Zombie Raccoons Climbfest with WW

It’s been over a year being on Google+, and I’ve had such a blast connecting up with fellow cyclists on Google+, but never actually ride with any of them.  That all changed this weekend.

Zombie Raccoons Ride #bikecommutercabal

I finally got a chance to ride with my friends Lynne Watanabe and Chris Davies. In addition to this, we ride together with another hill chimbfest with Steve and Cheryl from WW.

Once again, we had short but very steep climbs and descents .. Ranging into 20% grades.  Yes, they were relentless.  These were a little like the hills of San Francisco.

Now I did warn Lynne and Chris that some of these climbs are really steep, but we still sent on ahead anyways.

It was still a little chilly, so I wore toe warmers on my shoes. When I wear toewarmers, sometimes it’s a little hard to feel where the pedal is with the shoe with the toewarmers on. One time, I missed, then hit the pedal on my leg. In the process, my left sit bone hit the saddle pretty hard. That was pretty painful, and I wound up riding with that pain for the whole ride. That pain still lingered with me the following day.

Then with all the hills climbed, it did catch up to a few of us, forcing some to skip the Ascension hill. Yes, this was a hard day. This was also historic. Finally getting to ride with some of my commutercabal peeps. Now if I can only ride with Jenny Oh, now that would be cool.

Yes, I Do Exist Outside of Facebook Postings

I haven’t done a Western Wheelers ride in a really long time, and so I saw my friends Steve and Cheryl leading a ride up Kings Mountain and some interval hills around Redwood City, including Lakeview, I decided to go on this ride. I get to Gunn High School, and see Cheryl, and the first thing out of her mouth is “oh my god, look who’s here”. Yes, Steve and Cheryl, I do exist, and it’s not some silly Facebook entity that shows up in your friend feed. That was too funny. It has been a while.

I just wanted to mix it up a bit … Ride with different people, different route, it’s always a good thing. Going up Kings Mountain … That’s nothing new, but usually we don’t go through Huddart Park … We did this time.

It’s a little more scenic, plus it avoids a section of car traffic. Rumor has it that this stretch is a little steeper than the typical stretch straight up on Kings, but does seem a little more scenic. You can’t go wrong with either route though.

The group stopped at the picnic grounds, to fill up on water and to use the bathroom. I was good to go, so I just continued on. I think the steeper stretch is the climb out of Huddart Park though … There are a few 20% sections although very short.

Everyone was concerned about it being cold at the top, but I was fine with just arm warmers and shorts. The next part of the route was going north on Skyline, and descents all the way to Hwy 92, then another descent to Canada. Ok, I would need my vest, but even then, I felt okay with just a vest and arm warmers. I guess I just got used to the early morning and evening temperatures, so I was fine.

Next up, we go down through parts of Redwood City for some hill intervals … That’s really the best way to describe them. We did Crestview, from the easy side … Yes, there is an easier side, but it was still a tough climb. I usually do this as a night ride, and this is one of the few times I did it in daylight. I thought at first the hill was an optical illusion … After climbing it, no it’s not an illusion, that hill is real.

We then bomb down Crestview … Really steep descent, then over to Woodside, then over to Lakeview. Another steep climb, but not too long. More hill intervals. Only on Steve and Cheryl’s ride, but loving it. And with the disc brakes, not a worry in the world.

It was a great day, riding with old friends, great route … Thanks Steve and Cheryl.

http://www.strava.com/activities/96717648/