Down a Pint

When you donate blood, they caution you to avoid strenuous exercise for 24 hours. After that, well, it's back to your regularly scheduled program. Sixty hours having ticked away ... time to head for the hills!

Today's program: Climb a lot, descend a little, climb some more, descend a lot.

To reach Skyline Boulevard, we snaked our way through the little community of Redwood Estates. It was disconcerting to meet a pair of dogs on one of the arduous sections of this climb, but luckily they were friendly. Or perhaps it was just that we were much too slow to incite a chase. They escorted us until we passed safely out of their territory, repeatedly advancing up the hill and waiting patiently for us to catch up. What a relief when I felt the cool breeze that was a harbinger of the summit.

The level of traffic on Skyline this morning surprised even the locals we met along the way. It is officially California State Route 35, so you might expect some highway traffic? The segment we traveled, however, is barely wide enough for a single car in places. We ventured far enough to reach the southern terminus of the two-lane portion of the roadway, a stretch that has been freshly paved with creamy-smooth asphalt within the past two weeks. Federal stimulus dollars in action!

Yes, I missed the red blood cells I gave away this week; the steep climbs were especially hard, and overall I was more hungry and tired than usual after a 32.5 mile bike ride. (Okay, with 3,530 feet of climbing.) But I'll get over it. Weighed against the benefit of helping to save some lives, it is a price I will pay again and again.