Monthly Archives: December 2011

We ride in the rain so you don’t have to

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride, ,

Not quite sure how it works, but the general idea is that there will be, no matter what, a certain number of us who are going to be out there riding on days no sane person would want to, and because we’re out there, you don’t have to be. You can stay inside where it’s nice & warm and think about what sort of crazy person rides a bicycle in the elements, and you even get to feel superior about it. That’s ok. Those of us in the “no matter what” crowd understand that we’re not normal.

Truthfully it wasn’t that bad this morning. Drizzling at the start, but mostly just very wet roads and a bit of that riding-in-the-clouds thing going on. Marcus, Kevin (the pilot), other Kevin, Eric… I think that’s it. As was the case Tuesday I was feeling better than my son on Kings, who was blaming it on being uncomfortable on his bike because he was on his rain bike rather than his newer Trek Madone, and it’s not set up quite the same. In fact, he rode that bike exactly the way it is now for quite some time, and was fine when he didn’t know any better. But when we got the new bike I set it up the way it should be, which meant less aggressively… mostly a higher handlebar position… which he now understands is what he should have, regardless of the fact that it doesn’t look like how racers set up their bikes.

Now remember that part about feeling better than my son on Kings? By the time we got to west-side Old LaHonda the tables had turned, and it was me having trouble keeping on his wheel. Hate it when that happens. In general, it’s the older guys who get stronger later in the ride, while the younger folk, if they don’t feel great early in the ride, never recover (mentally) from that.

Fortunately, the long-range forecast says that was the last of the rain. Unfortunately, I won’t have as much time to ride, because we’ll be open this Sunday (when we’d normally put in a 60-100 mile ride), and the following Sunday is Christmas, and I doubt we’ll get out then. But that still leaves several Tuesday & Thursday-morning rides before the big event, the annual New Year’s Day ride up Mount Hamilton.

Everything’s better on a bicycle. Even the weather.

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

I never imagined I could feel so good after 7 hours sleep as I did this morning! The alarm went off at 6:57 (I still remember how much nicer it was to get up at 7:05am, but when there are two of us riding, not just me, I need to allow a bit more time) and I just felt great. Totally rested, totally awake & aware. I know what they say… that you can’t catch up on lost sleep with just one night’s normal sleep, but they’re wrong. I can go several days on not enough sleep and definitely feel the effects as the hours wear on, but just one single normal night and I’m fine. Even better than fine sometimes. And this morning was one of those sometimes.

Of course, it would be nicer if I didn’t know exactly what was going to greet us as we opened the garage door. It’s days like these where I’m thinking we only have 7 months of really great riding weather, writing off November, December, January, February & March. That’s nuts; our winters are extraordinarily-mild compared to most! But sometimes you start to feel sorry for yourself; the stiff(er) joints, the lungs work even less well than usual, and you put on a few pounds. Nothing that keeps you off the bike though.

Eric, Kevin (the pilot), Karl, George, Todd, Jim, Marcus and the other Kevin (my son) were out there this morning, heading up the hill at a pace best-described as “semi-casual” with nobody looking like they wanted to go too fast. Surprisingly, I was doing better than (not the pilot) Kevin, waiting a bit twice on the climb. I haven’t rubbed that in at all. Not too much. I mean not nearly as much as I could. I’m sure I passed up at least one or two chances to mention it to him.

Yes, a bit cool at 33 degrees, just under 4o up on Skyline, but pretty darn pleasant when you’re prepared for it and ride at a consistent pace. And it helps when you’re riding with others who share similar feelings about how wonderful it is to start the day with a bike ride.