Why I like my job

Faithful readers will recall that, in last Tuesday’s entry, when our morning ride was enjoying yet another incredible day to ride and regretting that they had to get to work, I mentioned my job involves getting others to enjoy the same sort of thing we were. And today, at the top of Old LaHonda, I came across someone we had sold a new bike to just a couple days ago, on his very first ride up to Skyline. How cool is that?

Obviously lots of people out riding today, most of them a bit earlier than I got out, trying to get back before the Superbowl. I would have been in that earlier crowd, except that Kevin (my son, not the pilot) got out of bed limping pretty badly and had to make a trip to Kaiser (something he’s rather used to by now). Turns out he’d messed up a tendon at LaCrosse practice on Friday, so no riding or LaCrosse for a week. So instead of getting out at 9:30, it was shortly after 12 that I got going, something you wouldn’t do in the summer because you’d be facing the climbs in the heat of the day. Well guess what? February 6, 2011, which is technically the middle of winter, and it was in the mid-70s and I’m even feeling like I got too much sun.

My original plan, or the slightly-modified version without Kevin, was to do a speed run, no stopping for rest anywhere, just get out, do the Old LaHonda/Pescadero/Tunitas loop and return. It didn’t quite work out that way though, as my legs and mind just didn’t initially seem wired for speed. I took a bit of time at the top of Old LaHonda, where I came across Hugh (the guy who’d just picked up a bike from us) and a number of others enjoying their bikes. Then down to LaHonda, loop through the back roads to Pescadero Road, up Haskins Grade and wondering when I was really going to get in the groove on this ride. I stopped in at the Pescadero Bakery for an Ollallieberry Scone and then headed across Stage Road. Curiously, I came across quite a few cyclists I know, all heading in the opposite direction (doing the loop counter-clockwise). Did they know something I didn’t? Struggling north against strong winds on Stage Road, the answer was yes! But headwinds have been less of an issue for me these past few years, whether because I have more patience now or see it as a challenge, not sure. Just know that I don’t mind putting my head down and driving into them, at least for a little bit.

It was on Tunitas that I started feeling really good. It took 3/4s of the ride to get that feeling, but there’s no better way to finish a ride than feeling good on a climb. Nothing earth-shattering; from the coast to the top took 51 minutes, 17 seconds (not that I keep track of such things!), but the warmer weather opened up my lungs and I could breathe! For once I wasn’t limited by my usual winter lungs so I was able to breathe easily and slowly, limited instead by whatever my legs could deliver. Of course, I’ll claim that I could have made it up significantly faster if I hadn’t been fighting the strong offshore flow at the bottom, and perhaps that’s even true. Whatever, it felt like I was putting in a good effort, and my bike was doing a fantastic job converting that effort into speed up the hill.

And Burt, yes, you should have ridden with me today. You would have liked it. –Mike–






4 thoughts on “Why I like my job

  1. Hi Mike, what is a comparable time to a 30 minute Kings Mtn. climb for Tunitas from Highway 1 to Skyline/35 ……thanks.

    1. Syl: That’s a good question. My winter times up Kings run about 28 minutes if I’m pushing, vs just over 51 mintues from the coast to Skyline via Tunitas, using yesterday’s ride as a data point. Thus a 30 minute time up Kings would translate to about 54 minutes up Tunitas if I’m thinking straight. I had a pretty stiff headwind for the first few (flat) miles though, which might throw things off slightly.

      Having said all that, you’re not a 30 minute Kings climber. I’ve ridden with you enough to know you’re faster than I am. The only place I might have an advantage would be on the lower flat section (on Tunitas), where my weight wouldn’t be such a disadvantage. –Mike–

    1. Because my “job” is to get others to enjoy the same things I do. The spectacular views of the coast, the smells of breakfast as you’re riding past some house in the middle of nowhere, the strong shadows cast on the mountain that the road is cut into. Even the feeling that your legs and lungs can do no more, recognition that you pushed yourself to the limit. Take you pick; you don’t have to see all of them as being things you’d look forward to, but who wouldn’t want to experience at least one or two of those things while others are stuck in their four-wheeled prisons on their way to work? This is Life at Bike Speed!

      We are not just selling bikes. We are passing along experiences we enjoy. That’s what makes this job so cool.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *