Category Archives: Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

Ride reports for everything *but* the Tuesday-Thursday morning ride

Last Sunday’s ride a lot better than the previous Sunday

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

It took a while to get warmed up, but eventually a different version of me showed up Sunday, riding with Kevin (Pilot) and JeffH again. No Kevin (not Pilot) this time; he was off to Disneyland with his sister for a few days. Since the skies were threatening and roads still a bit wet, we stayed on “our” side of the hill, looping through the “high” foothills into Los Altos, and returning via those same “high” foothills. It’s not an easy route to figure out on your own; definitely think about loading it up on a Garmin to help find your way.

Quick stop for coffee and scone at Peet’s in Los Altos, with the obligatory check to see if our former location in Los Altos is still empty (it is).

Got back in plenty of time to get Karen out of the house for a trip to the grocery store, first time in a couple of weeks I think? She made it, not exactly in style, but managed to survive. Today (Monday) she had a port installed (simplifies chemo, you just plug yourself in!). Wednesday she gets a new PET scan to see what the cancer is up to, then Thursday we see the doctor to find out what’s going on. Our new life is filled with a new scan every three months for the rest of Karen’s life. Which we hope to be a while!

Sunday, To the Sea! But a lot more of me showed up Tuesday

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Sunday, there really wasn’t a choice. It’s been weeks, maybe over a month, who knows how long, since I’d ridden out to the coast. I’ve been hanging out on “this” side of the hill, sometimes due to weather, sometimes due to having to ride solo and not feeling like I wanted to be “over the hill” with too many thoughts to myself. Lots of reasons. But Sunday I finally got out with three others (Kevin, Kevin, JeffH) and did the LaHonda/San Gregorio/Pescadero loop. It wasn’t pretty; I was the weakest link all along the way. But I survived, saw the creek flowing on Tunitas, and yeah, it was slow, JeffH waited for me at the Grassy Knoll (where the steep part of Tunitas ends) but I didn’t mind that it took just over an hour. }

Tuesday was another thing entirely. No idea why a different version of me, one I hadn’t seen for a while, showed up and actually wanted to climb. That first steep pitch on Kings, yes, it still hurt, but I got over the top of it and didn’t feel 100% dead like usual. Kept up with Kevin, for once, and by the time we got to the first creek crossing I was gapping him, able to put in a minute or so hard effort, then throttle back and wait for him to catch up. Actually able to keep that up all the way to the top. Don’t know how fast I’d have been if I’d just kept it up, but looks like I’m going to have to re-calibrate the rate of my decline and actually raise my FTP, which I’d just lowered to a pathetic 210 watts.

Tomorrow… who knows what version of me shows up tomorrow. Film at 11.