ayelet (shown in the entry below). Probably because I hadn't burned myself up on Kings Mtn, I was able to hold a reasonable pace, first attracting Kevin to my wheel, and then Eric. But Eric had a different plan than Kevin, and three times went to the front and accelerated hard. Two times I sped up and held on, but the third time, just before entering the final section of the road (into the forest), I had nothing left. It was a lot of fun trying though, and for the rest of the day I felt it in my legs. I live for that feeling. You know you did something when your legs feel that way!

08/05/08- TODD'S GONE, PUBLIC ENEMY #1 & SHE WHO CAN'T STOP RIDING. Yes, lots to talk about today! Nothing terribly remarkable about the ride itself; Kevin K's still off on a long tour, Karl had airport duty dropping off team members heading to the National Championships, leaving George, Eric, Chris, Preben... am I missing somebody? I usually do. Preben. Let's talk about that guy. Public enemy #1. They guy's going to be 67 years old in just a couple months, and if there's a climb, I simply cannot hold him off. This morning was no exception; as usual, I started out strongly on the climb, and as usual, about halfway up I look back and watch him clawing his way back up to me, passed me, and I'm powerless to hang onto his wheel for more than a few moments before he powers on up the hill, leaving me behind. It's not like I was riding terribly fast this morning, but still, there was nothing left in the tank as he came by. That's Preben in the picture on the left, shown on west-side Old LaHonda. Nice yellow Trek Madone (Lance replica). If you see this guy coming up behind you, it's over. You can drop him fairly easily by going hard on the flats; he doesn't do well sucking wheels. Thank goodness there's some little chink in his armor! But he'll catch back up on the next hill, and when everybody else is heading back down Skyline, he stays up there, getting in more miles. Incredible.

But it's not just Preben out there. There's also another customer of ours, Ayelet, an incredibly-fit and unstoppable woman that we see quite frequently on our ride. This morning she was climbing Kings Mtn (seen here in the photo), while more commonly we see her on west-side Old LaHonda. She doesn't climb as fast as Preben (few do!) but I don't think anything can stop her.

Oh sure, Chris is faster than either Preben or Ayelet, by a good margin. But Chris is in his mid-20s I think, maybe late-20s (does it really make a difference? Either way he's still in that age group where his eyes work near & far, and if he tells his body to do something, it's too stupid to complain and argue with him). Chris is probably the fastest hill climber we've had on our ride since the early days of Tracy Colwell, and can probably climb in 21 minutes or less.

And then there's Todd. I don't even remember how long I've known Todd, or how young he was. I just know that, then as now, he was an A+ student (and not the type of A+ student who benefits from grade inflation, but rather an A+ student who really is exceptional), and he's been helping out at the shop, off & on, during the summers while he's attended Woodside High School and then Stanford. But today was his last ride with us for quite a while, as he heads off to Southern California and USC for graduate studies.

Since I'm not a touchy-feely guy, I'm just showing the backside of one of hugs that went around at the end of the ride. It was a sad moment, but we'll likely see Todd in the summer, and probably during Thanksgiving break and maybe Christmas.

It seems like the past few weeks have seen a lot of changes, a lot of moving-on and a lot of passing the torch, that sort of thing. My brother Steve (who runs the Los Altos store) even got married a week or two ago. But still, I ride. Every Tuesday & Thursday morning, no matter what. And on Sundays I get out with my son, who's getting steadily faster in the hills, and within a year or so, will likely be challenging his Dad at something more than just opportunistic sprints.

08/02/08- THIS IS THE PACIFIC COAST "BIKE" TRAIL?  But we'll get to that later. I decided to do something a bit different with my son today; he's still not ready for 100 miles (close, but not quite), yet I wanted him to get a taste of riding to Santa Cruz. So we did a one-way ride from Redwood City, up over Old LaHonda, down to Pescadero, then Cloverdale to Highway 1 and on into Santa Cruz. Actually a bit above Santa Cruz, as we arranged to meet my daughter (for return transportation) at UC Santa Cruz, about 780ft up the hill.

It was a very pleasant day; mostly between 77 & 82 degrees, and the fog held off nicely just a mile or so from the coast. Strong tailwinds too! Pretty good average speed at 15.5mph; 62 miles & 4200ft of climbing. Not a really difficult ride, but fun, with a now-mandatory stop at the Whale City Bakery in Davenport.

Before heading into Santa Cruz we noticed some signage for the "Pacific Coast Bike Trail" off the the right, so we gave it a try for a short bit. Very short bit. First annoyance was that, while it parallels Highway 1, it has stop signs at every single crossroad (for which Highway 1 has exactly zero, until you come into town). Second, a couple blind corners with seriously overgrown vegetation further reducing both visibility and lane width. And third, this is a true multi-use trail, as you can see! So you're dodging joggers, horses and horse poop, ostensibly on a "bike" trail. We can do a whole lot better than this!

