anniversary

While I don't remember the exact date it was sometime in late October of last year that I sold my car and decided that I didn't need another. I wasn't driving it all that much anyway. And my wife has a car so if I need to go get a bunch of groceries then I can. So, mostly what changed is that I have now for the last year pretty much ridden to work every day instead of driven. Figuring 4 days a week for most of the year and 7 days a week during harvest I think I've ridden the commute close to 250 times. So about 2,500 miles of commuting. What has that done? It has had a more profound effect on my fitness for sport riding than I would ever have guessed. My general strength is up. I don't worry too much about getting training rides in anymore except one long ride midweek and another long one over the weekend. The year's not quite over yet, but it looks like my hours of saddle time will top 500 - near a record for me. There's 150 gallons or so of gas that I didn't burn. That's 2,700 lbs. of carbon less in the atmosphere, which I'm pretty stoked about. That's $600 on gasoline I didn't spend not to mention the insurance and repair and maintenance. I'm guessing I'm a couple grand to the good. Even with my somewhat obsessive spending on all things bicycle I think I came out about even this year. So in one sense getting rid of the car has eliminated or more accurately offset my bicycle spending. I arrive at work a bit more alert in the morning and I get home with my head a bit more cleared out - both good things.

Wrenching

Harvest is slowly winding to a close as it always does at some point. This is when I typically recommence my athletics. I start with a couple days a week in the gym doing circuits with light weights, and try to throw in a longer hillier ride both mid-week and on the weekend. Yesterday, I took the afternoon off fully intending to put in a couple hours of saddle time in the hills, but I was feeling more lethargic than motivated after lunch so I bailed on the ride. I still wanted to devote the afternoon to bikes so I started in on the myriad bike related projects that have piled up over the last two or three months. First of all of course fixing the flat on the Cinelli commute bike that I got coming back from the gym a day or two ago. Then replaced the brake hoods, housing and cables on the Sam Cotton. I used these incredibly trick looking braided housings made by Orange. they really dressed up the bike. Whoever had that bike before me had it set up fairly funky. The front brake was on the right instead of left and the cable routing was whacked as well. Took the opportunity to tune and lube the brakes at the same time. Next up was the Graphtex. It needed to have the rear brake installed and the housing and cable run. I got the brake on, but realized I didn't have the cable only the housing. I think I'll get another set of the braided cables from Orange and put those on. I also need better levers and a better front brake for this rare beast so it may be a few more weeks before this project is complete. The Steve Rex needs a complete rebuild of it's gear change systems. I'be got all the parts, but will wait till I've got most of a day to dive into this project.

Post Harvest

Carl and I went on a late afternoon ride out to Morro Rock and back home the long way. This two and a half hour ride was supposed to be "mellow", but the howling winds on the way out to the ocean made it a bit more work than I was planning on. Carl put in a number of hard jumps. I on the other hand was just hanging on. My legs were complaining about the six week layoff from anything but commuting that harvest imposes each year. While they never came alive they were feeling better in the middle of the ride than at the beginning. I was glad when we came up over the last low hill and coasted easily back into SLO. This morning when I hopped on the bike to ride to work I was expecting to be a bit tired or even sore, but in fact my legs felt great, and by half way into work I was giving it the stick in the big ring - highly unusual for the morning commute which is normally done piano in baby gears. Who knows maybe this augers well for the winter season.

knocked down

But not out - luckly enough. My buddy Karl and I did a very tough 40 miler yesterday afternoon. Up onto West Cuesta Ridge on TV Tower Rd. And then down the single track to Cerro Alto and from there home on pavement via Hwy 41 and Hwy 1. A large portion of this ride is dirt and I came off clumsily a couple times. In one switchback turn I managed to scrape up both achilles with pedals and chainring, but no real injuries. We were cruising pretty slowly on the way home. Not by choice, but more out of necessity as we'd burnt so many matches on the climbing. Just after I split off from Karl a car passed me and put on it's blinker just before the entrance to a gas station. I thought, "no way is he going to try and turn in front of me", but started braking none the less. Sure enough the idiot turned right into me. I turned with him but couldn't turn fast enough and he ended up knocking me to the pavement with his front fender. Luckily the pavement was smooth and my velocity minimal by this point so it was a pretty soft landing both for me and the bike. I gave the driver the what for about carelessness and using his mirrors, but once I saw that I was basically unscarred and the bike unscathed I was on my way. I was on the touring 'traut which had to be completely refurbished less than two years ago so I was most relieved that it didn't get banged up. I saw in Cycling News today that the great Mario Cippolino suffered the same kind of accident the same day. However his outcome was much worse and he will require surgery to repair the damage an inattentive driver caused him. Some days you're lucky and some not, but it always pays to distrust car drivers, and assume that if they can pull a bonehead move they will - words to the wise!

