Sunday, June 10th rides

[Fredwina]

I put a new chain and cassette on my bike last night.. I did a test ride after yet another church committee and found out I should have read the directions . took off some links, and the bike rides much better . yeah!, still not perfect (might have to buy a new chainring too )
about 30 miles, temps in 90, nice wind

[DrBadger]

At the bottom of the descent we hung a right onto Portola, and then proceeded up Old La Honda Rd, another classic climb in the Woodside area.

OLH is about 3 miles or so, with an average grade of 7%, but it doesn't get much steeper than that (except when it does). I started out reasonably OK but faded over the last half. A lot of people time themselves going up OLH, and unfortunately I did so as well. A good time is 30 minutes, an excellent time is 25 minutes, and Stud Muffin racer-types go up it in 20 minutes or less. Well, my time was 36 minutes! ptooey! :-p " " Once upon a time I did it in a hair under 32 minutes, and I hope someday to break the ellusive 30 minute barrier, but not today, I wuz whupped.

Wow, you did Page Mill AND OLH!?!? Nuts. Don't worry, your time up OLH is still faster than me, and that is after you climbed Page Mill also! I am around 40 min right now....I go for slow and steady wins the race

You really packed in the climbs this weekend!

I was looking at that site you linked to, and it looks like the ride up Old La Honda to the coast and back is just under 40 miles from Woodside...maybe we should plan a TE group ride to do that sometime this summer.

E.

[Aggie_Ama]

Sara- It is much better, thank you! Maybe it was the free work the LBS did?

MD- That happened to me after a horrendous ride! I went to sign up for a massage and people were signing up for 40-50 minutes. All I needed was a good shoulder rub. Thank you for riding for Diabetes, my Pawpaw had complications late in his life. I would like to see the disease squashed!

[jobob]

Aw, Ellen, you're so nice.

I was looking at that site you linked to, and it looks like the ride up Old La Honda to the coast and back is just under 40 miles from Woodside...maybe we should plan a TE group ride to do that sometime this summer.

That would be great. Actually, CindySue was talking about that very same thing today.

It would be fun to go out to the coast, perhaps over to Pescadero (good bakery!) or to San Gregorio (funky general store with all sorts fun stuff, and snax of course).

[Crankin]

After a rainy day pn Saturday, we woke up to sun Sunday. My phone rang at 7:45, with my friend asking if we wanted to drive to the south coast of MA/RI and ride. I was surprised, since she rarely awakes before 8 on weekends, while I am up by 6:30 at the latest. So, although we were barely up, we decided to go. I had done this ride once before, on one of my first group rides where I was so nervous, I hardly remembered any of it. We got down there at around 11 and took off from Tiverton, RI high school where we parked. After about 4 miles, my husband and my friend's husband had stopped on a corner to wait for her. She is slow, but not that slow! So, her husband rode back and found that the chain on her new bike (like just got it Thursday) had seized. She got it going and right away my husband diagnosed the problem. The LBS didn't put on a long enough chain, and every time she went into the big ring, boom. We told her just stay in the middle, but it happened two more times during the ride. I feel badly for her, since she has been riding a 10 year old Trek touring bike and she got a nice carbon Giant. Well, despite that, it was a gorgeous day. It's a very rural area, near the coast, with beautiful scenery. We stopped and ate a picnic lunch after about 13 miles. There were lots of casual cyclists out on some type of marked ride and we also saw a lot of serious looking riders. I didn't remember that there was much climbing on this ride, but most of it was a false flat, which was quite deceiving. We thought it would be cooler out, but it got up to about 78. I am fighting a sinus infection and by mile 30 I was ready to be done. The ride was 39 miles and I felt like I had done at least 50. But I wasn't too sick to stop by the Wesport River Winery and pick up 3 bottles of sparkling wine on the way home.
If anyone ever wants some nice coastal riding, without the crowds of the Cape, this is the place. Beautiful views, fairly nice roads, and not too much in the way of hills.