07/31/08- A DAY (OR TWO) LATE AGAIN ON THIS ENTRY, a result of things being crazily busy in the retail bicycle world. These are very challenging times for the retailer, as wholesale prices on many things whose price stability we've taken for granted are escalating rapidly, due to the continuing decline of the dollar (although mostly it's just one currency that's causing the commotion, that of mainland China, which had previously pegged things directly to our dollar, but not very long ago let it "float" and basically anything made in China is getting a lot more expensive). As a consumer, sure, you don't want to pay higher prices for things. But as a retailer, we're really getting the squeeze, and I'm having to watch expenses in every possible area in order to keep retail prices reasonable, and stay in business. In 29 years I've never seen anything like this. The greatest irony is that you can be extraordinarily busy (as we are!) and have immense potential to join the legions of other businesses that have failed.

Chain Reaction, of course, isn't going anywhere. I'm stupid that way; if I have to work twice as hard just to stay in place, I'll do it. But I think I'm beginning to see it take a toll on my riding. And about that riding...

Thursday was just myself, Karl and Eric, and Eric didn't even complete the entire ride, having to head back after just climbing Kings to make a 9am meeting. The left just myself and Karl, thankfully a merciful Karl who was saving a bit for his Fort Ord race on Saturday. As we descended back towards Woodside we caught a glimpse of some riders behind, and eventually we found ourselves in the company of semi-irregulars Billy and Kevin (not old-guy Kevin and not my son Kevin either).

07/29/08- NO GEORGE, NO TODD this morning, which is pretty unusual for the Tuesday edition of our ride. We won't be seeing much of Todd in the future though, as he moves on to grad school at USC. We did have Eric, Preben, Karl & Chris though. Chris, that guy who's just way too fast in the hills, and Preben, who starts out slow and grinds his way up to you as you're running out of steam. A bit cooler than normal this morning, but not really cold.

07/27/08- PERHAPS I TOOK TOUR DE FRANCE INSPIRATION A BIT TOO FAR! But I'll get to that in a minute. Very nice day to be out on a bike, with temps between 72-82 degrees, maybe a bit of wind in your face at times, but not bothersome. Since the word has gotten out that West Alpine is going to be chip-sealed over the next few weeks, I figured it would be a good idea to get one last ride up that great climb. Of course, getting there takes you over Old LaHonda and down the other side, giving a great view of a fog-bound coast. That's one of the things that makes riding a bike so great. You can, under your own power, travel through various climates in just a matter of hours. You can travel from busy city streets to the quietest of country roads without even thinking about it.

But getting back to that inspiration thing. I'm climbing up West Alpine and about 2/3rds of the way up, I spot a pair of cyclists way up the road, disappearing around a corner. I can't get a handle on their speed at this point, but, as I've explained to my son, there rabbits ahead of you to chase, and dogs behind nipping at your heels if you're too slow. I checked the time on my bike computer and found that, when I got to that same point, they were almost exactly two minutes ahead. I saw them again and now found that I'd made up about 30 seconds. I only saw them one last time, with about a minute differential, and never caught up to them. Pretty much like Cadel Evans' time trial yesterday, when he couldn't make up enough time to wrest the Yellow Jersey away from Sastre.

7/26/08-I'M NOT IN FRANCE THIS YEAR, but with a bit of help from the extensive coverage of VS (on TV), I might as well be! How many times can you watch coverage of the same stage in one day? Quite a few. For those who have yet to discover the exceptional coverage of this year's exciting race, you can get a taste by clicking on the map on the left.

This morning (Saturday, 7/26) I got up earlier than usual to watch the race favorites in the final time trial. It wasn't what I expected; Cadel Evans didn't seem to be at his best, while Carlos Sastre protected his investment in the Yellow Jersey and will, in all likelihood, be victorious when the Tour de France ends tomorrow in Paris.

Even though the final podium is likely a foregone conclusion, the finishing circuits in Paris are exciting to watch, so, for one last time this year, my life will be arranged around the 'Tour.

It won't be the same as watching it, in person, behind the barriers in Paris... that sound as the cars and riders approach, the huge rush of air as the riders pass by. And I won't be making my way through breaches in security to get a better spot to see and photograph the riders as they do their post-race promenade. I'll miss that. I'll miss that entirely-wrong feeling that I'm somehow connected to racers who have just finished a grueling 3-week event, because I used to race myself.

I tried to pretend that it would be no big deal missing the Tour de France in person this year. That there are many other great cycling events, that the business demands that I'm there this July, that I had no connection to any particular team (since Trek wasn't at the 'Tour this year). But I was wrong. The 'Tour is, as they say, the 'Tour. There's nothing else like it. Next year. Next year I'll be there. Maybe I'll make a photo essay of the many thousands of decorated houses and bikes along the route of the 'Tour. We'll see.

In the meantime, for just one more day, I'll be glued to VS, listening to Paul & Phil. And for that last day, I'll not question the many hundreds of extra dollars I shell out just so I can get the VS channel for the month of July. --Mike--

07/24/08- ANYBODY SEE TODAY'S SPRINT IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE? Looking back on this-morning's ride, I think Karl must have provided the idea of changing directions and taking advantage of people in their weakest moments. It started out badly enough, when Karl says we ought to ride through the park on the way up. Actually, there was a good omen to that, as a ranger was opening up the gate (keeping us from having to do the 'cross thing) just before we got to it. But what I don't like about the run through the park is its steepness, but today, that alone wasn't enough. Karl then took us on a strange extra circuit through the park, adding a bit of distance, a little bit of climbing, and a bit earlier concern that normal on my part that I was going to lose track of the rest of the guys. But we do regroup at the top of the park, and I head up the hill, trying to sit on Todd's wheel as he catches up to a guy on a heavy dual-suspension mountain bike (with high-rolling-resistance mountain tires), and I'm thinking, is this the best I can do?

