Atfer Umunhum anything’s easy, right?

Kevin, Kevin & Marcus at the turnaround point on West Old LaHonda.
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel this morning, but knew the ride wouldn’t be nearly as tough as Sunday’s ride to & up Mount Umunhum. I wasn’t wrong, but I also wasn’t quite as right as I’d hoped!

It started badly; this morning was the first day in ages where it was dark outside when the alarm clock went off. Hate that! And it was a bit cooler too, so back to base layers and leg warmers. Which also meant I was back to having issues breathing again, something that becomes not such an issue in warm & hot weather, but when things start to cool down a bit, I’m sounding like a steam engine when I climb. It’s also possible that the bad air from the north bay fires could be a factor as well, but y’know, I’ve really not noticed issues in “bad” air with my breathing. Just cold.

Kevin (kid) and Marcus just kinda rode on ahead of me once we hit Kings. They weren’t going fast; rather, I was going slow. Kevin (pilot) stayed with me, a reversal of last week when he was feeling bad and I kept an eye on him.

Until West Old LaHonda is finished being repaired, we’re now doing out-and-backs from either the top (via Skyline, opposite Old LaHonda) or the bottom, using our normal routing. We ride about a mile up from the bottom, to where the work is being done, then turn around and ride back up 84 to Sky Londa, then down into Woodside.

Marcus was feeling really fast today and set an absolutely torrid pace on the climb back up to Sky Londa. Younger Kevin was glued to his wheel, and I was hanging on behind him. After a minute or two of an insane pace, I looked back and saw the other Kevin (pilot) had been shelled off the back. Not a surprise, and a good excuse for me to drop back and find him. Meanwhile Marcus and younger Kevin flew to a 56th place Strava time for that segment. Now, 56th doesn’t sound all that impressive, until you realize that’s out of something like 6000, many of them top-class bike racers. Their time was 8:55; my best for that segment is 10:15. Looking at Kevin’s wattage figures (275 average), I don’t think there’s much chance I could have hung on.






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