Quote Originally Posted by 7rider View Post
I played hookey from work today to go for a ride
Hey I did that too!

I went out on my first "real" road ride since my crash at the end of March. I've been out on my bike a few times in the last week & a half (yay) but those rides were just out to the bay & back along the Alameda Creek trail, a multi-use trail near my home, and were about 10 miles each and maybe 50 feet of climbing.

So today I hit the road! (er, not literally ) and took a route that's one of my old faves.

Lee and I rode out along the Alameda Creek trail (again - hey it's a nice shortcut) but this time in the direction away from the bay, out towards the Niles District in Fremont.

Then we headed on Mission Blvd, a nice wide road with good shoulders, up to Mission Coffee, where we had lunch out on their patio. And then we headed back.

I had no problem at all with riding out on the moderately busy roads, but I didn't think I would.

Mission Blvd kicks up a little bit before we reach the coffee shop, about a 3% grade for a mile or two, which was a nice re-introduction to climbing. I'm happy to say it wasn't difficult. I kept my pace really easy but we went at a halfway decent clip.

Since we headed back the way we came, I also got a taste of descending again. Since my crash occurred on a descent, I kind of wondered how I would react once I actually tried descending. It was only about a 3% grade and I pretty much only coasted down it, so I didn't go all that fast, but that said I had no problem at all with it. No flashbacks were had.

All told it was 25 miles and about 500 ft of climbing.

I think I'm baaaack.