We regroup on Skyline ("we" being myself, Todd, Kevin & Karl) but Karl takes off, with Todd a bit behind, and me hanging onto Todd's wheel for dear life. Kevin's dropped back, taking it easy, while Todd & I very nearly catch up to Karl just before the big descent to Sky Londa. Normally we re-group at Sky Londa, which Todd & I did, waiting a few minutes for Kevin. Meanwhile, Karl's just kept on going! And going, and going... eventually, on west-side Old LaHonda, we spot Karl way over on the other side of the valley, and he's actually yelling to us (probably calling us slow pokes).

Overall, I'd say Karl gets 110% for not only having a plan, but executing perfectly!

07/22/08- ONE OF THOSE TWO-DAY-LATE ENTRIES as time seems to have slipped away from me yet again. Karl, George, Eric I think? Just four of us, as Kevin was off on a ride elsewhere, and Todd had placed a higher priority on getting his car serviced than riding with us!

07/20/08- A DAY I'D HOPED FOR, AND FEARED at the same time. Took my son out on the Woodside/Pescadero/Tunitas loop, and for the first time, he put me in a world of hurt. It wasn't long term; he certainly couldn't keep up with me if I was trying to drop him. But for a minute, maybe two, he can pull something out of a hat that's pretty amazing. And better yet, he's becoming an opportunist, recognizing weakness and exploiting it. As I type this I wonder if it's really something I should encourage, as it sounds almost anti-social!

Kevin was clearly feeling pretty good this morning, and perhaps inspired after watching the day's Tour de France coverage. I think he was also happy to have his first set of "racing" shoes & pedals (no more SPD, he's now got Look non-recessed cleats). Whatever it was, he shaved another two minutes off his time up Old LaHonda, getting it down to 27:36. At that speed, I'm not having to work too hard, but I'm not soft-pedaling either. I was a bit worried that he was going too hard, too early in a fairly long ride, but he then charged up Haskins Grade on the way to Pescadero as well. But it was on the lengthy run into Pescadero, pushing into a strong headwind, that he had his real fun. He wasn't too happy that I took the Pescadero city limit sprint, so just prior to making the right-hand turn onto the narrow road that heads into town, he took off. And I mean really took off. For about 30 seconds I couldn't do anything but watch him ride away from me, until finally I put my head down, shifted to a higher gear and ground my way after him, finally catching him just shy of town. Ouch. That hurt. But it was also pretty cool that he'd try something like that, and almost pull it off.

The Pescadero Bakery didn't disappoint, but I probably should have had Kevin eat just half a sandwich, maybe splitting one with him, to keep him from getting bogged down on the Stage Road section. But, better that than bonking on Tunitas Creek!

It was on the final run home, over Jefferson, that he pulled off his second coup, catching me off guard for the sprint to the 35mph sign just east of the new fire station. He can summon up a whole lot of speed in a hurry if he wants to, and today was the first time he was able to to that in a way that I couldn't counter quickly enough. Now, if only I could convince him to see his math homework as a sprint...

07/17/08- ANOTHER LATE ENTRY, and no good excuse beyond the usual being extremely-busy at the shop and tired enough by the time I get home that I neglect what needs to be done. If I was as reliable about keeping the website updated as I am getting out there on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, I'd never miss an entry, ever!

But it's probably true that I'm also operating a bit below normal because right now, at this exact moment, I'd usually be in France, where it would be 9:16am right now (I know that because I keep a clock on my desktop set to France time), and I'd have likely landed just an hour or two ago and would be making my way to the train station for a trip to the Alpes. Most likely I would have traveled to Grenoble, where I'd rent a car and head out to the best places to intercept the 'Tour. Funny how I'm not a very organized person, but my trips to France are planned out down to a level of detail I don't exhibit anywhere else.

But no trip to France this year, just a few more rides up Kings Mtn, my local substitute for Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, Col d'Aubisque, Tourmalet... the list goes on and on. I'm still missing a few notables, including the Galibier. But this particular Thursday it was Kings Mtn, with only Karl, Todd & Kevin to keep track of, not the thousands upon thousands of other cyclists and fans that would line the mountains of France. Maybe next year.

If you have the opportunity to travel to France and ride, or maybe Italy (haven't been there yet, but people tell me it's great), you should do it. With your bike. Deal with the hassles of dragging a bike around in taxis and rental cars and trains and planes, and imagine how it could possibly be worth it, until you get out on the roads and meet the people. It's a totally different experience as a cyclist. You go into a bar and ask for "eau ordinaire" (tap water) and they smile and jokingly offer you "vin rue" (red wine) for your bottle. The cars seem to know how to deal with cyclists and drive in a predictable fashion not seen here. The sun stays out forever, with it not becoming truly dark until 10pm (apparently due to a goofy time-zone line that extended west from Germany during the occupation, and was never changed back). Yes, due to the Euro, it will be expensive now, certainly a whole lot more expensive than my first trip, 8 years ago, when it was $.82 to the Euro (about half the current exchange rate, making things twice as expensive now). But you'll remember it forever.

