Today's almost-daily diary entry (www.ChainReaction.com/diary.htm) 01/09/07- 13- 29- 37-. IT'S ALL IN THE NUMBERS. 13? That would be the number of feet climbed on Skyline, at the end of the flat/slightly-downhill section before the descent into Sky L'Onda (coming from King's Mtn). That dreadful nasty little rise that causes you to suffer like a dog 'cuz you're trying to hang onto someone's wheel. 13 lousy feet. That's it. Pitiful. 29? That would be about the time it took to claw my way up King's Mtn this morning, a fair amount longer than it took Kevin & George. I started up pretty strongly, despite having some issues breathing in the cold (more on that shortly), but on the steeper sections, I felt like I died a thousand deaths. I finished about 28:52 (about?), but it felt like so much more... or less. Unquestionably I could be doing better if I hit up a few Alto Velo "A" rides on Sundays, but right now priority #1 is to get my 14-year-old out on his bike, and it's going to be a couple years before he's ready for something like that. But y'know, it wasn't that long ago I might have thought he'd never be up to that, but he's progressing nicely. It still takes him almost exactly twice the amount of time it would take me to get up the hill (whether that hill be Kings or Old LaHonda), but his confidence is improving, his cornering is much better, and he doesn't actually enjoy climbing, but accepts it as a requirement for the reward (descending). In that way he's quite different from his Dad, who always preferred the climb to the descent. 37? That would be the temperature at the start of the climb. And that would also be about 8 degrees colder than my lungs find workable. 45 degrees & up and there's no wheezing, none of that raspy sick steam-engine sound, like someone needs to drain the gunk from the bottom of the tank. Above 45 my breathing is just as loud, but it's more of a healthy steam-engine sound. --Mike Jacoubowsky Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: > 37? That would be the temperature at the start of the climb. And that would > also be about 8 degrees colder than my lungs find workable. That's because you stubbornly start your ride too early. Our little Tuesday ride hits the bottom of Kings Mountan at about 9:30. And just so you know, it was in the 50s when we got there yesterday. -- terry morse - Undiscovered Country Tours - http://www.udctours.com/

In article <tmorse-5B8540.07210810012007@news.covad.net>, Terry Morse <tmorse@spamcop.net> wrote: > Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: > > > 37? That would be the temperature at the start of the climb. And > > that would also be about 8 degrees colder than my lungs find > > workable. > > That's because you stubbornly start your ride too early. Our little > Tuesday ride hits the bottom of Kings Mountan at about 9:30. And just > so you know, it was in the 50s when we got there yesterday. Most rides start too early. I am not a morning person and have a hard time making it to rides that start at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Fer the love of <insert your deity here>. I just don't even do those rides most of the time, not that there is weeping among the women or the rending of clothes by the men as a result of my absence. Civilized rides start at 10:00 AM. Maybe 11:00. Noon is not out of the question.

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <MikeJ@ChainReaction.com> wrote: > 13? That would be the number of feet climbed on Skyline, at the end of the > flat/slightly-downhill section before the descent into Sky L'Onda (coming > from King's Mtn). That dreadful nasty little rise that causes you to suffer > like a dog 'cuz you're trying to hang onto someone's wheel. 13 lousy feet. > That's it. Pitiful. Are you talking about that little rise before the Skaggs parking area? Hardly noticeable, unless you're riding with some testosterone poisoned ride buddies. You should sleep in and join our ride. We have a serious lack of testosterone (well, not so serious). -- terry morse - Undiscovered Country Tours - http://www.udctours.com/