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.

Summer Heat

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Lori took off for Maine today to help her mother convalesce after back surgery.  Everything is good, she’s just going to help.

Today we had summer.  It was about 95 degrees, and no fog.  Anywhere.

Cookie and I went to Stinson Beach hoping it would be cooler.  It was probably 70 degrees, so that was good.  No fog though, at Stinson or anywhere else, and that is very unusual  Tonight, at 9:52 pm  it is still 80 degrees outside and 89 degrees inside.  I would call the air conditioner guy, but I doubt he can bring our fog back all by himself…

Here’s a shot of Cookie on our way back from the beach.

And, here is a picture of the beach from an elevation of about 500′.