07/15/08- FINALLY, BLUE SKIES although a bit of cooler weather came with them, along with fog and some damp roads. A couple of regulars missing in action this morning, as Eric is off in Colorado for the Mt. Evans hill climb, and Kevin taking a few days off to ride with a friend up to Inverness. That left George, Karl, Karen, Todd... darn, I'm sure there was one more! We did see a number of people along the way though, considerably more than usual. I had my usual issues on the main climb (the usual issues being just one, really- I just don't climb as fast as I used to!), but felt a lot better on the west-side Old LaHonda section, where I somehow managed to hang onto the faster wheels. Actually, that's not true. Yes, I did hang on for a very fast ride, but I certainly didn't feel better by the time that section was over! In fact, I felt that effort for the next several hours.

07/13/08- SO HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU WATCH THE TOUR DE FRANCE COVERAGE IN A DAY? Strange how compelling it is, whether you're watching the end of a stage live in the morning (I'm assuming there aren't too many on the west coast who watch the beginning of the live VS feed, at 4:30am), or the "enhanced" replay later that evening. The evening replay tends to serve as background for whatever work you might be doing (in this case, updating the website), but what I think makes it so comforting is that you're surrounded by a world that thinks the same thing you do... that bicycles are an incredibly cool thing. That you're not the only nut in the world on two wheels.

Meantime, I did get in a ride this morning with Todd before taking my son to the Velodrome for his track session. We didn't quite have enough time to do the planned ride (up west-side Old LaHonda) because I'd slept in a bit too late, waking up at 8:25 instead of the planned 7:30. The idea was that he'd head up to my place as soon as the 'Tour coverage was over, which he dutifully did. So we rode the same "ugly" ride I did with my son on the 4th. Todd had an easy time, while I was rather challenged trying to keep him in sight. Not that I expected things to be any different!

07/11/08- EVER DONE A NIGHT RIDE? WHY NOT? With the recent heatwave, riding in the day just hasn't been a whole lot of fun, and it's been quite a while since I've done a ride at night (aside from being caught out after dark in France last year, but that's different, because the lit city streets kinda killed the "night experience"). So tonight I went out with my son and rode up Old LaHonda and down 84 back into Woodside. We saw almost no cars at all... in fact, climbing Old LaHonda, the car count was exactly zero. Got passed by 4 motorcycles going down 84, a few cars in Woodside, and that was it. Plus Kevin got his best time yet up Old LaHonda (just a second under 29 minutes, a full minute better than his previous best).

We set up both of our bikes with the Trek Flare 10 flashing tail lights (really bright and include side-firing LEDs so it's almost impossible not to be seen) and a Nightrider Minute on his bike and a slightly-flaky demo light that someone dropped off at the shop on mine. We had more than enough light to see, and since the time for the 21 mile trip was well under two hours, no problems with the batteries running out. I did carry a spare emergency battery light in my seat pack though, just in case.

I don't know that I'd recommend doing an extended night ride into the hills alone, but with two people, it's pretty hard for cars not to see you (and in fact, oncoming cars were dimming their headlights quite a distance away). Add to that the sheer lack of cars in the first place, and I think it all adds up to a lot of fun without too much danger. But again, I don't think it's something to do on your own. There's definitely safety in numbers (plus, it's a bit creepy out there all alone!).

07/10/08- WHOA, NO WAY CAN I HOLD THAT WHEEL! No, I'm not talking about Todd, or Kevin, or Karl. I'm talking about the Amazing Preben, the 66-year-old mechanical man who can grind many half his age into the ground. I began the main climb ahead of him, but could only watch in a combination of disgust and admiration as he clawed his way up to me and then past. If one of his secrets is his diet, then I'd suggest many of us could benefit from eating as his restaurant, Copenhagen, in Redwood City's Woodside Plaza. How he does it I just don't know.

Big group for a Thursday, and I'm sure I'll miss some names. New guy Cory, out visiting from Salt Lake City, and no slouch on the climbs! Karl, both Kevins (both seen at the front in the photo; old guy Kevin on the right, newer-guy Kevin on the left), Todd, Syl, Eric, Preben... that might have been everybody. Even hotter on Skyline (85 degrees) than on Tuesday, but thankfully it cooled off elsewhere. Smoke, however, was really bad, and this was the first time I'd ever felt seriously impacted by it. Normally I'm just a heavy breather, but this morning, I was a heavy & ineffective breather!

Another interesting thing this morning was how fast the roads felt. Probably a good two miles per hour faster than normal on the run down to Sky Londa. Could have been a slight tailwind, except that it was also faster than normal when we were heading in the opposite direction just a short while later. Seemed like the air was simply thinner than normal today.