Taking the slow way home

There's a Chet Baker song called "Let's Get Lost" that I have always thought of as a theme song. It's a love song, but its central message has always resonated with me as a good approach to life in general. Yesterday after work I was thinking of doing the Tuesday evening club ride. But then I thought, "No, time to do something I haven't done in a while." So I got out the mountain bike instead of the road bike and headed for some dirt. At first I thought I'd take a slow climb up the closest fireroad my normal default on the dirt. But again I thought, "No, do something you haven't done before." So, I headed to Shooters a steep rocky and this time of year very loose singletrack. I decided to climb it, which I have never done before. It should be pointed out that I am at best awkward on single track and that steep loose climbing is one of the weakest of my weak links. No surprise that the climb was slow, and that I was forced off more times than I care to remember. One particularly embarassing instance was a slow speed tipover where I managed to tweek my left knee as well. I eventually topped out and then flew down the fireroad descent at a good pace. Arrived home in one piece and rewarded myself with a big meal at the local Thai restaurant.

2014 SLO Roubaix pre-ride

Just three of us showed up Saturday morning, Andy, Mike and me. If this is any indicator of interest it looks like next Sunday may be a light turnout. The fact that this outlaw race conflicts with Sea Otter this year won't help. This is a whole lot less expensive than Sea Otter, and loads of fun on top of it argues for staying home and riding local. The course changes on this each year. This year we rolled out Hwy. 1 to San Luisito which we will have as the first "race' section. If I'm clever I can finish this with the front group. Then on towards MB for a little fun in the singletrack. This section beat the hell out of me this year as it did last. Truely, I suck when it comes to riding the narrow and twisty. The drop bar bike and skinny cross tires don't help matters at all. I ran 50 psi on this pre-ride, but I'm taking it down on event day. Next comes the first KOM as we grunt up to Turri Rd. peak. No chance for me here. Then back towards town on LOVR with a sprint for the city limits sign. Last year I got 4th here. Not quite sure how I managed that without a sprint - just wound it up and held my pace when others backed off as they fell out of contention for the outright win. The House of Bread for the mid ride break. Then through town and up the grade on Stagecoach. This is the major KOM of the ride. I'll take it at tempo. The combination of 64 year old legs and a boat anchor of a bike will limit things here. Then down Cuesta Springs and under the freeway to the RR tracks and onto the freeway briefly. A sprint at the Santa Margarita city limits, and then a tour of the alleyways. Back onto the freeway - we did Tassahara Rd, but may not on race day. Last KOM on offer will be up Cuesta Springs. Then a bone jarring descent of Stagecoach. I managed to land crossed up on a big bunnyhop on Saturday and all hell broke loose underneath me as the bike fishtailed all over the road. Just barely got it under control and ended up in the ditch while still upright. Then through town for the final race section - up the obscenely steep road to Terrace Hill - twice around the track and back down. What a ball buster! My lower back was killing me after this pre-ride and it was done mostly at tempo without really contesting any of the sections. Two days later and I'm still a bit ragged and weary. Sunday should be epic.

Solo Riding

With my normal riding buddy off travelling in Europe I spent both Saturday and Sunday doing solo rides. Saturday was a short mixed dirt and pavement loop on the polka dot 'Traut. My legs were dead so it was just a matter of going through the motions. Sunday I was committed to a long ride and headed up the grade to do the Pozo loop. I thought that if I was feeling monster strong I'd attempt some part of Black Mountain as well. There was a bit of a headwind on the grade so I did that piano. I was feeling pretty good as I rode Las Pilitas Rd. and gave it the stick for 30 minutes or so. Did a good climb and not only got a Strava PR, but entered the top 10 for my age group on the climb - always gratifying. But that was the only really hard effort I had in my legs that day. I rode tempo the last half of the ride, and by the top of the grade on the way home I had little or nothing left. Ended up pretty much nailed to the couch for the remainder of the afternoon. So much of solo riding is mental. You're out there working hard and also having to fight all the negative thoughts that come with going hard - that inner voice that says, "Give it up, this hurts too much." When you're with someone you can both compete against them on the hard parts and take some relief on their wheel on the tedious flats, and the conversation helps quiet the inner voices. In some ways it's good discipline to ride long solo days, but the key is to do it occaisionally.

