30 June 2007

Christmas Tree Trim Ride

Ice Cream Grade This would be my first club ride since my injury. It would be a very short ride, and it started close to home. A nice way to ease back into riding with the club. Since there would be a potluck lunch in Bonny Doon, I took a bunch of grapes and cautiously descended Western to the start by Natural Bridges. It was another warm, sunny day, ideal for a long ride.

At the start I got signed in and whatnot. We then headed up Western, then up Empire Grade. I could stand pretty comfortably for extended periods, but still couldn't crank very hard with my right leg. I could also feel the loss of fitness in my lungs, which also was still limiting my ability to ride hard. I stayed in the middle ring for the entire climb, though I would have been better off downshifting to the small ring, as I was pedaling very slowly at times. The routesheet had the turn at Ice Cream Grade, but I continued up to Pine Flat, then headed down to the other end of Ice Cream Grade, then up to the home of our host. There was a spread out group of riders headed up Pine Flat.

There were claiming and pruning of Christmas trees, swimming, food, and stories of recent trips to Germany and Turkey.

Afterwards, I headed down Martin and Bonny Doon. There were a few riders, probably in a slightly spread out group, headed up Bonny Doon. I was pretty cautious on the descent. On Hwy 1 back to Santa Cruz, though, I had a tailwind and pretty fresh legs, so I unexpectedly set a new personal best from the bottom of Bonny Doon to Western of 19:40. My previous best was 19:54. I did not expect to set any personal bests until I was at least close to being fully recovered. However, this was a flat segment, and I'm still slow on the climbs and descents.

After getting home, I had a message from the bike shop saying my bike was ready, so I went out and got it. And walked home with two bikes. I wouldn't be able to get on or off a bike while holding another bike, so I couldn't ride back, which I would have, had I been fully recovered. So, next time, I'll probably be riding my new bike.