the amateur will

cave under pressure. He will feel discomfort and cease all forward motion. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

At least the FNG didn't complain when I tricked him into a "road" ride in Santa Cruz. Lived here all his life and never gone up there for a ride at all, at all? Some would say he deserved everthing he got, others that he hasn't earned any of it. Either way, he received a valuable gift and I'm not talking about the new road rash.

Let's see...Corralitos Mkt to Day Valley to Trout Gulch to Fern FLat to Buzzard's to Eureka to Highland to Summit. Pick up some tallboys and take them over to Redwood Lodge and Schulties. Back to Summit for some more tallboys (FNG says to "get something fancy", so I picked him up a Mickey's) which we toted over to Santa Rosalia.

Credit due: he was riding 23s...you try that and tell me how it works out. Who me? Sheeeeeeit. I ride them 28s all day.

I won't name any names, but Aptos Creek Fire road was where homeboy laid it over, and that was after I took some pity on his fatigue and opted for the easy way down.

FNG may or may not come riding again. If he does, I expect he will have a pump and some will. It becomes ever clearer that I am NOT the guy to teach people how to ride. I managed to keep my mouth shut about the stopping, though I will say here: that shit doesn't help. If you get a "charlie horse" in your self because you have a rotten fit and you're waaaaay too stretched out, you should stop to do what little you can (if it were to be done, then twere best if twere done quickly?) to mitigate your position and then get back to the pedaling. If you have the cramps, then ride through them. Stopping is not going to alleviate any of it, and it is not going to get you back to the car. I can inflict Suffering, but the value of Suffering is something one teaches one's own self.

hand-reared jungle cat

Local roadies all want to ride out 68 and go "over the grade". They say it with a gleam in their eye, like it's something. Pardon me while I snicker. Cloacal roadies, get real! Carmel Valley is where it's at. Sure, there're the wine-drunk tourists sometimes, but over all the experience is much more good. You can talk about how 68 has such nice pavement after the winter's redo, and how it has the wide shoulder...and get blue in your face as you ignore the issue- commuter traffic and buses and trucks and the grade sucks, homie. It is hot, it is exposed, and it backs up with assholes driving way too fast teaching you a lesson by passing within a foot of you. And, then, you're up and over and down and you have CV to ride anyhow. (buzzer sound.)

On the other hand, shifting into your big ring and smoothly pedaling circles out the valley gets you past the village in practically no time and from there it's no-traffic one-lane goodness. To wit, Cachagua:

where you can get your hot exposed climb on with minimal cars, nice grades, and fantastic descending on the backside. Scary twisty and quick.

So I did that. But the ride was too short, even though my lily-white, coastal-fog-softened pins were talking. As I was headed West, I opted for a further climb up the South side past all those steep false summits. Hopped a gate that wouldn't open, and rolled through some more:

oak land goodness. Summer is here and the time is right, for riding in the streets. ~70ish miles of street biking.

At home afterwards, I stretched hamstrings and adductors and foam-rollered the legs. It helps. Don't sleep.


Finally, in the interest of Summertime and more info than you deserve or desire, I made the BBQbaked black-eyed peas from the Vegan Soul Kitchen cookbook by Bryant Terry.  Fucking delicious.

the accomodating circumstance

I hope you are getting your miles in.

Smiles over here aboard a few rigs, but lately mostly the plastick street bike. I have said it out loud and in person as recently as just this morning: road riding is as fun as mountain biking. Sure, I have to make a little bit of a icky face while spitting that out, for form's sake, but that takes nothing away from the Truth of it. Fun is fun, and where I'm sitting fast enough to bring tears to your eyes counts double. The extra bits, such as how you can swoop all over the place and pull Gs in the corners if it's swept, well that's piling excess on success. You might wanna put on your power clothes and get a hold of some of that.

The extra extra? Sheeeeeeeeeit. Only reason you can't take that one trail is because- wait, why can't you? Oh, come come. Horses for courses and all, but you'd be surprised.

the chicken is to be examined by the crime lab

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

Meditate on this: pedaling smooth circles on the plastick bike out the valley. Imagine the sun is shining, and it is quickly warm enough for shirt-sleeves. Consider the lavish climb up the South face; which climb is so steep and so sustained there are false 1/4 of the way points, to say nothing of false summits. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Upon the triumphant return you might gather a child  from school. And by triumphant, you would mean alternating concerned glances at the watch with hammering and tonging the soft, over-worked and over-hotted legs against the anvil of looming dismissal bell.

Picture high-stepping through the Monterey Piney woods in search of mushrooms, gripped in the feverish tug of the real Treasure Hunt...

 Quite literally "bigger than your face."

J______ wants it known that he is the finder. After 2+ hours of fruitless meandering, we were headed back with the quickness as shadows lengthened...and there it was tucked into the shelter of 2 downed pines. Success!


FYI we are reading Micheal Chabon's wonderful "Summerland" at bedtime these evenings. If you have kids, or love baseball and sasquatches, or just enjoy reading well-written books then you will love it.

A: it prolly had ish to do.