Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.Ygduf
11-18-08, 06:30 PM
So I woke up this morning and felt like I couldn't face the day at work. I called out and went back to bed. Woke up at 9:30 and felt much better. So what else to do but suit up and hit the road? :innocent:
73 miles and 7400ft later I'm feeling that my mental health day went to good use.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/triple-tuesday (triple hills)
I started out planning to just head up Page Mill, over to 84 and back to Mountain View. I did PM in a record (for me) time of 51 minutes. I was seeing all sorts of weird signs that this might be a crazy ride along Skyline. I didn't bring my camera, but I wish I had. Some owl was flying (in broad daylight :eek:) right along side me for at least 90 seconds. It was incredible. Needless to say, I was feeling good as I got over to 84, so instead of turning back I decided to add Kings to my ride.
The ascent of kings was also amazing. There were butterflies all over the place, and again more wildlife. On the wide section of the road about a mile from the top I saw 2 young deer. They were right along the right side of the road and just watched me approach. Maybe I looked vulnerable at the time or something, but neither of them moved. I could almost have reached out and touched them. They watched me pass 7mph from, I dunno, 5ft. It was surreal.
At the top of Kings I met a nice guy from Half Moon Bay who had just ascended Tunitas. I gave him the site rec, so if you're reading this, sorry I forgot your name! Anyway, he totally saved me by donating a clif bar to me. Some sort of endorphin rush had hit me while doing Tunitas and by the time I'd reached the summit I'd decided to add OLH to what was now going to be a more epic ride. That Clif bar may well have saved my life.
I got to OLH just in time to get passed by an older guy wearing AV shorts. Well, I may have been tired but I'm still only 28 so I pushed with just about everything I had to stay with him and made it to the top in 27 minutes. That's a little slower than the 25 minutes I put up last time on OLH, but I was happy with it considering it came around mile 45 in the ride.
From the top of OLH I headed South on Skyline. It was on that long grade on Skyline that I started to totally bonk. I stopped and ate the Clif bar and a little bit of water. I had filled up at Roberts on my descent of 84 the first time, but I was pretty low on water by the time I got to the top of OLH and was rationing at this point. There really needs to be a Bike Hut on Skyline. By the time I got to Page Mill I was feeling pretty loopy. I drank the last of my water and headed down.
On the descent my judgment just wasn't any good. I kept misreading my speed vs. the distance to the corners. I almost lost it over the edge of one of the hairpins it shook my confidence. I think I could have crawled down the rest of descent faster than I rode it after that. Finally, at Gate 1 I spotted a water fountain and took a rest.
I felt reasonably better after that so I took Arastradero over to Foothill, and then Foothill to Miramonte and cruised home. My total time was 6:06, with a riding time of maybe 5:15. My heart rate monitor recorded: min HR: 66, max 195 (probably after my near crash :twitchy:), avg HR of 144, and 5822 calories.
Now that I'm home safely with some food in me I'm happy I added the 3rd climb in. I think if I could do it over I would have descended 35 from the top of Kings to make another pit stop at 84 & 35. But overall it was outstanding. I'm not religious, but all the strange animals made me feel like I was on some sort of spirit quest. :rolleyes:
73 miles and 7400ft later I'm feeling that my mental health day went to good use.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/triple-tuesday (triple hills)
I started out planning to just head up Page Mill, over to 84 and back to Mountain View. I did PM in a record (for me) time of 51 minutes. I was seeing all sorts of weird signs that this might be a crazy ride along Skyline. I didn't bring my camera, but I wish I had. Some owl was flying (in broad daylight :eek:) right along side me for at least 90 seconds. It was incredible. Needless to say, I was feeling good as I got over to 84, so instead of turning back I decided to add Kings to my ride.
The ascent of kings was also amazing. There were butterflies all over the place, and again more wildlife. On the wide section of the road about a mile from the top I saw 2 young deer. They were right along the right side of the road and just watched me approach. Maybe I looked vulnerable at the time or something, but neither of them moved. I could almost have reached out and touched them. They watched me pass 7mph from, I dunno, 5ft. It was surreal.
At the top of Kings I met a nice guy from Half Moon Bay who had just ascended Tunitas. I gave him the site rec, so if you're reading this, sorry I forgot your name! Anyway, he totally saved me by donating a clif bar to me. Some sort of endorphin rush had hit me while doing Tunitas and by the time I'd reached the summit I'd decided to add OLH to what was now going to be a more epic ride. That Clif bar may well have saved my life.
I got to OLH just in time to get passed by an older guy wearing AV shorts. Well, I may have been tired but I'm still only 28 so I pushed with just about everything I had to stay with him and made it to the top in 27 minutes. That's a little slower than the 25 minutes I put up last time on OLH, but I was happy with it considering it came around mile 45 in the ride.
From the top of OLH I headed South on Skyline. It was on that long grade on Skyline that I started to totally bonk. I stopped and ate the Clif bar and a little bit of water. I had filled up at Roberts on my descent of 84 the first time, but I was pretty low on water by the time I got to the top of OLH and was rationing at this point. There really needs to be a Bike Hut on Skyline. By the time I got to Page Mill I was feeling pretty loopy. I drank the last of my water and headed down.
On the descent my judgment just wasn't any good. I kept misreading my speed vs. the distance to the corners. I almost lost it over the edge of one of the hairpins it shook my confidence. I think I could have crawled down the rest of descent faster than I rode it after that. Finally, at Gate 1 I spotted a water fountain and took a rest.
I felt reasonably better after that so I took Arastradero over to Foothill, and then Foothill to Miramonte and cruised home. My total time was 6:06, with a riding time of maybe 5:15. My heart rate monitor recorded: min HR: 66, max 195 (probably after my near crash :twitchy:), avg HR of 144, and 5822 calories.
Now that I'm home safely with some food in me I'm happy I added the 3rd climb in. I think if I could do it over I would have descended 35 from the top of Kings to make another pit stop at 84 & 35. But overall it was outstanding. I'm not religious, but all the strange animals made me feel like I was on some sort of spirit quest. :rolleyes: