Monthly Archives: January 2013

Great pre-game ride with Jeff & Kevin

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), , , ,
Mastadon Country (actually there's a family debate over whether it's a Wooly Mammoth or a Mastadon), just east of Pescadero Road
Mastadon Country (actually there’s a family debate over whether it’s a Wooly Mammoth or a Mastadon), just east of Pescadero Road. Why someone would put a giant sculpture of a Mastadon, facing off against another prehistoric creature, in a farm’s field… well, that’s what makes our rides so interesting, seeing things like this!
Click for larger Mastadon image
Click for larger Mastadon image

This was not going to be our typical Sunday ride, where we don’t get out the door until noon. I wanted to see most of the 49er playoff game, and it also gave us the opportunity to ride with Jeff, friend & customer, who normally does his riding while Kevin would be dragging himself out of bed. And I wanted to see first-hand just how fast & fit Jeff really is; his Strava scores have been looking pretty impressive lately.

Steam on West Alpine
Steam on West Alpine

We had to put something fairy tough together for Kevin and I, since a bit too much winter weight has been showing up on the scales lately. Up Old LaHonda, out to San Gregorio, south on Stage to Pescadero, up & over Haskins the tougher direction, then Jeff went back the faster route, via 84, while Kevin and I took on West Alpine. 65 miles, about 6700ft of climbing, and, for the middle of winter, really nice weather!

West Alpine is a beautiful climb any time of year!
West Alpine is a beautiful climb any time of year!

Jeff proved to be the stronger rider on the climbs today, getting to the top a full minute faster than Kevin, even though Kevin’s posted the fastest Strava times in the past. Me? Another minute or two behind Kevin. I was able to keep up, just barely, on the two Stage Road climbs, but watched them both ride away from me once again on Haskins. It was just myself and Kevin up West Alpine (Jeff having taken the shortcut home), and, nice guy/Dad that I am, when Kevin was in trouble a few times, I waited up. Of course, further up the hill it was Kevin feeling better, and did he wait for me? Not a chance. I asked him tonight about riding up a climb at a “social” pace, and he just looked at me with this quizzical expression and asked “Why?”

You could have heard a pin drop (Lance interview)

Personal stuff
From 6pm until closing, you could have heard a pin drop as Lance's interview with Oprah aired.
Employees watching the Lance interview with Oprah. From 6pm (when the interview began) until closing, it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Hard to say if it was going to be a quiet evening anyway, or if most of our customers were heading home fast to watch Lance being interviewed by Oprah. Maybe we couldn’t wait to hear the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) pronounced “yousada”. Maybe we wanted to hear Lance answer “Yes” to each question regarding whether he used a certain type of doping. Maybe we wanted to see him squirm.

But if we were waiting for something new, some incredible revelation, we didn’t hear it. The most-surprising thing Lance said was that he rode the 2009 & 2010 “comeback” Tours clean, sans doping. Something which flies in the face of what Tygart, head of the USADA, believes to be true, and a statement that quite likely could keep Lance from ever competing again, because it has the appearances of being Lance continuing to lie. He may not be; he may have actually ridden those last two tours clean. Or, he may, by making that claim, be trying to divide and conquer, forcing people to choose sides, hoping that some are willing to believe he did have a change of heart after his 7 tour wins, re-establishing some degree of support again.

It’s tough not to be cynical. Maybe tomorrow night’s conclusion will contain more emotion, more evidence of what Lance actually feels regarding the many years of lies and the many people he sought to destroy when they accused him of doping. –Mike–