My Mountain Trail

Ride the Coast

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Yesterday Lori and I rode up the coast to Point Reyes. I had installed new pedals and was wearing new shoes too. My left pedal/shoe combination just didn’t work. I had a hot spot on the outside of the ball of my foot, and I couldn’t seem to develop any power with that leg. Finally, we stopped in Stinson Beach on the way back and I adjusted the cleat angle. It was better, but I went a little too far. One more adjustment and maybe a shim, and I think all will be good again.

Anyway, that is my excuse for how the day went. I felt okay but I really had a tough time keeping up with Lori. And she hasn’t really been riding much since her return from her injury. Four months of downtime and she was still too much. I did okay on the hills, but man, every time we were on the flats I had to get in close and hang on. Once I dropped off the back, I would steadily lose ground until we hit another hill.

The picture below was taken in Stinson Beach while I adjusted my cleat. It was very hot (up to the high 90s) for the ride, though a bit cooler in Stinson. Anyway, we rested for a bit here and then rode the 30 minute climb to Pantoll and 10 minutes down the hill from there. It was a good ride, but we both worked hard.

Fog Lines

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Today the sun rise was punctuated by the us being in the fog line, and the sunset was about the same. Here’s a diptych showing the view (the sunrise is on top).

And here is a picture from the end of Cookie’s and my run this evening. Muir Woods is under all that fog. The temperature dropped 20 degrees (to about 55 degrees) between the spot where I took this picture and the one above in the fog line (in the space of about .5 miles and 150′ of elevation change).

This is Just a Hint

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Of how amazing the desert can be. The best photos are so good I just can’t put them on the internet. And that often means I don’t look at them very often either — though I have a plan for that which I may fill you in on at some point in the future. Anyway, check this out and let your imagination run wild!

Heat Wave

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Almost no fog today, and much warmer. The heat wave is here — though it is only about 80 degrees on the mountain, it is much warmer (97) in the valleys. Here’s yesterday’s pic today: