Hermes,

Old LaHonda is quite the road. I live in the flatlands of Oklahoma and visited my daughter and her boyfriend in Palo Alto this summer. On her Lemond Reno, which fits about right, I made it only 3/4's of the way up without stopping. Started too hard and never found a place to slow down to get out of the "red zone." (Any slower and the bike would have been doing a 'track stand.') Those switch backs on Old LaHonda are ugly when you have 'no go.' The steepest parts might be as short as 10 to 20 yards, but they take their toll.

Next day, I went at a more deliberate pace, kept the boyfriend in sight (he had mercy), didn't have to stop, caught up on Skyline and then did my El Falco Salvodelli imitation on the way down from the store. I LOVED that downhill curvy road back to the north that drops you out above Stanford. I stayed in the traffic lane and cars could not keep up. Using the whole lane and picking a late apex was the key. It was only slightly dangerous and oh so fun. (Having a previous trip down was helpful, too; there's a couple of tricky decreasing radius curves!) The boyfriend never said so, but when he caught up later, I think he thought I was nuts. My mispent youth on years of motorcycle racing has some benefit in old age though!

Next year, I might try the big ring at the bottom, but there's no way I'll be able to get up like you do. If you and Velodiva pass me on the tandem, say "Hi!" I'll be that fat grey haired guy embarassing a nice pink and black Merckx MX-Leader named "Emma."

TysonB
Cushing, Oklahoma

PS Loved your posts and pics from Tuscany and other vacations.