Tag Archives: road bike

Millo’s ride report (while Mike’s away)

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride, , , ,

Mike – just in case you think we all stay home when you are away. Quite the social day:

A balmy 46 degrees at the start. A light rain had passed thru around 6 so the roads were wet. By 7:45 we had a few “blue clouds” winking at us through the cloud layer. Kevin, John, picked up Chris on Skyline, two others whose names escape me. In honor of your absence we went up through the Park and found both bottom and top gates wide open for us. A brief stop at the entrance to disrobe. I was way off the pace and told them to go ahead and I’d catch them at the top of WOLH. While climbing up Skyline to WOLH I met Larry, one of the 9:00 ride guys, who had headed up Kings early and was clearing the road for your ride. He’s doing a TNT ride Saturday and looking forward to the projected 31 degree temperatures. After a word with him I headed off and met a runner who just happens to be the daughter of my parents’ college housemate. A quick word with her and then the guys were coming along Skyline so I bid a hasty adieu and hot footed after them – only to have my left shift lever snap off and go flying into the roadside bushes. So my 20 speed is now a 10 speed and I’m stuck in my 39 front chain ring. At least I still have 10 working gears! Fortunately the wet roads kept everybody tame so I could hang on down 84 and then peeled off and limped home on Mt Home where I met up with Steve Lubin and six of the 9:00 ride guys who were heading over to Alpine Rd. Quite the social morning as that’s a total of 14 people I chatted with. Try doing that in an automobile!

Be safe,  Millo

That road’s gonna go… and what happened to Ludo & Eric?

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride, , , , ,

Cool, yes, but not raining! As I’ve said before, we can take rain, we can take wet, but the two together aren’t much fun. This morning, for the most part, was fun. Despite being a Tuesday ride (typically the harder one), the testosterone had been left at home, so Ludo, John, Eric, Nigel and I had a pretty civilized ride, with nothing getting tested until West-side Old LaHonda, and even that was pretty moderate.

Speaking of tested, I finally figured out how to shoot viewable video from my Contour HD1080 camera. Prior to this, everything’s been really jerky as each bump jostles the camera and causes it to vibrate. My solution was a bit unorthodox and definitely not very pretty, but the results were great!

I’ll post the results shortly; I’m uploading about 15 minutes of video to YouTube. It’s unedited and without audio, but you’ll get an idea of what West-side Old LaHonda is like, including the run through the forest which, until now, has been nearly unfilmable.

Regarding the “road’s gonna go” teaser, I’m talking about that section of West-side Old LaHonda where the road has been slipping away and they’ve done some cheap & temporary fill to try and keep things in place. Well, after last week’s rain, the pavement in the area is crumbling and it’s not going to be too long before the roadway won’t support a large vehicle. Our fear is that they might stop maintaining the road entirely, letting that section completely slip away because, after all, how many actually need to use it as a through road (other than cyclists)? Hopefully the video I shot today won’t have historical value in the near future.

I was having a bit of fun heading down 84, with the dry pavement letting me push through the corners a bit harder so I had no trouble keeping up with Nigel and John, but about halfway down noticed that Eric and Ludo were no longer with us. Sometimes Eric can be a bit conservative on the descents, so I didn’t think too much of it until we got to the bottom and… no Eric, no Ludo. We waited… and waited… John kept on riding for a bit but Nigel and I headed back up the hill, hoping we weren’t going to find them picking up pieces of their bikes from the roadway and admiring each others road rash. Fortunately, the more-likely and less-painful scenario played out. Eric had gotten a flat, and Ludo stayed to help (good thing, since Eric’s pump didn’t work). Unfortunately, Nigel and I had to climb almost halfway back up 84 before intercepting them on their way down!

But adding a few more miles and a bit more climbing on a nice morning with a friendly group of cyclists… there are a lot worse ways to start the day.  –Mike–