Well, we tried...

We got off early from the shop and decided that we needed to get ourselves out for some exercise. We had decided on doing the Sweetwater loop, even though it was 90 degrees out. We hopped on our Burley tandem and rode on down River Road. It was definitely nice and warm, but as soon as we turned into Rio Nido, it cooled way down. Well, to make a long story short, we broke our chain part way up Sweetwater. It was in one of those corners where you are probably pushing around 24% or so. Anyway, a broken chain wasn't any big deal, so I took out a link and put it back together, but when we took off again, the chain started skipping around like crazy. It turned out that we had badly bent the easiest 3 gears on our cassette. We couldn't use the 4th one down either since the 3rd was bent into it. I figure what happened is that when the chain broke, it came over the top of the cassette, and since there was no chain on the bottom of the ring to balance things, it just bent it over. We did the same thing many, many years ago shifting into the big chain ring on the top of Old Caz. Claire wanted to keep going on, or at least give it a try, but pushing a 30x17 gear up a 20% grade was not in our power. So, we turned around and rode back down and then did a little ride through Armstrong Redwoods before coming home on River Road. Here is a link to our loop. Getting home sooner than we had expected did allow us the time to sit on the deck and enjoy some beverages while the sun set.

Tomorrow A2 will be getting married.

Willow Creek Loop on the Ibis Tandem

Claire and I went out yesterday and did my favorite loop on our Ibis tandem. It was a great time and we were in no hurry. We stopped in Duncans Mills at Gold Coast coffee and had some pastries after we had descended 1400 feet down Boxsprings Road. We added in Duncan Road at the end. This is a fantastic ride that I would recommend to anyone with a cross bike. We got a little warm at the very end, but otherwise the temperatures were perfect. I had a mocha while Claire stuck to straight coffee.

Just a plain good loop

Claire, Mathilda, and I went out on our favorite loop, and then were having so much fun that we added in something extra. It was a beautiful day out there, with lots and lots of cyclists. We don't get out too often on Saturdays, so it was neat to see all of the groups and individuals enjoying the day. Everyone had big smiles on their faces and waved to each other. It is not surprising that sometimes those folks in their automobiles get so jealous of the cyclists. We did not experience any of this jealousy yesterday. Here is a link to our loop.

Oh, yea, and our figs are finally ripening up, so I went out and picked some of those. You have to wait until they are almost ready to fall off the branches to get the right ones.

A good full day off

In the afternoon we went over to Napa and did a run/hike in Bothe - Napa Valley State Park. It was an amazing experience with the light mist coming down the entire time. I felt great on my run except for losing some skin on my big toe. I had noticed that my sock had a hole in it, but didn't think that much of it. I paid for it by the end. Here is a link to my run. I ended up running around 8 miles.

A couple of brief rides and runs.

We finally managed to fit in a couple of days of exercise. The shop has really been kicking our butts. We both feel like we are working as hard as we can, but we are not able to keep up with the business. Anyway, last week we decided that we needed to get out for some activities, so we took off early two days and came in late one day. On Wednesday we went to Howarth Park and did a short run. On Thursday we headed back and did a little mountain bike ride. And on Friday morning we went out on a very pleasant tandem ride through wine country. We paid for this time off on Saturday, but I think it was worth it...