There were two problems, as it turned out: Too much heat and too few calories. Nothing to be done about the first; the second was simply my own fault. There I was at mile 40-something, feeling the bonk and estimating how many more miles till the top of the last hill. From there, the last couple of (downhill) miles would be free. At home there would be a nice cold It's It bar to revive me.
I was particularly not enjoying the ride on McKean/Uvas. So much traffic! Trucks, on a long holiday weekend? Where were all these people going? And in such a hurry? No one was doing the speed limit. Not even close. No one.
An over-sized white pickup truck passed me with mere inches to spare. As in, maybe a foot of clearance. Thankfully his side-view mirror was well above me, because I bet it would have clipped me. That close.
Approaching the intersection with Bailey Road, paramedics and an ambulance were on the scene. An officer was controlling the flow of traffic, reduced to one lane. Always a dreaded sight, even more so when you know that most of your cycling buddies were ahead of you. In this case, the crash involved only cars. Which, considering the way people were driving out there, was not a surprise. Not at all.
And their behavior regressed as soon as they rounded a bend, out of the officers' sight.
There was some beauty to be found along the G8 speedway, for those traveling at a humane pace: patches of Clarkia rubicunda tinting the hillsides pink. These were new to me; although I have cycled along this stretch of road many times, I haven't caught them flowering till now. Their common name offers a clue: Farewell to spring.
Not a hard route (52 miles, 2,740 feet of climbing), if adequately fueled. Note to self: Always bring more than you think you'll eat. Always.
That It's It bar helped. So did a session of low-power mode—about 45 minutes, stretched out on the floor. Farewell to spring.
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I always carry some loathsome 'energy bar' in my saddle bag. Any food with a shelf life longer than a month is one that you should not eat, so they serve the 'emergency food' purpose well.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever hiked up to see all the falls (6 IIRC) in Uvas? Sometime in winter, a ride that included a walk would be fun.
Today at a party, I spoke to a cyclist on crutches who has been struck from behind as he waited at a red light in a left-turn lane. The police in Foster City ruled that the accident was his fault because he was not in the bike lane.