Very Long Time, No BLOG

Well, it has been quite a while. As is the story of almost any bike shop owner, as soon as the summer hits, there goes any free time. Things are in full swing at the shop, but Claire and I have been able to get out from time to time on some mountain bike rides and some shorter road bike rides around the West County. Next week we will be heading to Utah to check out the 2010 Cannondale bikes and after that we will be heading to Colorado to check out the 2010 Giant line-up. We have had the opportunity to spend some time on a couple of the Cannondale Rize 1's, which are amazing carbon fiber mountain bikes. Last Monday we explored Willow Creek State Park on the bikes. We found some great single track and plenty of tall grass. Here is a link to our ride. Yesterday evening we went up to Annadel with A2 and Jim for a nice short ride. A2 has been off the bike for a while, so he was quite excited, and Jim had the chance to ride the Rize 1 and was loving it.

Willow Creek Loop AGAIN

Boy, I just can't get enough of this loop. I went out this afternoon and did the loop on my own. I tried to take it easy, and I was 10 minutes off of my fastest time, so that was taking it easier at least.

Back from Santa Cruz

Well, Claire and I had a week off from the shop, and spent 5 of those days camping at New Brighton State Beach just south of Santa Cruz. We managed to barely make it down there after the Hub Bus broke down on 19th Ave. in San Francisco. I don't know if you can call it a total break down since we didn't have to get towed anywhere. For some reason the Bus stalled at a light in stop and go traffic. It was very hot down there. It decided that it didn't want to start for a couple of hours, and then it ran just fine after that. Go figure.

Anyway, I went out for a couple of runs down there. Run 1 and Run 2. Since I have been having some tightness in my calves, I kept the runs shorter than usual.

We went out on an epic ride on Tuesday. It was very hot down there. Mathilda rode along in the trailer, but was no help at all on the uphills. She did help on the final descent back to the campground though. We rode up Eureka Canyon, which was nicely shaded for the most part. It was a wonderfully gentle climb with almost no traffic. At the top it was a bit more exposed, and both Claire and I were running low on water. We stopped at a fire station just before turning down San Jose Road which plummeted us back down into Capitola. We had a bit more climbing before we got back to the campground. We must have looked a bit knackered at that point, because a woman in a car actually pulled up next to us and asked if we needed water.

The other days we spent riding around Santa Cruz and sampling pizza. We still think that Pleasure Pizza has the best, and on Tuesdays they have slices of cheese pizza for only a dollar. We also tried Pizza My Heart in Capitola, but didn't like it quite as much. One of the days we rode all the way up West Cliff and checked out the surfers. We ended up with over 25 miles that day. Mathilda enjoyed all of the rides.

Sweetwater (plain and simple)

I went out this morning and did the Sweetwater loop. Since we are taking off for Santa Cruz tomorrow for a week, I thought I should do this loop so that A1 can follow it when he is house sitting. It took exactly 20 minutes for the climb, and I'm usually around 18 minutes, so I know how I stand in that department. The entire loop took 1 hour and 26 minutes which is right around my average. I had to be a little careful on the back side of Sweetwater since it is pretty beat up from the winter. I got a pretty good two wheel drift through one of the first corners when I hit some gravel. Since I still have my third crash coming up, (they come in threes), I figured I should be careful. I hit some pretty good potholes on the other side of Sweetwater, but that is what Sonoma County is all about.

Long time no blog

Well, it has been awhile. I have been getting out on only a couple of rides a week since the shop is so busy. Last Monday Claire and I rode the tandem and Eric the Fireman rode his beautiful TCR Advanced SL around the Chalkhill Loop. The weather was perfect, and except for Eric feeling a little frisky on his road bike, it was a good paced ride.

Today Eric the Fireman and A1 came out to the house for an epic ride. We were all on our cross bikes as we headed out over Green Valley and Harrison Grade into Occidental. As we headed up Bitner, Eric had some mechanical problems. We tried to fix things by making his bike into a single speed, but the roads were so steep that the chain just wouldn't stay where it was supposed to stay. We bid farewell to Eric on Willow Creek Road, and A1 and I headed on through the state park and dropped down to Duncans Mills where Claire was waiting to meet us. We then rode over Duncan Road and over Old Caz. A1 and I decided to push ourselves a bit on the climb. At one point my heart rate was 197 and his had broken the 200 barrier. On the way down Old Caz, I got a little out of control in one of the corners and went ass over teakettle. I managed to land on my head and crack my helmet as well as scratching up some other parts of my body. It was a pretty funny fall, I had passed A1 on a couple of the sharp bends, and I was going a bit faster than I should. At least this is what I realized as I over shot a corner and went into some soft dirt and rocks on the side. I remember my head hitting and then watching as the bike flew over the top of me. My main concern was that my wheels would still be straight enough that I wouldn't have to hike out of there. We were almost to the crossing of Austin Creek, and it would have been a long hike out. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and we got back to Duncans Mills feeling good. We then stopped for some Mexican food in Guerneville before heading home.

Exploring with Claire and Mathilda

We went out yesterday and did a nice casual, interesting ride. It was all Claire's idea as she had heard rumors that there was a way to get from Wohler Bridge over to the River Front Regional Park which is off of Eastside Road. We put Mathilda in the trailer and Claire hopped on her trusty Ibis SS while I road my Cannondale cross bike. Here is a link to our loop. We did some exploring around Sonoma County Water Agency property. I am pretty sure it was all legal. We ended up at the park and we rode around the lake.

On the way home we stopped by our own regional park and let Mathilda swim a bit. She even fetched a stick once for us. She was a little sore by the time we got home. In fact, when we got to our door, she didn't want to get out of the trailer.

I had my first "crash" in a while. I was on my unicycle and it was more embarrassing than painful. Usually the unicycle just goes flying, but this time we both went flying. I ended up with a couple of cuts on my leg, but luckily I had just shaved the day before, so there was no hair to make things uglier. While I was unicycling, Claire was taking Thom the cat for a walk.

Mountain Bike Ride with Claire

Well, Claire and I finally got back out on our mountain bikes. It had been quite a while, and the last time was quite muddy. We had to go into the shop early so that I could pull apart my shock and regrease the bearings and rebuild the oil cartridge. The great thing about those Cannondale Headshocks is that the come out as good as new with some TLC. Anyway, we got out of the shop at a little before four even though there was lots of tune-ups to do. It was too nice of a day to not get outside. Here is a map of our loop. Claire stopped and took a picture of some turkeys that were strutting their stuff on the side of the trail. Mathilda stayed back and guarded the Hub Bus while we were out. Claire took her picture, but since we haven't washed the back window since the last rain, it is sort of bleary.