Climbing a Few Classics

Today, my budettes and I climbed Old La Honda along with lots of other cyclists. 

Miss P remarked that this marker is similar to what they do in Europe.  Cool.   Don't know how long it's been there since I haven't climbed OLH in quite some time, but thank you! We continued along Skyline to our next climb.  Wait, wait for it, what would a bike outing be without a firetruck passing by.  No doubt they missed my presence in the area .....

What next you ask?  Bear Gulch West of course!  Sigh, a local resident, getting his mail let us know that he'd use his shotgun or buckshot or some such misguided phrasing and shoot us if we trespassed.  I'll take the invasion of the aliens over him any day.  We finished the ride by descending Kings Mountain.  I visited The Boyfriend afterwards; he was unable to join us, unfortunately.  Had he, he would have been like Miss A., dancing circles around us.  Still, we got up the climbs and had a swell time.

Different Ride Leader, Same Bike Buddy

Where to begin?  Miss P and I wanted to do a different club ride today and boy, we sure did.  Our group, 5 men, 2 women, I rather like that ratio, started at Crystal Springs and made our way over to Skyline and onto Sweeney Ridge (a climb we haven't done).  Mr. G. joined us as well!

A section of Sweeney Ridge.  Before we got there we meandered through neighborhoods as well as the San Andreas Trail.  Much of today's ride involved climbing.  And more climbing.

Coming down Sweeney Ridge.  Every view was spectacular.  I shot many photos and couldn't decide which to share.

More of Sweeney Ridge.  In Colma, we encountered cemetery row -- pet cemetary, Chinese cemetery, Serbian cemetery, and on and on. We continued on to the next climb -- San Bruno.  

Eventually we made it to San Bruno and we rewarded with exquisite views.  Next, we shot off through more neighborhoods to return to Skyline.  Did I mention climbing?  Our legs were certainly getting a work out today.  A lot of the ride also included strong headwinds.  We eventually made it to Sawyer Camp Trail and returned to Crystal Springs.  We saw a family of deer (well, I don't know that they were a family) taking a nap.  I would have liked to have joined them....

We asked for something different, and we were not disappointed.  48 miles and 4200 feet of climbing.

Happy Feet

Boy have I changed.  Ha ha.  Happy goat.  Missed the perfect shot of it stretching on its hind legs to reach something in the trees.  Oh well.  Club ride today, doing something different, exploring Evergreen area, mostly rollers and climbs (San Felipe, Mt. Pleasant).  Nice to change things up and bike in unfamiliar San Jose neighborhoods.

Ah, yes, that's more what I look like.  I bought my Sidi biking shoes back in 2006.  Never thought to replace the insoles.  Let's talk about an A-Ha moment.  Hello.  Ding ding ding.  Light bulb flashing in the thing upstairs sometimes referred to as my brain.  Illuminate.  Thanks to Miss P's suggestion, I went to Sports Basement (excellent customer service; really helpful) and picked up pair of Superfeet.  Otherwise known as Happy Feet!

We had a really nice bunch today for Diane's club ride.  A perfect fit.   Here we are on San Felipe, I think.  I appreciated the conversations, discovering how much we had in common despite being strangers.  The weather was delightful and the ride stress free.  We saw goats, wild turkeys, and a baby deer in someone's yard, trying to meet up with its mama on the other side of a fence.

A happy woman on a Sunday bike ride enjoying her Superfeet.

Rebellious

I'm not one for tradition, simply because my lifestyle hasn't really allowed for that sort of thing, and well, I like changing things up.  It's how I feel I grow.  Having said that, I do appreciate doing something that has been done before and has a pleasant memory attached.  What am I babbling on about?  Well, the club's annual 4th of July pancake celebration of which I've participated the last several years.  This year we sang "America the Beautiful."  You know what, that was sweet.  We also took a moment to think about Ahmed, our VP, who crashed the other day.  He broke his collar bone and sustained a concussion.  I appreciate being in this club and the friends I've made.   

Miss A, Miss P, et moi, set out to do Donny's ride, but, being rebels, we changed the route.  It was hot and we felt it early on in the ride.  My toe, being a klutz, I injured it last weekend, was acting up as well.  We are women who know ourselves well,  know what we want and for the most part, just do it.  Oh lookey, well, you can't see, but Mr. G. joined us as well.  How super.  The gang together, except The Boyfriend was not present (on a business trip).   On our ride over to Stevens Canyon, we encountered a rough patch of road and unfortunately, we came across a firetruck and firemen attending to a cyclist who had crashed.  Let's hope she's okay.  When we got closer to Montebello, we said, so long sucker, not in this heat.  We decided to do Stevens Canyon (shade and breeze), Mt. Eden and Pierce.  Miss A. took us past the end of Stevens Canyon to this lovely bridge.  I love my biking budettes.  They're the best.  I managed to do 37 miles.  A swell time with people I care about.