Massive Fun Ride

I felt really ill last night. And of course I was bummed, thinking I wouldn’t be able to ride today. ;(

Then, this morning, waking up, there was this weird buzz in my legs, they just couldn’t wait to spin. I waited till nine, swung onto Ti (after pumping up the rear tire – somehow I must have done a really poor patch job last week) and started riding.
There was a bit of immune reaction I could feel. My knees were ‘grindy’, as if something was swollen and I had a little hard time kicking up the hill. But by the time I reached Page Mill, everything was fine. By then, I had greeted four major teams on the opposite side (LGBRC, Alto Velo, no-name mix and Phoenix Tech.) and was determined to go up Canada, since Skyline was foggy.

Fellow Commuters

Now that we reached the summer, people are starting to flock to work on their bikes again. That is wonderful, since I am not required to be the only fool that tries to avoid cars. And there is an element of shared fun when I am trying to draft on the windy corridor to 101, or to chase someone that is much better than me.

There is something strong about the way bikers can interact with each other without exchanging one word. A hand signal tells me that my front man needs a rest, and I’ll pass and allow him to draft. A quick smile tell me a chase is in order, both need some fun and a real workout on the way home.

Accident Prone

Yesterday, a minivan. One of those brand new, huge elephants of transportation. Grant Road, in front of the hospital. Pulls up beside me, then accelerates, finally swoops right in front of me into the driveway to the facility. I slammed on my breaks and barely stopped in time to curse the driver, who couldn’t possibly have missed me.

Whenever I see a police car stopping a biker, as I frequently do on Foothill over the weekends, that’s my only thought. The danger we face is not our behavior, it’s other people’s inattention. Of course, bike lanes that suddenly fizzle out, or even worse are made right turn lanes at intersections, do not help.

About to Ride In

The summer has started, and riding in to work starts being a pleasure. If it weren’t for the cars and minivans that cut in front of me, thinking they are fast and i am slow, and hence they can pass me without harm.

Odd it happens so frequently. A car will pass me right in front of an intersection and cut across in front of me. Sometimes it’s some rowdy youngster in a cheap 80’es Jap, showing off to his girlfriend. More often it is a mom on the phone, the kids shouting out loud in the back of the minivan. I wonder what those moms would do if I happened to be one of their kids, and them some other mom about to kill their children out of not-care.

Sunday in May

What is there to report? It is starting to be beautiful, finally, and I am taking all the time I can to ride around.

Yesterday, I started out on the usual loop and decided then I really wanted to go up Canada. Of course, no sooner had I left Woodside that a tiny hole in my rear tire forces me to stop and look at what’s going on. Fixed the tire, on my way again, but by then I was not in the mood for a hill ride. I turned right into Ralston trail, but that one goes only as far as the main drag to San Whatever.

Getting Ready

Saturday morning, no sleep, but an ardent desire to beat the Wecor team… Will tell you how it went!

Spinning Class

Well, tomorrow I’ll try the spinning class at the local YMCA. It starts at the ungodly hour of 5:40. a mere ten minutes after the gym opens, and it is rumored to be really crowded (can’t really imagine, that early on). I’ve got my biking stuff at the bottom of my chair, and now it’s just a matter of getting up early enough (yawn!).

And maybe the weather is finally turning for the better! 🙂

Friday and Yet More Rain to Come

Another storm system over the Bay Area, and yet more rain in sight. Meanwhile, I am gaining weight like a madman… Soon it’s time to look at my weight chart and to feel terrorized… :(( Forget about Old La Honda!

Getting Antsy

Where is the good weather hidden? It is supposed to rain again, over the weekend, on my beloved Saturday. Does it mean I will have to wait longer?

I am so frustrated I got a pass to the gym. Spinning classes. At 5:40 AM. Have tried to get there in time every day, now, but I am not desperate enough yet.

Closing in on a Training Calendar

Yes, it’s true. I have been working on an online training calendar while you were not watching and the weather was too dready to make sense of anything.

The Polar interface comes with a set of beatiful and handy tools that generate graphs. My task is to take those graphs and make them a nice and easy to use set of pages. And maybe I can come up with my own set of graphs – like how my biking affects my weight, etc… And of course it would be great to see if those hard-lost two pounds actually got me one second faster up Old La Honda!