Where has the time gone?

5/25/15:  I've been meaning to get back to this blog for a long time, but you know how it gets.  I thought I should re-start it with a bang and my mountain bike ride on 5/16 provided that opportunity:

Aftermath of my ride at Tamarancho.  Damn those ruts!

How could I pass up sharing this bit of trail rash?  It looks terrible, but it wasn't that bad.  Nothing serious happened.  The scab is already less that half that size now.  Thanks to Antonio for his advice on scar reduction.

But let's back up a bit...the fall was busy after the tour, culminating in the annual Fremont to Santa Cruz ride with the Deaf Wheelers and Foxy's Fall Century, another 100 mile ride, that I did with Eden and Anton.  My riding schedule went back to once a week on the weekend. Everything was going fine, if a bit relaxed, but just before Thanksgiving I started having problems along the side of one of my legs, centered near the knee.

I started going to the physical therapist because it got really painful.  Through time and exercises from the PT it has improved a great deal, but is not 100% yet.  Most of the winter I did little to no riding.  I was able to gradually increase the distance and climbing after some time, so I was able to be ready for the Wine Country Century the first weekend of May.

One of the earliest rides I tried was at the end of December and was somewhat of a failure.  It was too soon to be out mountain biking, even for a relatively flat route on fire trail type terrain in Samuel P. Taylor State Park. 

At Taylor State Park.

Following that, I tried a road ride from home in El Cerrito out to Pt. Molate in Richmond.  The flat parts were fine the limited amounts of climbing were challenging on my leg.  It was a very clear day with good views,  but very cold and windy.  It is an interesting ride with a lot of unusual industrial and military scenes.  Also, there is about a block's worth of riding on the freeway (580) on the way over.  I think there is a plan to redo that area and include a section that does not route cyclists on to the freeway, but I'm sure that it will be years from now.

 

View toward East Brother Lighthouse.

The first really successful ride where my leg felt pretty good the whole time was on the almost flat Alameda Creek bike trail in January.  We got out there a bit late for the time of year and were coming back to the car in the dark.

At the end of the Alameda Creek Trail, near twilight.

John waiting for me to finish taking pictures.

Things started improving more significantly.  In February I joined the training group for a recreational ride around San Francisco, taking in many of the tourist sites.

View from Twin Peaks.

View from Twin Peaks.  Yes, we climbed up on that road.

Taking at break at the top of Twin Peaks.  Are we all in orange?

I tried a short mountain bike ride in March, which went really well.  Sadly, I left the house with a terrible headache, which did not get better on the drive over to Woodside.  I figured the ride would either make it feel better or I'd have a stroke and need to be helicopered out of El Corte de Madera (AKA Skeggs).  Fortunately, the headache did get better immediately.  It was a short ride with a lot of single track, but to get to the end there is a fire road that climbs 1,000 feet in about one mile.  I know I'm having a good day if I can climb the whole thing without stopping (no matter how bad I feel like it).  At the top of the climb we found some earth moving equipment for trail work that was taking a break for the weekend.

A second career for me?

 At the end of March I was feeling better enough that I knew I needed to step things up if I wanted to be in shape for the Wine Country Century, which I'd already signed up for.  It was going to be an unseasonably warm day, so we decided to ride in West Marin.  We went from Nicasio to Drakes Beach and back.  Mostly rolling hills and about 52 miles.  It was too late for a treat at Bovine Bakery on the way back.

A beautiful day at Drakes Beach.

John and me in front of the ranger station.

Mid-April I went with some of the training group folks for a climb up Mines Road.  It was a 60 mile out and back from Robertson Park in Livermore to "The Junction."  Bicyclists and motorcyclists know this area.  Otherwise, it isn't very well-traveled.  If you continue far enough you can get to Mt. Hamilton.

At The Junction, a bar/restaurant at the junction of two road.  I'm not sure what town this is.  It is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but I do know it is in Santa Clara County.

 My last training ride before the century was a 75-mile loop in and around Napa from the Grizzly Peak Cyclists route sheet library.  It is basically a 52 mile loop with 10 miles of climbing for the sake of climbing and back again.  If you notice that 52 + 10 + 10 does not equal 75, that's because there were a few extra miles from missing a few turns along the way.  It was a fun day (except the climbing on Mt. Atlas Rd.).  It was all new to me.  Sage Canyon Road was my favorite part.  It was both scenic and mostly free of traffic.  It had some climbing, but not the relentless kind.

Do I look happy?  It's because we finally got to the top of Mt. Atlas Road.  It is literally all down hill from here.  If only the road was in better condition, it would be great to whip down it in nothing flat.

 The Wine Country Century went well.  Like all my rides since my leg pain started to get better, it still takes a long time for my left leg to feel warmed up.  It was a cold day in Santa Rosa and the clouds and dampness stayed with us for much longer that in the previous two times I've done this ride.  The sun was coming out a little before rest stop #2 at Wohler Bridge (I think its in Windsor).  Had some great riding along West Side and Dry Creek Roads with their rolling hills.  By lunch at Warm Springs Dam (at Lake Sonoma) it was pretty warm (about mile 70).  That was the best I've felt at mile 70, but it took a while for my legs to get started again after the lunch break.   I made a wrong turn before the final rest stop at mile 85 at the Alexander Valley School, but fortunately, I was not far off the track.  I think I was on a parallel road.  I also felt really good at mile 85, that's often the point where I wonder why I've decided to ride 100 miles.  It was good riding with some of the training group gang this year:  Leticia, Debra, Bill & Gail on the tandem.  Rita, thanks for not running into me when I made an unplanned stop.  I finished 10 minutes slower than last year, but not bad given the injury.

Since the century I've been doing a mix of road and mountain biking.  I plan to keep up the mix.  My current physical therapist thinks that mountain biking will help my leg getting stronger.

The next installment will be pretty soon.