Wet Weather Riding

Sunday's forecast said a 10% chance of rain. To a cyclist this means a 90% chance of getting wet and coated with road grime. As it had been four days since I was on the bike I was headed out at 1:00 come hell or high water. It turned out to be neither. Karl and I got rained on a bit, but mostly were just riding through puddles for a couple hours. He hit some of the rollers pretty hard, and I kept pace with him mostly once I was warmed up. I added on a climb up Perfumo after he headed home. It was painfully slow, but I'm fit enough that I persevered to the top. The descent was a bit dodgy with both water and mud on the road.

Peanut Mole with Turkey

It was pissing down rain most of the day on Saturday so instead of going out and getting soaked on the bike I thought I'd get creative in the kitchen. After many requests from the family I decided on Mexican. And to make it as difficult as possible I planned on mole. After looking at all the recipes in the Rick Bayliss book I went for the easiest one, which was still far from easy. A few hours later the sauce was done, and in all modesty it was amazingly good. I think that this will be the start of a winter mole series culminating in a black mole, apparently the most difficult.

Sunday Matinee - "Nights of Capiria"

As a dedicated cyclist my Sundays follow a pattern. You could say they were set in a certain way. I wake up at my usual time, make coffee and a batch of waffles, then read the Times and hang out till about 9:oo. Then it's time to tog up and hop on the bike for three to five hours of riding. It goes without saying that I'm not very energetic or productive afterwards. This past Sunday followed a very different path as Karl and I had done "The Fig" counterclockwise from Los Olivos on Saturday. After four hours and 5,500 ft of climbing Sunday was set to be a day of rest. I ate breakfast early then did a few chores around the house. At 11:00 I lit up a Habana and settled onto the front porch to read the paper. It's been a very long time since I've smoked a cigar with the Sunday Times. The deeply nostalgic flavor of the smoke carried me back to my thirties when after breakfast nicotine was a common activity. After that I walked downtown to the theater to see "Nights of Capiria" the Fellini movie that sits between "La Strada" and "La Dolce Vita". What a wonderful movie, and especially as I have never seen this gem before. The films that bookmark it I have seen countless times, but somehow I had missed this masterpiece. There's something about these Italian movies from the '50s that really appeals to me. They are so human and so fantastic at the same time. People talk about Fellini's surrealism, but really he's just portraying the circus of the human heart in all its strange flare lit beauty. I arrived home about 3:00 just as Heidi and Zoie were arriving so we all sat down to an impromptu lunch of bread, ham, cheese and red wine. It seemed in keeping with the mood of the movie somehow. An espresso followed as I still needed to run some errands and cook dinner. I didn't feel all that great later in the evening as the wine and coffee wore off simultaneously, but I regret none of it.

The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino

On Sunday night we headed out to the movies. We looked at previews online and the Italian movie "The Great Beauty" looked like the best on offer. The preview was charming, and since adolescence I've always been a sucker for subtitled movies. They make me feel somehow more sophisticated and worldly. The movie exceeded expectations. It was lovely, strange and thought provoking. Unlike so many Hollywood movies, this movie left much up to you in terms of filling in the blanks and making your own judgments. It was adult in the best sense of the word. In particular I loved how the dream sequences were presented in a factual episodic style just like the waking segments. It was only the strangeness of the dreams that made you realize what they were. In some ways it is "La Dolce Vita" for our time, but unlike that film it focuses on literary vs. cinema types. The main character is a charming rascal - full of wit, intelligence and some amount of malice, both towards himself and others. This movie made me want to stay up all night long and take up cigarettes once again. After the movie ended and we were walking to get a drink Heidi said to me, " I feel like that movie allowed me to see inside your head." A great compliment indeed as the protagonist's head contains a complex landscape. I left the film resolved to dress better.

seasonality

The weather this fall and early winter have been great for cycling, but terrifyingly dry from a wine-growing point of view. The rainfall is the lowest ever recorded for most California locations. A persistent ridge of high pressure over the Great Basin lead to this and it now seems it has finally broken as we have had two rains in the last five days. I am ever the optimist when it comes to farming, but I doubt very much that we will reach even half of normal rainfall. As the two prior winters were on the dry side of average as well we've got quite a bit of salt built up in the root zone from irrigation. This will likely not get flushed out this spring. A great concern as well is whether or not the aquifer that we depend on for irrigation will hold up through the late summer and fall period. My transition to cycle commuter could not have been easier so far this year. A few cold mornings was all I've had to deal with the last three months. This morning it was just starting to drizzle in town at 7:00 when I started out, and by the time I reached the winery the road was dry. I essentially just out ran the storm. Within a few minutes of arriving it began to rain in earnest and it has been raining lightly and steadily all day. Sometime in the next hour or so I'm going to head home. It looks to be a wet one. It is good to keep Rule #9 in mind, "If you are out riding in bad weather it means you are a badass, period." while it is not one of my top priorities to be a badass, I will take credit where due.