Monthly Archives: May 2013

Way off schedule

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride
This makes it worth getting up earlier than you would otherwise have to!
This makes it worth getting up earlier than you would otherwise have to!

Last night Kevin, Becky and I were riding home from the shop after work, and I noticed it was 7:33pm when we left, exactly 12 hours prior to when Kevin and I leave for the Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride. And, sure enough, I check the Garmin and we left at 7:33am. We made better time than normal getting to the start though, since we spotted Andrew from the RC shop just ahead of us, and Kevin of course had to run him down.

Marcus, Kevin, George, Jan, Chris(? a friend of Karl’s who works with him at REI), the other Kevin, Todd… who else? Ah, Ludo joined is for a bit, first time out for him in many months. Brandon had gotten an earlier start and was riding as fast as he could, ahead of us, trying to not get caught until late in the ride. What he didn’t know was that we were riding at a civilized pace (again), and held up a bit first when I waited up for Kevin (son, not the pilot) who wanted to shed his leg warmers at the park entrance up Kings, and then later for George when he tossed his chain.

Kevin (son, not the pilot) had wanted to get in some extra miles by dropping down to LaHonda and heading back up West Alpine, but found no takers today. I couldn’t go with him because it would add over an hour to the ride and not get me back in time for work. Darn, would have been nice! As it was we ran about 11 minutes late at the finish, never really getting into that “fast” groove this morning.

Why not backward? 64 miles done different.

Ride reports (not Tu/Th)
The LaHonda Duck Pond, complete with the basics. Ducks, ducklings & children!
The LaHonda Duck Pond, complete with the basics. Ducks, ducklings & kids!

There are only so many ways you can try and combine our local roads and come up with something different after 40+ years, but I was determined to try. You can see what I came up with below; start by climbing 84 from Woodside, not Kings or Old LaHonda, and then head north on Skyline, not South. Descend Tunitas instead of climbing it, then south on 1 to Stage, then the more-typical run into Pescadero, up & over Haskins, and return via 84 & West Old LaHonda. I figured it would be challenging, and I had figured correctly, especially going alone (Kevin’s still having kidney pain issues).

Warm? Yes, at least until San Gregorio, which was actually fogged in! The run south on Stage was interesting in that you had the sun on one side, fog on the other, a not unpleasant combination, just a bit strange.

I did “goof off” a bit on West Old LaHonda, taking more photos than usual, as seen below-

Widescreen (iPhone Panorama) shot of West Old LaHonda
Widescreen (iPhone Panorama) shot of West Old LaHonda