Pedestrian Adventures

25.9 mi, 2730 ft A lovely little uppy-downy jaunt in the East Bay.  This ride commenced in Oakland, with one other rider.  We set off in the Sunday morning humidity, up into the steaming Redwood forest. Through many short ascents and descents we slowly hurtled.  The earlier descents were wide enough to permit minimal braking, which was fortunate as there is certainly something wrong with the brakes on my bike, and I have been too slovenly to get this fixed.  After a somewhat gruesome ascent, a high point was attained on Skyline with marvellous vistas across the Bay.  How remarkable to have arrived up there, propelled of one's own volition. On the steep descent back to urbania, it became actively apparent that my brakes really were not terribly functional.  Squeezing with full hand strength, and clawing the tarmac with a cleat, I managed to roll to a brisk stop.  A perusal of the bike kit revealed no appropriate allen key to remedy the situation,...

72.5 mi, 4810 ft This ride was motivated by mileage.  As Waves to Wine looms a mere 6 weeks away, it increasingly becomes apparent that 100 miles is rather a long way to ride in any given day, and the feasibility should surely be probed beforehand. The team of three riders set off bright and early from Santa Clara, wended through the mercifully quiet Los Gatos Creek Trail, through the hideous gravel patch near Lexington Reservoir, and up Old Santa Cruz into the Santa Cruz mountains.  By 10.30 am we had already attained the Summit grocery store at the highest elevation of the ride, and were feeling great.  One of the riders bought an entire fistful of protein bars, which seemed like overkill at the time. We pointed our bikes down the mountain and descended Soquel-San Jose, which I do declare to be my favourite descent of all.  It is just straight and wide enough that even the most wussy of descenders does not need to apply the brakes.  Better yet, the mass...