Once in a while I get to thinking about earlier times, when this ride was less a training ride (many of the other guys race) and a bit more casual. But it's always been a very friendly ride, and always respectful of others out on the road. We do become a bit self-absorbed with the task at hand and sometimes don't notice for a few seconds that a car's snuck up behind us, but generally I think car drivers would be impressed with how quickly and business-like we move to the far right of the lane when they approach.

Overall, how do I feel on my bike right now? Like I need a major challenge or event. Missing out on a trip to France is going to be hard on me, no question. It makes July more similar to the rest of the months on the calendar, instead of something I look forward to many months ahead. But I'll survive, and it still remains a possibility that I could make a trip to Spain for the Vuelta in September. But back to France... I assumed that, without Trek at the 'Tour, I wouldn't miss it so much. Without having guys I've felt connected to, riding the same bikes I sell at the shop, the 'Tour would be just another bike race. But it's not. I watch the coverage on VS, I listen to Phil & Paul & Bob Roll, and I remember what it's been like to ride up the side of a mountain and wait, for hours, for the big event to come through. And the crowds... I'd forgotten how much strength you drew from the crowds, cheering you on as you struggled up the steepest parts of the climb, until riding up them last year with my son. So yes, I do miss being at the 'Tour. And I'm watching the coverage daily, every bit as closely as I did for the many years I knew I would soon be heading over to see it for myself.

07/08/08- A HOT RIDE TODAY! And I do mean hot. When it's 82 degrees on Skyline at 8:30am, that's hot.

George, Karl, Kevin, John, Eric, Karen, Todd... who am I missing? I felt OK this morning despite not much sleep last night; one of the things I've discovered about riding is that it re-sets your internal clock, so even if you didn't sleep well, the rest of the day you feel a lot better than you'd normally feel with that little sleep. It does catch up to you though, about the time you're updating the website!

Instead of fighting for a decent time up Kings, I did three very hard intervals, and waited up for John & Eric, who were taking it very easy this morning. But when you do those intervals, you feel it in your legs a lot more than if you just do a continuous hard climb. It's something I used to do more often, and something I need to get back to. There are just so many different ways to enjoy riding a bike, even on roads that you've ridden over... and over... and over...

07/06/08- A MORE CHALLENGING RIDE TODAY FOR KEVIN (my son), as we joined up with Burt, one of our Redwood City employees (and most-dedicated cycling fan I've come across; who else would be getting up between 4:30 & 5:30am every day for live Tour de France coverage... and suggest that the shop should have a party for the big day when coverage starts at 3:30am for the stage that ends at Alpe d'Huez? No biggie, except that the plan would be to watch it live, at the shop, starting at 3:30am...).

We headed up Old LaHonda, down the other side, and instead of making the left turn onto Pescadero Road and doing the Pescadero/San Gregorio/LaHonda loop clockwise, we did it counter-clockwise, fighting the headwinds out to San Gregorio. No problem, I needed the challenge, and I got one. We even managed to chase down another group of riders also heading out to the coast, more easily done now that Kevin's gotten pretty good at drafting. If I'm not careful it's still possible to blow him off my wheel when the road tilts uphill, but I can actually monitor his "distress" pretty easily now that I figured out my Garmin '705 can be programmed to pick up his heart monitor. When I see his heart rate start to spike upward, I know that he's in trouble.

We had a brief stop at San Gregorio so he could fuel up with a muffin and then headed up over Stage Road, and I have to admit it was fun seeing the road from the other direction. You notice all sorts of different things, but mostly today we noticed the relative coolness of the fog-shrouded coast. At Pescadero we stopped for "lunch", consisting of something to drink and pastries from the bakery. Lots of other cyclists cruising through, which shouldn't be a surprise on such a nice day.

The climb up over Haskins Grade was tough but not impossible for Kevin, but most noteworthy was coming across yet another motorcyclist injured when he ran his machine off the road. This is getting a bit old; 3 times in the last 8 days I've come across very recent motorcycle accidents. This was looked fairly serious; the guy was alert, but moaning pretty badly, and being tended to by several others (who may have been riding with him) while waiting for help. We rode on, noticing it was a good 10-15 minutes before we saw police & fire vehicles on the way.

The climb back up 84 was pretty easy, but there was so much traffic that we detoured back onto West Side Old LaHonda before descending into Woodside. About 60 miles, 6,000ft of climbing, and fairly challenging for Kevin (but a piece of cake for Burt!).

07/04/08- HOW ELSE TO CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE BUT ON A BIKE? With gas going out of sight, the cool thing about cycling is that you can head right from your front door directly on your adventure. No need to drive anywhere.

The original plan was to ride with my son up Old LaHonda, down to LaHonda and then up West Alpine, but we softened things up a bit, knowing that Sunday we'd be heading out to the coast. So instead, we did a version of the "ugly" ride. That's where you do a ride in the "wrong" direction- the direction where a road seems not-quite-so-fun as it is the other way. In this case, we started out nicely, up Old LaHonda, down the other side, and then back up west-side 84 to Skyline, where we picked up a sandwich at the Sky Londa market before heading north on Skyline. The "wrong" direction. And you know what? It wasn't so bad. It was actually fun! And the descent to 92 brought us face-to-face with those not-quite-so-independent. A solid line of cars that were backed up all the way from Half Moon Bay nearly to 280. 7 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic. But for us, it was 34 miles of great fun on a beautiful day.

