Today, under beautifully warm October weather, Henning and I suffered mightily. We climbed hard up and down ridiculous roads in Marin. At one point, I used the last of my lung capacity to sputter obscenities at his rear wheel as he road away from me, only to find him around the next bend on bent over his bike repeating the same foul language.
Had either of us been in any sort of shape, it would have been spectacular.
Riding has been sporadic these past weeks, due mostly to an overly ambitious travel schedule and massive, towering, spectacular work-related deadlines. Which is fine. Easing in and out of fitness has felt healthier than periods of obsessive training in the past. Or at least, that's how I'm justifying it to myself.
So out in Sausalito this weekend under clear blue skies, hitting the small hill before oldtown. There were hundreds out on their bikes, and I was passing a group of about a dozen when I heard this terrible noise behind me. It was unmistakably bad, a crack and scraping of metal and then screeching car tires. I looked back and saw a cyclist face down in the middle of the lane about 10 yards back, and a cars spun sideways just behind. Damn.
I raced back as people were getting out of their cars and other cyclist were stopping. It was a guy in his early twenties, no helmet, not moving at all, and bleeding a lot. Everyone cellphoned and we crouched around him not wanting to move him, until suddenly he jerked and moaned and tried to get up. We held him down and tried to reassure him until the sirens in the distance got louder and louder. Then there was a flurry of professional activity and interviews and then they were all gone.
Apparently the kid was out of the saddle working hard up the hill when his bars just slipped out of his hands and in an instant he was over them and in the street. He couldn't have been doing more than 12mph, but as I've often been told, it's usually not the speed but the height that causes head injuries.
I have a helmet split in two down the middle hanging above where I park my bike at home. It reminds me how confident I had been just before I went over the bars 5 years ago.
Wear your helmets, friends.
Samuel L. Jackson on choosing projects:
"All movies aren’t fun; some are hard work. You try to do something and convey a set of emotions that have to do with some real life kind of stuff. That’s a popcorn movie. We know what it is. I don’t have to go in and worry about my motivations. F**king snakes all over the plane. That’s scary. ‘Let’s go! Scream. Yell. Let’s look dire. Oh my god, somebody got bit (gasps). Oh snakes gonna bite me!’"
Anyone seen it?
Went mountain biking with Julie this weekend in Epping Forest north of London. We rented bikes on the South Bank of the Thames and rode over London Bridge up to Liverpool Street Station. There we caught a train up to Chingford which sits right at the edge of the woods.
What a beautiful place to ride. Epping Forest was first set aside as royal hunting grounds in the 12th century and has been protected ever since. It was certainly weird to ride on horse trails first established 800 years ago, twisting and rolling through the medieval countryside. Winding single-track with fun little technical challenges virtually empty on a Monday afternoon.
Possibly even more exciting was the crazy ride through central London, negotiating dense traffic on an unfamiliar side of the street. Truly an adventure and highly recommended.
Also, I couldn't stop hearing the name of this place as a swear word. As in, "Ow! I stubbed my epping toe!" Still makes me laugh. I am 12.
The last 250 meters of the climb to Mount Diablo's summit are graded at over 18%. It's like a sick joke, really. After over 90 minutes of climbing in 100 degree heat, I was in no mood for that sort of humor.
But wow, what a climb. The views were amazing - from the Sierra to the Farallons. The mountain was swarming with cyclists; I think we saw maybe four cars the whole morning. It was deeply satisfying to turn the bike around and point downhill after such an effort.
Brett and I hopped an early BART train from the city on Saturday morning to the ironically named Pleasant Hill. From there, we rode up into the park through North Gate road and screamed down South Gate back to Walnut Creek for a total of about 45 miles. Short but intense. A pint of iced coffee couldn't keep me from nodding off on the train home.
Brett has a triple on his bike and I'll eat crow on this one: I was jealous.
Next up, Mount Hamilton. 5,000+ feet with a 100 mile loop.
So here's a quintessential first-world problem. Greg and I are out on a ride together, heading out from the Peet's in Russian Hill towards the Golden Gate. As we spin through the city streets, I keep hearing this disturbing *clunk* as I go over bumps. I was worried something was about to fall off, so we pulled over.
Turns out my seatbag had moved a bit, and my CO2 cartridge was hitting my carbon-fiber seat post. Now that's the soul of cycling, my friends. Keepin' it real.
Anyway, we got an early start and climbed the Headlands before work yesterday. It was hotter than it ever gets in the City - probably already 85 as we rolled out. Riding past the Marina Green we noticed the big flag hanging perfectly motionless. Climbing up Cozelman, took off my helmet and strapped it to the bars as sweat poured off me. We don't see conditions like that but maybe twice a year.
My stomach was acting weird on the climb back over the hill - maybe the heat, maybe the big plate of fried chicken the night before. We did an extra loop around the Presidio to Sea Cliff and as we turned back for home, I got my legs and felt like riding for the rest of the day. Instead, I sat in an office and omnigraffled.
Le Tour starts in a week. My money has Landis on the podium. Any takers?
A group of us are heading down 101 towards the Valley, talking about the difference in driving on the east and west coasts.
M: Do they salt the roads in California?
E: Do they do what now?
M: You know, in the winter, do they ever put salt on the roads?
E: Oh yeah, sure, right before they put the tequila and lime down.
Everyone: HAHAHHAHAHA!
M: See? This right here. This is why I hate all of you.
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
Recent Comments
-
ramana said:
[this is good]not much into popular culture, but this interview definitely made me like this guy, straight-forward and self-aware (as Anna says)... read more
on Sometimes work should just be fun -
hp said:
I saw a cyclist get hit by a mail delivery truck of all things once. I can still visualize the... read more
on Wear a helmet -
mathowie said:
The thing about these kinds of things is that I never forget the sound. After decades of BMX stuff, I... read more
on Wear a helmet -
hey not too many veen-bike-spottings lately -- you should come out on a spin with me and my new seven... read more
on Up, up, up...