Still cool-ish temps in the morning, I rode the 26" Drop-Hopper to work on the trail-to-trail route yesterday. The trail was still blocked at the one intersection, and the official detour south is also blocked, so I tried crossing north and then west. The sidewalk was still blocked but accessible just a car length down. Neither street has a shoulder or is safe for bikes due to high speed limit and high traffic volumes.

I'm sure the city engineers thought pedestrians and bikes could use the underpass, but it has been flooded for weeks and weeks due to a poor design that sees it flood regularly for long periods since it was built over ten years ago.

Again, the '97 Rockhopper shod with 2.125" smoothies felt lighter and faster than it should...and oh, so comfortable, even without the sprung seat its predecessor had. Another fast, refreshing ride in.

I took a different route home through downtown. It had cooled down to 90F with high overcast or haze from some of the wildfires perhaps.

There is a steep 3-block long hill hill on San Miguel Street about a mile from the house. After a year off the bike in 2010 it took me 6 or 9 months before I rebuilt enough strength and stamina to ride up it non-stop on the way home...and I remember that every time I ride up it...every time.

Even though I can gind or hustle all my bikes up it now, the Rockhopper's extremely low gearing makes climbing it fairly easy, despite being my heaviest bike. So there I was slowly making steady progress up the hill hunched over on the drop bars when I saw a woman watching me while watering her plants. With her gray hair, Bermuda shorts, flip-flops and sleeveless top she looked like some meek retired grandma. BUt when I finally got up even with her she looked me square in the eye, smiled and said calmly, "You...are a BEAST!"

We shared a good laugh.