07/03/08- I KNOW HOW TO BEAT TODD IN A SPRINT. If you saw the movie "Gladiator", you'll remember that, for the final battle, the bad guy Roman Emperor stuck a knife into Russell Crowe's side, mortally wounding him, prior to his entrance into the Coliseum. That way the Emperor could be certain to win against the undefeated Gladiator (except that, being Hollywood, the Gladiator wins and kills the Emperor anyway). So that's what I did to Todd this morning. I paid good money to have some guys rough him up real bad before our ride, so I could squeak past him at the Sky Londa sprint. The reality is slightly different; I didn't pay anybody, but Todd did go out on the infamous "morning" ride prior to showing up for the Tuesday/Thursday ride, so he'd already been through the wringer by the time I saw him. My guess is that his tires were probably low too, because even mortally wounded it's still difficult to win a sprint against him.

And the climb? Let's just say this was a "high gravity day" (a term coined by Kevin some years ago).

Karl, Kevin, Eric, Todd, Preben... I think that's all the guys who were riding ahead of me up the climbs. We were also joined at the top of West Side Old LaHonda by Bob, who said he'd been thinking about coming out for our ride sometime and just happened to be in the wrong, er, I mean, right place at the right time. Fortunately the group was relatively civilized by that point, and no huge efforts were made to shed the sheddable prior to the final sprint (which Todd won by maybe a mile or two; my excuse is that I was boxed in by Kevin & Karl, but as Kevin pointed out, that must have been my choice, because everybody knows better than to follow Kevin's wheel in a sprint).

07/01/08- FINALLY! It hasn't been an easy year, with hard efforts up Kings Mtn consistently yielding times in the high-27s (27:45, that sort of thing). Last year I was repeatedly getting mid-26s around this time, and it was only a couple years ago I was actually under 26. But today felt a bit different, and following Karl's relatively-fast leadout up the first part of the climb, I was able to pull off a 26:57. Funny thing, that. 26:57 and I'm happy. If it was 27:01, just 4 seconds slower, I'd be really annoyed.

Karl, Kevin, Eric, Todd, Chris, Karen, George... I think that's all the witnesses to my incredibly-awesome (not!) climb this morning. It was an interesting day overall; there was something going on with the group that I just couldn't figure out. People were a bit antsy; when the pace would settle down for a bit, you knew it was only temporary. The run back to the start was hard enough to blow the group apart well ahead of the final sprint; it's not unusual that the speed picks up to try and drop the sprinters (that would be me), but today things simply shattered.

But I'm happy with my ride, and it's the first time I've been able to say that about one of the Tuesday/Thursday-morning rides in a while! Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy riding with these guys. It's just that this ride, due to its repeatability, allows me to know exactly what shape I'm in, and sometimes you just don't want to know. On the other hand, it keeps you honest. Because it's a group, there's almost a responsibility to not let yourself get too far out of shape. They will make you pay!

My Sunday rides with my son are a different thing altogether. On those rides, the fact that my strength is diminishing relative to his is a good thing, not bad. I look forward to the day where I struggle to keep up with him on a climb. But my Tuesday/Thursday outings will keep that day at bay for a while longer.

06/29/08- FIRST DAY BACK ON THE JOB ISN'T ALWAYS EASY and today was no exception for Kevin, my son, who's been off the bike for over two weeks (he'd been on a school trip to Italy). We designed a special ride that would be difficult but not impossible. King Mtn, Skyline, down west 84, up West Alpine, south on Skyline to 84 and back down into Woodside. About 45 miles, but 45 quality miles! He probably went out a bit too fast on Kings, such that, by the time we got to West Alpine, he wasn't exactly having an easy time of things. Still, I'm sure he'd admit he was having a better day than the motorcyclist we came upon on 84, with a totally wrecked machine. Thankfully, the motorcyclist himself looked relatively OK.

46.5 miles, 5300ft of climbing, so it passes the 100ft/mile test (the generally-accepted definition of a very hilly ride).

Of course, this time last year Kevin may have been a bit more motivated, since we were going to France to ride a couple of the big climbs (Port du Bales and the Aubisque). This year, it's all about getting in shape for LaCross season at school.

06/26/08- YEAH, RIGHT, EASY RIDE BECAUSE OF THE SMOKE. The Western States 100, a ridiculous 100-mile running even in the Sierras, had been cancelled due to the dangers of inhaling too much smoke into your lungs during exercise. And yes, there was a lot of smoke in the air, as something like 800 fires were burning in Northern California. So I told Kevin, Karen, Eric & Karl that we should be taking it easy up the hill this morning. Unfortunately, their idea of easy isn't mine. I was thinking 35 minutes up the hill, a totally casual pace. Instead I found them turning off at Greer and heading into the lower part of Huddart Park, heading up the hard way. Sure, it wasn't a flat-out ride by any means, but at 32 minutes for a climb through the park, it wasn't terribly easy either.

I did learn something interesting about body fat though. Karen, one of Webcor/Alto Velo's ultra-fit elite woman riders, did something interesting after taking a drink from her bottle. Instead of closing the top with her hand, she slammed it against her side. That only works if you have close to zero body fat; for me, the top would simply push my skin in, not the top of the bottle!

France. This is the time I normally start writing about how my training is going for the annual trip to see the Tour de France. Not this year. If my son hadn't headed to Italy for two weeks on a school trip, it's likely we would have headed to France again, like last year, only this year instead of the Pyrenees I would have taken him up the Alpe d'Huez and maybe the Galibier. But one trip to Europe is enough for one kid, and besides, Contador isn't going to be there to defend his title anyway. Still, it's going to seem very strange, watching the coverage on TV almost as an academic exercise rather than trying to figure out how things are going to play out when I'm there.

It's entirely possible I'll head to the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) in September though. I've never been to Spain, and it might be time to see some part of the world other than France. Meantime, I have to pass by the house on Jefferson with the Sunflowers each Tuesday & Thursday morning (shown here with my son, taken on Sunday's 6/29 ride), reminding me of what might have been.

06/24/08- CHOOSE HOPE. If not for the heavy smoke shrouding the Bay Area, it would have been a perfect morning to ride. Temps in the low-60s, low humidity, and that rare, wonderful feeling of your tires seemingly glued to the road while descending. But that smoke, besides making things smelly and not very pretty, had another interesting effect. I could actually hear some other guys breathing. Normally, all I can hear while climbing is the sound of my own lungs, scavenging the air for spare oxygen, but today I could actually hear Eric as I rode alongside him at the beginning of the climb.

Let's see, who'd we have today? Newcomer John (yet another green Alto Velo jersey), Eric, Todd, George, Karl, Kevin, and a surprise- Preben, who hadn't ridden with us in probably more than a year! And it's Preben where I'm forced to choose between hope & despair. Because it was Preben that I was struggling to catch while climbing Kings Mtn this morning, finally pulling even at the very top. Of course, at 52, there should be a few people out there who can climb faster than me. But Preben's... 66, and will be 67 in just a couple months. That's impressive, and just one of the wonderful things about cycling. Age really isn't much of an issue. If Preben can ride so well, and he's 15 years older, then maybe there's still hope for me. 15 years older. From where I sit, that almost makes him immortal. Think of all the riding I might do in the next 15 years. Amazing. So I could choose to be depressed that someone 15 years older can do a number on me on a climb, but why not focus on the many great years of riding ahead? Who knows, I might still be able to ride a bike by the time my kids get out of college!

06/22/08- IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE I'VE RIDDEN THIS FAR and it was about time. The original plan for today was to do an east bay loop around Mt. Diablo, including a climb to the top. But the potential for very hot weather caused Jeff, the guy I was riding with, to suggest something different. Something actually more challenging, at least for me. A 100-mile ride out to the coast and up Bonny Doon (near Santa Cruz). The actual route was 98.5 miles, but it came to a 106 mile day for me including riding to & from the starting point. 9900 feet of climbing (plus an additional 450 feet getting to & from), so I don't have to be concerned that I almost did a full century.

Very nice day, thankfully much cooler than the past few. We headed up over Old LaHonda, then Pescadero, Davenport, Bonny Doon, Empire Grade, down Jamison Creek, up China Grade, then 9, north on Skyline to Sky Londa and down 84 back to Woodside.  After the Bonny Doon climb I was wondering if I was going to be able to finish the ride! But fortunately I was able to keep on going, trying to hang onto Jeff's wheel (not too successfully on Empire Grade).

We had a nice tailwind on the coast, and stopped at a wonderful bakery in Davenport that seems to be a hit, for good reason, with other cyclists. The Whale City Bakery. Great food! And the last chance for food until... until pretty much forever, with the route we chose. We did stop at the golf course near China Grade for an ice tea and some water before the final big climb of the day, and a coke from the guy who runs the stand at the intersection of 9 & 35. I'll be posting more on this ride soon (it's actually up now). Highly recommended for anyone training for the Death Ride.

06/19/08- WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE... "Let's go through the park. It's easier." Oh yeah, sure, I protested, it's steeper and I'm just not into steep. "We'll ride easy." And later on I hear from Todd that Karl was looking back and wondering why, on the steep ramp out of Huddart Park, I was so far behind.

Small group today, just Todd, Karl & Kevin. But that was more than enough for me. This was absolutely positively my least-inspired ride up Kings in years. Maybe ever. To say I felt "flat" is an understatement. Someone, don't remember who, even asked if I was going to make it. As if. As if I'd ever turn tail on a climb after starting up it! I should have known things were going to go badly when the gate at the bottom of Huddart Park was closed, forcing us to dismount and walk around it, before climbing up through the park.

The guys were nice enough to drag me along the gradual climb and flat section of Skyline; they could have very easily dropped me without any effort. Feeling like I had to take advantage where I could, I pulled away on the descent towards Sky Londa (the one place where my weight isn't a disadvantage) and found myself further ahead than I'd have thought until... I look back, see where the other three are, and when I look forward, right in front of me is the biggest dang deer I've ever seen. Moose-sized. Maybe small Buffalo. OK, not really, but it was BIG and it was right there in the middle of the road! I yelled, mostly for the guys behind me, and hoping also to get the darned thing to MOVE. And move it did, and fortunately without freaking out and slipping on the roadway. It wasn't really all that close, but the effect was chilling. From that point on I basically shut down and took it slow the rest of the way down to Sky Londa.

