First, I managed to, finally, get back over 1000 VAM for a climb. VAM is a measurement of how many meters you can climb in an hour. I have been struggling for some time to get back to semi-normal climbing speeds, mostly due to a combination of my breathing issues and weather that hasn’t been conducive for normal riding. It’s not like I climbed Old LaHonda all that quickly; still 23-something, but that’s better than anything I’ve done in quite some time. It likely helped that my son (Kevin) was slowed down a bit by a kidney stone issue, giving me something to pace instead of him just riding off & out of sight.
Heading down the other side (West Old LaHonda), yes, we came across “road closed” signs at the top, but rode on through without giving it much thought. We knew where the damaged section was, since we’d ridden up it on Thursday’s ride. We stopped at the scenic overlook, the place you often see cyclists stopping to admire the view of the coastal mountains and ocean beyond, and looked across the valley to where the damaged road was. That’s what you see in the photo at the top of the page. From what we could tell, there was enough remaining that we’d be able to get through, and this proved to be true. The road wasn’t that much different from when we’d ridden up Thursday, but definitely has that look of possibly disappearing entirely if one more car passed over it. We rode through with no issues, but if road crews were out working on it, there’s no way they’d let you pass.
