Haven’t been able to ride much lately. It has been raining a lot, and when it wasn’t raining, I was working.
Sunday I ventured a ride. Not much of it, just up and down Foothill Expressway, dreaming of the spring and my next climb of OLH. Maybe this year I can break the 20 minutes.
Yes, they do exist! The sunny winter weekends!
This one was particularly nice, albeit freezing cold. I skipped the Saturday ride (too lazy) but got to see the huge bunch of Spectrum riders on my way back from the gym. And today, Sunday, I dismissed the tiredness of the guy that has been working (on Saturday) until 4 AM in favor of a short ride up and down Foothill.
It was fun. All the old guys are out, and it’s a waving fest at every intersection. It feels like after a war, when you crawl out of the bunker and greet everybody that is still alive – the rain kills many a biker’s eagerness after a long season.
Wow! It’s been a really long time since I last went on a ride!
It’s California winter, right now. In case you haven’t read “Guns, Germs and Steel”, this means it’s raining incessantly, and has been doing so since I started my new job, beginning of december.
New gym has new classes, and if I am lucky, I’ll be able to do some of the spinning there. They are very proud of their instructors and equipment, and I fear I have been scared by last year’s fall too badly to go in the rain again. These thin racing tires are really not good for slick roads, and California roads are clearly not made for the winter.
New job, and the ardent desire to test the new route – but rain will prevent me and I’ll have to drive, much to my displeasure.
This means a new chapter in my life is starting, and as usual things are going to be a little chaotic in the beginning. I’ll have to move out of this place, too, and soon. I am already looking at new sites, and finally I’ll make the step and move to the city again. I am aiming for the South of Market area, as far down as 25th Street.
Continue readingI am always surprised at how biker friendly Maui has become. There are the almost ubiquitous bike lanes, the only ones I know that have explicit ‘Yield’ signs for cars turning right. The average speed limit is absurdly low (20 in towns, 45 on the fastest highway you can share) and some of the rides are really worth your money. Take the Hana coast ride, for instance, with its world class views (and the hidden 7000 ft ascent). Take the wonderful ride around the West Coast.
Continue readingWas it worth it? Going up Haleakala in one day, 10,000 ft ascent from sea level, from the ocean to the top of the world?
Well, depends… It was a dream of mine, one of the most famous descents in the world, an adventure like no other.
From a biking perspective, it was less of an achievement than I thought it would be. Every time I do Old La Honda I am humbled; this time, I wasn’t. Should have pushed harder, but I was taught that having your gear with you makes all the difference.
Continue readingLooks like the chill of fall has given way to the rain of winter. It has been dark and cloudy all week, now, and I stopped riding to work entirely for the moment. Who knows when it’ll get nice again.
I am leaving work and will be commuting twice as far, now. Instead of a half hour, it’s going to be more like a full hour to get there. I won’t be able to do that every day; there must be a life besides work and biking somewhere!
Continue readingFinally, I made it all the way through Spectrum!
Well, kinda… I was getting cold at the meeting point, so I decided to start on my own and to let me get caught up. I had started to doubt they keep to the route, so it was to no surprise that I hadn’t seen them all the way to Canada. But I was pretty sure that I had taken the usual route:
Continue readingGuess what? On Saturday morning, of all days, I get hit by a tack on the bike lane. She was hiding on the smooth surface of Foothill while I was riding back to catch up (or down?) with Spectrum.
At first, it didn’t sound bad: she hit me while I was staring to the side, and all I heard was a repeated whacking, as if a leaf had been caught in the brakes. Then I saw the whitish grey think stare at me on each revolution of the wheel. Conscientiously, I slowed down (after making sure nobody was around) and look at her: big, fat, painted white, she must have jumped out of a piece of plywood on the bed of a truck.
Continue readingToday we had an annual rite in this little humble abode: we turned on the furnace for the first time this year. It is officially cold!
Gone are the days of easy slumber and bare feet on the stone floors, gone are the lazy evenings at the pool, and gone are the bike rides in nothing but skinsuit. Now it’s time for new gear!
