Dark & foggy, give it time and it’s another beautiful day

www_riding_above_clouds

For those who still aren't convinced that you're more visible when lit up...
For those who still aren’t convinced that you’re more visible when lit up… compare the two cyclists on the left when their lights are “off” vs on (flashing mode).

It wasn’t pretty when I looked out the kitchen window this morning; dark & nasty-looking clouds. Nasty-enough that I’m thinking, do I need to ride the rain bike again? But I checked the weather app on the phone and carried a “dense fog advisory” and wouldn’t you know, next time I look out the window it’s not clouds after all, but fog. I prefer fog to rain, although it does cause me to go overboard with lights; 2 front and 3 (yes, 3) rear. Kevin only had one rear light, but I figured that wouldn’t be much of an issue because he’d be riding up front on the climbs, with plenty of flashing rear lights behind him.

Some "older" friends of mine from the racing days, heading off on their own loop (avoiding Kings)
Some “older” friends of mine from the racing days, heading off on their own loop (avoiding Kings; why would anyone want to do that?)

Roll call- Eric, George, Kevin, Kevin, Karen, Nigel (back from the UK!), JR. Things quickly split up on Kings, with Nigel, Kevin (pilot) & George taking off. I ended up in the middle, with Kevin (my son) a bit behind. This was expected; he missed Sunday’s ride and doesn’t have the base miles he should. Of course, also expected, was that I could only hold him off so long, with him passing me up just after the half-way hairpin. I caught back up, only to be dropped again in the last mile. 28:08 I think; not the 27-something I was hoping for, but not bad for this time of year.

The fog? We left it behind shortly after starting up Kings, and it was, as expected, quite nice up on Skyline. Not even damp, which was a pleasant surprise! We wouldn’t see the fog again until just before making the left turn onto West Old LaHonda, where thin fingers of clouds were making their way alone the ridges. It was really quite beautiful, making me wish I’d brought my camera. It just didn’t seem like the ride was going to be anything but gray when I left. I should now better!

We saw our first little rabbit of the season on West Old LaHonda, very small little guy running along the edge of the road. Also learned that Nigel’s going back to the UK again, where he could only wish for a day like today! Curiously, he works from home while there (telecommuting), and didn’t have a good answer to why he had to travel all the way to the UK to work from home!

For reasons unknown I felt fairly confident on the mildly-damp 84 descent into Woodside, keeping pretty close to George, with everyone else a fair distance behind. It’s good to have some confidence back again.






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