Bike Lane 0, Hillside 1

Where has all my fitness gone?
Five weeks slacking.
Where has all my fitness gone?
I miss it so.

[Apologies to Pete Seeger.]

I miss the bike lane, too. In theory, it makes my commute to work safer. In practice, it started shrinking as soon as it was created. This morning I mustered the courage to document the problem, so I can report it. The speed limit on this stretch of Highway 9 is 45 mph (which means, of course, that the traffic is moving faster than that). When I am in good shape, I sprint as fast as I can. [Which, in my case, is not all that fast; it's uphill.]

Whenever I bike to work, I see many other cyclists. On the trail, there are joggers and dog-walkers, too. But the person who impressed me most today was an elderly woman, crossing the Heatherstone bike/pedestrian bridge in Sunnyvale at a steady pace. Up the incline, over Highway 85, and down the other side. Pushing her walker.

The usual stats for my round-trip: just under 40 miles and 1,000 feet of climbing. Fitness is important at every age. I will find mine, again.