Monthly Archives: June 2012

A view to die for / Why we ride

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride, , ,


At the start of this morning’s ride, Kevin (pilot) gave his oft-repeated warning that he’s going to be slow today. Right. But he insisted, he’s going to be slow. I hoped he was telling the truth, but by now, I know better.

It was Thursday so we rode through the park, and it took no time at all to see that Kevin was riding plenty strongly, able to entertain Keith for a while anyway, and Keith is FAST. Keith, Kevin, Ludo and Eric were doing just fine, while I’m at the rear, catching up briefly at the park entrance, then dropping off again. I woke up feeling like I was going to be lucky doing 31 or 32 minutes bottom-to-top via the park, but got up in 29-something, and felt just fine about that. Tired, but fine. Shortly after arrival I mentioned to Kevin that, when he starts the ride by telling me he’s going to be slow, and then he quickly rides me off his wheel, it would be civil to say something like “I did better than I thought” since without that, I’m left thinking great, he was “slow” today which makes me…

The other Kevin wasn’t with us today; he remained at home, nursing a nasty cold, thinking that’s a good reason not to ride. In some ways he’s obviously from my DNA, and others? I was hoping he would ride, and maybe for once he’d be at my speed.

Speed? I did start feeling better once up on Skyline, even taking a pull once or twice.By the time we got to the descent towards Sky Londa, I took off, trading the lead with Keith, and managed, with perfect tactics, to take the sprint against a far faster rider.

But as always, the highpoint was the incredible view from west-side Old LaHonda road. It is sad that so many people ride up the east side, from Portola Valley to Skyline, and never continue the couple of miles down the coast side, missing a real gem.

Starve a cold, feed a fever… if you have both, ride a bike!

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride
Who would want to miss a morning like this?

I’m rarely sick, but Saturday I was getting a bit of a sore throat (which I figured was probably due to the wind blowing all sorts of stuff around), later that night I was sweating a bit, and then it just became one of those miserable throat colds that don’t make much sense this time of year. So between not being able to ride Sunday and a cold still with me this morning, I was thinking this was going to be a very long ride up the hill!

Thankfully, I was wrong. Just like in the old days, I ride fairly well when something’s trying to keep me down, making it up Kings in 27-something instead of the 32-something I was predicting. Even stayed with the fast group (that being everyone but me) all the way to the park entrance before having to back off. So, I feel comfortable with my decades-old prescription for what to do when sick. Ride a bike. If you think this runs counter to traditional wisdom, then let’s just question tradition, OK? ‘Cuz in my book, if you give in to a cold and rest, what message are you giving the cold? Yes, that’s right, you’ve given up. Go ahead, party in my head, my chest, my joints. Make my next 3 or 4 days miserable. OR you can send a statement. Let that cold know that you won’t give in, that you’re going to keep at your normal routine or maybe even step it up a notch. And that cold bug that thought it had a license to party? It’s going to leave and find somebody else, a more hospitable host.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.