The full 100-mile century was out of the question; Kevin’s only been back on the bike for a week, and it’s not as if the metric (100k/62 mile) option is easy. From Foothill College you head south to Stevens Creek, head up into the hills and then straight up… steep, nasty, who-builds-roads-like-this-and-why sort of straight up, via Redwood Gulch. Then Highway 9 to Skyline, north on Skyline to West Alpine, descend that to LaHonda, then ride into the wind out to the coast and return via Tunitas Creek. Hardly easy, especially when you ride to the start (which we did).

The pace was moderate, since Kevin’s still getting his legs back, and gotta say it’s a bit unusual that I’m hanging back for him, instead of arriving at the top a day after he gets there. But this too shall pass. Most-challenging part of the ride for me, by far, was the run from LaHonda out 84 to the coast. I was fiercely determined to hold off people trying to chase us down, and Kevin did an awesome job hanging onto my wheel. It couldn’t have been easy; I was putting everything I had into it. But we succeeded! I expected to be a corpse after making the right turn at San Gregorio to head up Stage Road, but that wasn’t the case at all. My body, by that point, just wanted to GO! A good feeling, and one that I don’t recall having for quite some time. Hope I feel it more in the future.

Tunitas was climbed at a moderate pace, 56 minutes, about 8 minutes off our normal pace (and about 10 minutes off pace if we’re really moving). And at the top of Tunitas, we had Mike F from our Redwood City store, manning a combined soda stop & mechanic station. From the photo, it looks like he’s also installing horse shoes on women? We hung around the top for a bit before heading back down and riding home. Not the fastest ride, but it took a lot out of both of us, me from my effort on 84 heading to the coast, and Kevin because he hasn’t ridden 73 miles in a very, very long time.