Saturday, January 29, 2011

It's Not Fog

Wildlife Encounter: Peloton of turkeys.






It's not fog - it's steam coming off the weeds as the sun warms up the Earth and evaporates the dew... kewl.









THAT GUY passed me before the Gate, he was in shorts already.

Then JB and I did the Hole. It was a little colder on the South Side.




Saturday, January 22, 2011

Windiest Day of the Year

Much less foggy though.

Met Rick and JB at the Church and visibility was pretty good. By the time we got to the Dumpster Gate it was clear and almost warm. Then the wind picked up and it was kind of a warm wind that made me want to take off my jacket. When we got past the Bump, the wind was so strong it made riding close together pretty tricky... three to a lane was just making me a little nervous, so we spread out a little.




At the Junction, other riders arrived with similar experiences. I didn't park my bike because the wind would have blown it out of the rack. Then Mark, one of Rick's team mates, came up from the South and we decided to go up some more. Mark had a female companion (in white on the bench) was a good rider but didn't talk much. Rick and I stopped at Juniper but they kept going.

Coming back down was challenging too - I almost had to pedal down the Bump the wind was so stiff.

NOTE: Starbucks at the Encina Safeway still has peppermint lattes!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Classic January Ride Redux

Pretty much just like last week.


Even got pretty much the same photos - LOL.

Fog ceiling was a little lower.






Almost 70°F at the Junction.

This chunk of road is doomed. For a little perspective...




OBTW - I've added a favorite blog to my list: Fast Eddy's Flandria Cafe for lovers of Flemish cycling past and present. Really great stuff over there.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Classic January Morning Ride

JB and I were both about 10 minutes late so that worked out great.




Fog was thick and got thicker as we got higher. I wasn't sure we'd ever climb out of it.




Just about Chainbuster though was the ceiling, just as JB had predicted, and it was glorious. Sunny and blue skies, dry and (sorta) warm.



Re-washout is getting worse. I suspect contractor malfeasance.

After a short break at Junction we went on up to Juniper. Got warm enough to take off gloves and JB even took off his jacket.










Coming back down was pretty miserable though... I double gloved it and still my fingers had that lovely frozen numbness, plus visibility was close to zero so it wasn't that much fun either.

A quintessential January morning on The Mountain. Can't wait to do it again.