Sure, I felt a bit better as the ride went on, mostly because I was thankful I was still there. I can't explain why I felt so dead this morning; there was no pain, I slept reasonably well, and didn't eat anything particularly bad the night before (although I ate too much of what I did eat, which was spaghetti with sausage that my wife had made; I'm sure sausage isn't the best thing the night before a ride). We'll see what happens Sunday, when the plan is to climb Mt. Diablo, one of our Bay Area landmark climbs.

06/17/08- I'M NOT GOING TO BE LATE WITH THIS ENTRY! Too many times lately I've been ignoring my duty to update the almost-daily diary (which it really isn't; generally it's 3-4 times/week), but not today. I've sequestered myself temporarily in the warehouse where I might get ignored just long enough to get this done.

Let's see... no Millo this morning (still supervising construction work at his house; this has been going on for a while, so it better be quite the castle when it's done) nor Eric. But we did have Karl, Karen, Kevin, George, other Kevin, Billy & Syl. The other Kevin, Billy & Syl only went as far as Kings and then disappeared; my guess is that they're so fast they vaporized. It was a struggle up the hill, with the slightly-cooler temps ratcheting up the noise level from my lungs, and I'm still carrying too much weight. Seems like the last week or so had been pretty bad for me in that regard. It's been so busy at the shop that I'm not feeling quite balanced and at times like these I tend to eat too much, and the wrong things besides. And if what I eat is too salty, I retain water big-time (which I can feel most readily when I put on my shoes). Thankfully, after Sunday's ride up Page Mill, I think I got my system recalibrated and I'm heading back to normal.

And sure, people were giving me a bad time about my outfit this morning, particularly my vintage (at just 10 years old???!!!) TREK/VW jersey, but at least I wasn't wearing my see-through (in the rear) shorts. Not that it matters, since lately everyone's been riding in front of me anyway. But for as bad a time as the guys give me, either for what I'm wearing or the large seatbag I carry, somehow when someone needs a tool they don't hesitate to ask me for one. And so it was this morning, when, at the top of Kings, Kevin needed my multi tool to tighten his loose cleats. Next time he asks what all I've got in my huge bag, I'll just tell him whatever it takes to fix chains (which I fixed for him a couple weeks ago on Tunitas) and cleats.

Schedules? Kevin has to work today (he's a pilot) and asked how we were doing for time when we got to Sky Londa. 8 minutes behind, not all that bad. Yes, this ride does run like clockwork. Guess it's good that something in my life does!

6/15/08- WHEN THERE'S NOT MUCH TIME TO RIDE, BUT YOU'VE GOT SOME MAKE-UP RIDING TO DO, YOU'VE GOT TWO CHOICES. You can either do the "Ugly" ride, ugly because it's just plain no fun, heading up hills that are better taken down and vice versa, or you can ride up Page Mill. The ugly ride wasn't a good option because it looked like some fog had settled in on that part of Skyline, and y'know, I really don't want to go back to leg warmers if I don't have to. That leaves... Page Mill!

Page Mill is probably the most-difficult of Bay Area climbs, difficult not because it's consistently steep but because you just can't seem to establish any sort of rhythm on it, especially the lower section below Foothill Park. The semi-official timing point is the intersection of Arastradero & Page Mill, and it's that first couple of miles that work hard to break your spirit. Once you get past the park, it actually gets a whole lot steeper, but in a way that you can sink your teeth into. It feels like you're accomplishing something (which you are; you're going up!). 2093ft of up, according to my Garmin 705. That compares to 1200ft for Old LaHonda and 1600ft for Kings Mtn. If you start the ride from the Tuesday/Thursday ride location (Olive Hill & Canada Road in Woodside), the total ride comes to 32.2 miles with 3127ft of total climbing. Darn, one of the tougher rides around and yet it doesn't quite make the "tough ride" scale of 100ft of climbing/mile. How can that be?

The route runs south on Canada, past Roberts onto Mountain Home, loop through Portola Valley on Alpine, Arastradero to Page Mill, up Page Mill, north on Skyline to 84, down 84, Tripp Road to Kings Mtn, Kings Mtn to Manuella/Albion/Olive Hill and back to Canada. I'll get the ride posted on Motionbased shortly so you can see it in detail. Figure it at 30 miles if you start at Roberts in Woodside.

6/12/08- WELL, NOT REALLY 6/12/08- it's actually three days later (or is it four?) by the time I'm finally reporting on Thursday's ride. It was almost like a Tuesday ride, with greater-than-normal attendance, including two new guys whose name, by now, I've lost track of. Actually, I was having a hard enough time keeping track of them for even 5 minutes during the ride, so a few days later and my brain has returned to its normal state of mush.

Besides the two new guys, we had Karl, new Kevin (old Kevin was visiting his parents back east), Billy, Eric, Todd, Syl... and at least one more who I'm forgetting. Pretty m