Monthly Archives: October 2011

Fallen trees, downed motorcycles, flat tires… wow, what a great ride!

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), , , , ,

The last “long” Sunday to ride, with daylight saving time ending soon… would have been nice to head to the Sierras for a last shot at Sonora Pass, but that wasn’t in the cards (too long a drive after a typically-busy Saturday at the shop). That meant one (last?) Santa Cruz loop, what’s become “the usual” 115-mile ride.

But this ride was a bit more “eventful” than most, starting with a treek that had fallen across Pescadero road within a minute or two prior to our arrival (we were the first ones on the scene, along with a couple of motorcyclists on the other side), plus two flat tires (both Kevin’s) (that’s Kevin my son, not the pilot), plus a downed motorcycle (descending 84, just a corner ahead of us).

Nobody was getting through on Pescadero Road this morning!

Very nice day; a bit cool in the morning (needed leg warmers but jacket not required) and passed quite a few costumed cyclists on Old LaHonda. Winds were, thankfully, “normal” which meant tailwinds on the coast to Santa Cruz. Fog burned off completely by the time we got to Davenport, our usual lunch stop, and from there temps were generally in the mid-70s. Can’t get much better than that!

16.2 mph average speed, a substantial improvement from the 13.8s or so that Kevin used to post for longer rides. Also noteworthy was a lack of either seizures or double vision, two too-frequent issues arising from his epilepsy. I’m looking forward to a day when a lack of seizures isn’t noteworthy.

 

OK, it was “officially” cold this morning!

Personal stuff, Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

What does it take to be “officially” cold? Any temp in the 30s. And this morning I saw as low as 37.3 degrees, so I deem that it is now, October 27th, the beginning of the end (of Indian Summer and days when you could reliably dispense with leg warmers and base layers and long-fingered gloves).

Not too many at the start of this morning’s ride; just myself, Kevin, “Pilot” Kevin, Eric & Jon. On the way we picked up Jim & Marcus. Nice ride up through the park (it was on Greer at the bottom that I saw the 37.3 degree temp) and a moderate pace up Kings. I hung onto Jon & Marcus’s wheels until I figured it would be a good idea to drop back and see how Kevin (actually both Kevins) was/were doing. Kevin (not the pilot) seemed to be doing fine until one of his spots where things often go wrong, with about a quarter mile to go, and wrong again they went. This time, instead of a seizure, it was extreme double-vision (wasn’t that a Foreigner song?) that caused him to hit the deck kinda hard, and it just wasn’t clearing up quickly like usual. Jim lives up on the hill and called his wife (Kelly) who offered to drive Kevin home. Normally I’d turn down the offer, not just because I wouldn’t want to impose, but also because Kevin usually comes out of this sort of thing pretty quickly. This morning? Different story. I am very thankful for their kind generosity.

There are going to be some changes to Kevin’s participation in the Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride in the future. We’re going to put him on a relatively-leisurely 32-minute pace and start out a few minutes ahead of the rest, hoping the easier initial pace will keep his issues at bay. I’ve also killed plans for an end-of-season run at the Sierras; it wouldn’t be a good thing to be on the “wrong” side of Sonora Pass if he ran into issues! What’s not ruled out are the typical 110-mile Sunday loops to Santa Cruz. Long hard rides don’t cause issues like shorter intense efforts.

Obviously we’ve got to get this kid fixed! –Mike–