Metcalf

Shortly after I moved to the Bay Area from the East Coast, the following item appeared in the local police blotter:

A woman called to report that she'd just seen a coyote kill a raccoon, and she was concerned about the safety of small pets in the area.

Life is different out here. As we descended the back side of Metcalf Road today, a scrawny coyote scurried across our path and eyed us from the opposite slope. I could still hear the little white dog yapping at us from the property we'd just passed; I'd been relieved to see that this dog could not chase us. Now I realized that we'd probably spooked a hungry coyote and I wondered how things would turn out for that little white dog, chained up in the front yard.

I'm not sure how a relentless gradient in excess of 10% can look flat, but it does in this photo. Can you spot the cyclist making a slow ascent? We've had a relatively dry winter so far - just a touch of green in the landscape. We were blessed with a clear, unusually warm winter day (temperatures in the 60s). I settled into a comfortable pace that was merely two minutes slower than my Low-Key assault on this hill two months ago. Go figure.

I found it surprising when the inaugural San Jose LIVESTRONG Challenge included Metcalf on their 100k route last summer. Dropped chains on the first overpass did not bode well for many of those riders, and more than a few walked up Metcalf Road that day.