It’s becoming increasingly clear that colder temps aren’t my friend. My Kings times get slower and slower as it gets colder and colder. Some mornings I don’t even look forward to it, although, by the time I get to the top, I’m always, 100% of the time, feeling better and glad I did it.

But Sunday comes, none too soon, and things are very different. Leaving after 9am it’s quite a bit warmer than 7:30am. Of course, it’s not going to be too long before high temps of the day are in the 50s. But for now, I really enjoy the later start and warmer temps of my Sunday rides.

Kevin was feeling a lot better today than last week; we made it to Peets in Los Altos (the Peets at our old location’s shopping center) much faster today. Good thing he felt better because instead of turning back at that point, we turned up. Up Redwood Gulch, which, surprisingly, Kevin and I hadn’t gone since last April! I found myself running out of gears again but unlike some past rides up RWG, I was able to maintain a bit of power and finished faster than the previous 4 or 5 rides up.

The continuing ride up 9 to Skyline always seems a lot longer than it really is, and it was the only part of the ride, really any ride for a long time, where I felt some muscles protesting in my left leg. Fortunately, it went away before the top.

The rest of the ride is pretty easy, rolling stuff on skyline before heading back down 84 and home. It felt good.