Nice ride today! It was the same route as last year — I talked to an acquaintance of mine who helps organize the ride, and he said they change every two years. But I think my mind had smoothed out some of the hills early on in the route, because I didn’t remember how challenging the Los Altos section was.

I started out a little later than last year, around 8:20, feeling tired, with my legs a little sore, and feeling like I might have a headache. Not an auspicious start, but it improved as I went on. I had a fairly smooth, though slow, climb through the hills, stopping once to take off my jacket and once (at Arastradero Preserve) just to take a break, drink some Vitamin Water, and stretch before scaling the Arastradero/Alpine section. Arastradero has recently been repaved in the worst section, which is rather thrilling. The best part of this section is on Purissima after you climb up, I think — it just feels like you’re on top of the world, racing along on a slight downhill.

Coming down Portola (on one of the brief up sections) there were a lot of cars parked for church, and someone honked at me when I was in the lane. I think they might have been doing the “announce I’m here” thing. Annoying. The other interesting time was when a Prius did creep up on me without me noticing, because the wind in my ears was too loud, but they passed carefully and it was fine. Most of the cars I encountered were completely fine, which is better than an average day. Maybe it’s the Sunday thing.

I enjoyed the brief screaming descent down Sand Hill to Whiskey Hill, although my cue sheet threatened to fall off so I had to stop after the turn and re-attach it. Woodside was absolutely terrific. I’m familiar enough with the road now that I don’t freak out about the speed, so I hit 31.4 coming down and hardly touched my brakes. Some dude was drafting off me for most of the way, too. The view wasn’t as crystal clear at the top today, though overall today it’s clear and warm (and a bit windy), better than yesterday which was just gray and dull.

I picked up a companion for a while around this point, giving him half my Clif bar at the top of Woodside where I paused to change over the cue sheet and eventually losing him on Valparaiso where he stopped to wait for his parents. He wasn’t wearing gloves, which I found just astounding. Gloves are a must for me.

I didn’t get the kind of low coming into the rest stop this year that I got last year, so after a short break and a few bagel segments with cream cheese, I started out, with a new companion. The way back was pleasant (except for the jouncing on Woodland south of University — Dear City of Palo Alto: Please repave that damn road already) and uneventful. I arrived back at about 11:20, so I did go a bit faster this year by about 15-20 minutes. My total riding time was about 2:27, AVS 13.1, distance was about 31.8 miles (this year my cyclocomputer failed to agree with their distance — I’m not sure why). Oddly, when I look back at last year’s report (which contains a warning about the hills — should have read that yesterday) it says I rode in 2:28, but my average speed was 12.5. That doesn’t make any sense unless I stopped for longer this time, which I didn’t. A mystery.

The only other interesting thing to note is that I used some chamois cream for the first time for this ride. I know you aren’t supposed to do something for the first time on a ride day, but I was nervous about chafing and didn’t have time to pick the cream up until yesterday.

I didn’t really like the feeling of it, especially while off the bike, but it definitely helped smooth things out and felt good when I was on the bike. It probably also helped that I remembered to stand up in the saddle more often. I think I’m less sore this year than last (I recorded having more problems with my hands and feet last year), though I’m still tired. This year my hands and feet did feel a little sore and funky toward the end, but not very. I can basically do 20-25 miles before any of me starts hurting (except for some soreness from climbing) which is not unexpected since that’s my commute distance total, but I think it’s better than last year. Given last week’s ride, I think I can safely say that my limit is still around 40 miles. I’d like to break that limit soon, which I imagine will happen as I start training for Waves to Wine.

Like last year, I still have a birthday party to prepare for after all this, so I better go do that!