Are we there yet?

Once again The Boyfriend forgot the camera as he dragged me out for another ride involving climbs and undulating roads. The 34 mile route involved: Page Mill parking lot --> Arastradero --> Foothill Expressway --> Stevens Canyon --> Redwood Gulch --> Highway 9 --> Skyline Blvd --> Page Mill Road descent.

While attempting one of the steep inclines on Redwood Gulch (we're talking somewhere around 15-18% according to various sources), I toppled over (of which I have quite a lot of experience). Knowing that you are going to fall and can't stop it is a sickening feeling. I couldn't clip out. I found myself lying on the road with my shoe stuck in the pedal. I yanked my foot out. It was a funny sight to see the shoe in the pedal but scary while trapped in it on the road and freaking out that a car would run over me. Blood was streaming down my leg from my knee and I knew that later I would have various bruises and scrapes elsewhere.

I met up with The Boyfriend at Highway 9, showed him my bloody wound, and then we proceeded to ride the 3 or so miles together to the top where 9 meets Hwy 35 (Skyline). I kept asking him if we were there yet and he laughed and laughed. Biking on Skyline is what I imagine Heaven (if it exists) is like. The cotton candy fog cover hung in the mountains, tiny wildflowers dotted the edge of the road, a few vineyards hugged a hillside, with occasional glimpses of the sea and valley. Serene, pretty, magical, you know. At last I came upon Page Mill Road where The Boyfriend was waiting. The descent was more of the same, spectacular.