They Hiked, I Biked

We had another weekend of clear weather, so I wanted to maximize my cycling opportunities. I can tell that my conditioning level has dropped off over the winter. I need to get back to a schedule of long rides on the weekends plus intermediate rides mid-week.

This weekend gave me a chance to get some serious riding done. On Saturday, I did my standard short/two hill/20 mile ride. We had plans for the evening, so I needed to keep it relatively short. I planned to do the longer ride on Sunday.

Since the weather was nice, Vaishali and Rom wanted to do a hike on Sunday. They ended up choosing to go to El Corte de Madera, in the hills just off Skyline Blvd. Since many of my usual rides go up to Skyline, I thought I would try to meet them. Of course, actually being there at the same time as them would be difficult, because they would be at the parking area only a the start and at the end of their hike. And I could not estimate what time I would reach there with any precision.

I rode this route clockwise. Point C is home and point B is where Vaishali and Rom parked. Click for the interactive map.

The route I took to get up to Skyline Blvd was Old La Honda Road. I did the climb in 30 minutes, which was not that much slower than my usual time. My conditioning had not regressed as much as I thought.

The 6 miles on Skyline to get to where they parked ended up being more difficult than I expected. Parts of it were uphill, but not really that steep. I had used up most of my energy on Old La Honda, so I was struggling more than I normally would.

I reached the parking area and saw that both of their cars were there. I paused there for a few minutes and wondered how long I would have to wait until they returned. Knowing they were think of a two hour hike, I did not see the point of spending too much time there. I found a pine tree branch on the ground and placed it on Vaishali's windshield. I knew she would know that I had come by and placed it there.

The rest of my route home was either downhill or flat, so I had no problem with it. Next on my agenda — watching the Tour of California.