Faster than Some

Slower than most.

The fast riders agreed to back off to a more social pace today, which meant that I successfully hung with them for miles on the flats. Once we hit the rollers, however, it was game over. Another woman fell out of sight behind me, and we had already opened a gap early on the slowest riders. Which meant that I was out there in the middle, somewhere, enjoying the day. Along the way, a pack of motorcyclists waited for us to turn in front of them. They would soon pass us; I would bet there were a hundred of them, we had never seen so many in one group. One guy was spotted in full leathers, but these were not Harleys. Think Vespa.

I rode to the start in San Jose, and then we were off to Morgan Hill, past the Calero and Chesbro reservoirs, for two modest climbs. Our route approached these from their easier flanks, so I was momentarily puzzled when three of the fast guys caught up with me at the second summit. They had added a small climbing diversion, which must have been quite challenging if that delayed them enough to fall behind me. Or perhaps they'd done our little climbs twice, besides.

On the return, a route sheet error sent me the wrong way in San Jose's unfamiliar suburban sprawl. After mixing it up with shopping mall traffic for a mile or so, I surmised that I was meant to head in the opposite direction. Today's ride was something of a fundraiser for the club's team riding in next weekend's LiveStrong Challenge, and our hosts were sponsoring a barbecue. I managed to roll in just in time to eat.

61 miles, 1,575 feet of climbing for the day.