And no one is lost! Hurrah!
Yesterday I led my first club ride, and it went quite well, I thought. For some reason that made sense at the time, I created a route that was all hills for the first part, including one that I had to stop midway on the only other time I'd tried it. A sensible person would have picked something tamer for the first ride they were going to lead. Go figure.
I was worried both about not being able to do the first hill (Parker Ranch, which is short but a tough 17% or so) and about maybe not having people show up, since I didn't start the ride at one of the usual starting places. I figured since I was leading it, it should start somewhere near my house.
I shouldn't have worried, because there were already a bunch of people at the start when I got there, and several more showed up after. I had nine people go with me, and several more went on the B (less hills) ride with the same endpoints.
Clearly the most important thing about leading a ride is actually not whether you can stay out front, but whether you've gotten all the turns clearly indicated on the route sheet.
And whether you've used a large enough font. I used routeslip.com, and it created a font that every person complained about...live and learn.
Anyhow, we made over all the hills just fine, and I managed to call back people the few times they made a wrong turn in front of me. Turned out there was a farmers market in Los Gatos when we got there, so that made a nice ambience for lunch.
No map pics today, because of the side-effects of my encountering a stupid bug in Garmin's software. It somehow caused my Edge to be unable to talk to it, and I forgot to download a tracklog before I (repeatedly) hard reset the Edge to try to correct the problem. Grr. Aargh.
However, here are the pics I have..mostly I was too busy riding to take pics, not neccessarily a bad thing.
Pics
To sum up, much coolness, and I made it up Parker Ranch much faster than before, no need to stop at all. Took Son #2 out for the first ride he's done in ages the day before, which is also a Good Thing.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
Tasty waffles and cold feet
Last week (I will definitely get better about doing these) (soon) was the first 'official' Western Wheelers long distance training ride. What I find confusing is that the rides in the weeks before seemed a lot longer to me than these do, but who knows...
Anyhow, being somehow more 'official', there was a heckuva lot of people on this ride, despite the cold cold coldness. I wore four layers, and was (mostly) glad of it. Not too many climbs, but I did discover Stockbridge, off Alameda, which was challenging. Also I encountered fellow club member Antonio, who, while explaining to me why he disappeared from a previous club ride out to the coast, paused in his explanation as we went down a hill - and promptly, despite having just mentioned to me 'If you don't know where you're going, don't ride in front' - was last seen (by me) about two blocks ahead of most of the group, as the route turned right. That was the last time I saw him that day.
Other people whom I did not see included: both ride leaders, after the start. I have no idea what could have become of them.
Most importantly, of course, there was lunch. This was at Michael's, which I did not find too exciting in the past, but did fine on this visit. There was the pleasing counter staff, and the splendid Belgian waffle. I almost hated to eat it, it was so decorative, so I photgraphed it for posterity.
So the next day Nick wanted to go riding, thus despite the cold, off we went. A short way in the young man decided that he felt out of shape, and we cut the route a bit short, so once again my evil plan to take him up Mt. Eden road was foiled. Perhaps just as well - in the 9 miles we were out, I froze myself enough that it took fifteen minutes of hot water to thaw out my toes, which were completely numb. It was kind of disturbing. Last time I go riding in freezing temperatures without shoe covers, I guess.
Anyhow, being somehow more 'official', there was a heckuva lot of people on this ride, despite the cold cold coldness. I wore four layers, and was (mostly) glad of it. Not too many climbs, but I did discover Stockbridge, off Alameda, which was challenging. Also I encountered fellow club member Antonio, who, while explaining to me why he disappeared from a previous club ride out to the coast, paused in his explanation as we went down a hill - and promptly, despite having just mentioned to me 'If you don't know where you're going, don't ride in front' - was last seen (by me) about two blocks ahead of most of the group, as the route turned right. That was the last time I saw him that day.
Other people whom I did not see included: both ride leaders, after the start. I have no idea what could have become of them.
Most importantly, of course, there was lunch. This was at Michael's, which I did not find too exciting in the past, but did fine on this visit. There was the pleasing counter staff, and the splendid Belgian waffle. I almost hated to eat it, it was so decorative, so I photgraphed it for posterity.
So the next day Nick wanted to go riding, thus despite the cold, off we went. A short way in the young man decided that he felt out of shape, and we cut the route a bit short, so once again my evil plan to take him up Mt. Eden road was foiled. Perhaps just as well - in the 9 miles we were out, I froze myself enough that it took fifteen minutes of hot water to thaw out my toes, which were completely numb. It was kind of disturbing. Last time I go riding in freezing temperatures without shoe covers, I guess.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
No puns today
Just a nice long ride.
Last Saturday (boy I'm lame this week!) I went on a nice long Western Wheelers ride up through San Mateo and back via the bayside.
It wasn't too hilly for the most part, but there was a steep climb up Mora, which somehow I've avoided ever encountering in the past. As well, Natoma before Altamont was some exertion, but also a pretty stretch that I'd missed in the past.
However, despite the relative paucity of killer hills, I got a fine workout. Basically this is because I was just pushing myself much more than usual, and having a fine time of it. For once I was near the front of the group most of the time, instead of bringing up the rear.
Note to self: I like that.
It also helps as a self-reminder when considering whether to eat another piece of pizza. Going fast is fun, and going up hills without feeling like I'm going to keel over is also fun, much more fun than eating a little more for lunch. Dropping down a few pounds makes things much more fun than I would have expected.
Anyhow, we had lunch in downtown San Mateo, and then headed back via the bay trail until crossing back over 101 in San Carlos. Towards the end some impromptu hammering developed, and it was enjoyable to feel up to going all out after 63 miles.
Nonetheless, when Sunday morning came around I was unable to get myself to ride again or even do spin class. I suspect my subconscious was taking messages from my body that my brain was sending right into voicemail.
Last Saturday (boy I'm lame this week!) I went on a nice long Western Wheelers ride up through San Mateo and back via the bayside.
It wasn't too hilly for the most part, but there was a steep climb up Mora, which somehow I've avoided ever encountering in the past. As well, Natoma before Altamont was some exertion, but also a pretty stretch that I'd missed in the past.
However, despite the relative paucity of killer hills, I got a fine workout. Basically this is because I was just pushing myself much more than usual, and having a fine time of it. For once I was near the front of the group most of the time, instead of bringing up the rear.
Note to self: I like that.
It also helps as a self-reminder when considering whether to eat another piece of pizza. Going fast is fun, and going up hills without feeling like I'm going to keel over is also fun, much more fun than eating a little more for lunch. Dropping down a few pounds makes things much more fun than I would have expected.
Anyhow, we had lunch in downtown San Mateo, and then headed back via the bay trail until crossing back over 101 in San Carlos. Towards the end some impromptu hammering developed, and it was enjoyable to feel up to going all out after 63 miles.
Nonetheless, when Sunday morning came around I was unable to get myself to ride again or even do spin class. I suspect my subconscious was taking messages from my body that my brain was sending right into voicemail.
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