It was supposed to be a ride with Kevin. We knew it wasn’t going to be a warm day, but Sunday morning Kevin decided it was nicer to stay in bed than get up and turn the thermostat on. I waited… and waited… and waited for him to finally get moving and convince himself to ride his ebike from his place in Foster City to my place, where he switches bikes and gets out for a ride on a “real bike.” But after two hours it became clear he just wasn’t going to ride in the cold (it wasn’t THAT cold, but never got above 51 I think?). I’m sure tomorrow morning (Tuesday) it’s going to be a lot colder, and he’ll be riding with me then, but that’s different, I guess, because it’s supposed to be cold at 7:30 in the morning but on a Sunday, a couple hours later, it should be warmer.

The original plan, before it was going to be cold, was Pescadero/Tunitas. A bit much to chew off right now, but sometimes that’s what you need. The modified plan was San Gregorio/Tunitas. But riding by myself, I really didn’t feel up to being out there on quiet roads. Yeah, doesn’t make sense does it? But with so much going on, I didn’t want to risk going into fully-introspective mode.

So… stayed on “my” side of the hill, looping down to Los Altos (again), this time altering the course a bit, heading up into the Foothills some more, taking one or two roads rarely ridden. Coffee and berry cream scone at Peet’s near our old store, verification that location still isn’t rented (it’s not), and then back home by the usual route (Foothill/Sand Hill/Canada Road).

One difference on the return. Instead of heading over Jefferson, tried to wreck myself by going over Godetia. Got some cool photos of either Llamas or Alpacas (obviously I don’t know how to tell the difference).

It was an OK ride, would have been nicer to do more than 42 miles. I have to get back to the regular routine, I have to not let taking care of my wife get in the way of keeping myself in one piece, both mentally and physically. That’s going to be a big challege these next few months. Ultimately, she’s the number one priority right now, over the business, over my own physical shape. But I’m no good to hear if I’m a mess myself, or so I’ve been told by my own doctors.

Tomorrow morning, Kevin will definitely be out there with me. Hopefully ahead of the rain! But if it does rain, it’s not going to stop us this time. Sure, I could get on the trainer, but Kevin won’t, so maybe it will be our first wet ride in a while. Hope not though! I need a challenge, but not that much of a challenge.

Crazy to think how little actual riding I’ve done the past few weeks. Today was my first day out feeling semi-normal… well, not really… my version of “normal” would not have me feeling like a 40 mile flatter ride could be an accomplishment of any relevance. The after-effects of the flu turned out to be lungs super-sensitive to temperature change, so guess what happens when I step from a house that’s probably 60F on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, and start trying to breathe air that’s 20 degrees colder? It’s not pretty.

But today… November 12th…I was going to get to ride in 70 degree weather! No leg warmers, no base layer, light breeze. Crazy nice! And first “normal” Sunday ride in 3 weeks+ I think.

“Normal” keeps coming up. In terms of Sunday rides, “normal” would typically involve a ride to the coast & back, or at least loop up to Skyline for more climbing. But lots of climbing was out of the question; as I passed it there wasn’t even a thought of heading up. I figured I could at least do a version of “The Loop” but managed to get all the way to Peet’s in Los Altos (where our former store was). Of course the real trick would be making it back.

I never felt completely dead, even towards the end of the ride, but still didn’t think I’d left much on the table at the end.