New is the New Old

I've been riding the roads around Morgan Hill, CA for about 2.5 weeks now. I've also gone a little north into San Jose, and have ridden one of the local climbs (Eureka Canyon). I've experienced the Lunch Ride several times, and have started to internalize that it's not so much that people get dropped because they're slow; people get dropped because most of the guys are soooo fricking fast. There are headwinds and descents and all of the things I wrote about at the start. Nothing has changed.

Except me.

First off, I no longer even bring my Garmin along. I have no earthly idea how many miles or how long I ride each day. I can guess at my heart rate, but only from experience.

Second off, I feel like I'm becoming a braver rider. On the lunch ride, even though I still am usually spit off super early due to dumb mistakes, I feel myself getting a touch more aggressive each time. I stand up and attack the climbs. I try to match the accelerations, even if I can't. I'm getting better at riding WITH a pack, better at turning, and MUCH better at descending.

Third off, riding is now a part of my everyday routine. I don't wake up, ride for 2 hours, and then do nothing for the rest of the day. I ride into work, ride during work, and ride home from work, heck, even ride to the restaurant where people are gathering for dinner. I'm also running again (up to 20 minutes) and I definitely plan on doing more of it. Riding isn't some odd offshoot that only a small handful of acquaintances participate in. I WORK at a BIKE COMPANY. If that doesn't sum it up right there, nothing will.

Fourth off, nothing is a novelty anymore. Even the odd smells (what IS IT?? Garlic? Mushrooms? Weed?) are no longer jarring; they are expected. I'm starting to plan my rides around the wind. I'm looking forward to the bomb down Willow instead of double fisting it like I did during my interview here at Specialized. I climb it in the big ring. It's just the way it is.

Fortunately, I'm not so horrible jaded that I still don't appreciate two things:

The astounding beauty of the place

and

how unbelievably lucky I am to have landed here.

I mean...getting used to the anticipation of fantastic roads? Getting used to the amalgamation of bikes and everyday life? Getting used to going with the flow?

I hope I never get used to being so thankful for all of that.

Relativity, Take 2

On Friday, a coworker was nice enough to take myself and another new Big S recruit out on a longer local loop: Cañada Road.

Three aspects of this route made it an appealing addition to my repertoire:

1) It was longer than a usual loop.

2) It had the possibility of a brutal headwind on the return (timing this ride was tricky).

3) It had a nice climb and gorgeous scenery .

So as we headed out into a headwind, numbers 2 and 3 seemed to be spot on. Straight south to Gilroy , turn onto Roop Road, and then begin the climb up and up and up.

As I climbed, I decided to just spin in the little ring as best I could. It wasn't horrible, but it was no Greensboro Lake Brandt Road.

It was a Cat 3 climb.

I arrived at the top, finally, and got the big pay off of scenery. Take a camera, stick it into the air, and press the shutter to get a kodak moment. One of those roads.

It wound its way steadily, slightly, upwards as we all three talked and looked around and just had a lovely time. Then Rosie turned to us and said, "Ok, it rounds a bend up here and then starts to just go down, so hang on!"

Now the last time I had a descent of any real consequence, on Hanging Rock, I gripped my brakes so tightly I thought my hands would cramp up. This time, I decided to go for it a little bit more. Relax. Breath.

I tucked down into the drops, and turned the corner...

Was I Voeckler? No.

But did I have fun?

YES.

I bombed down that hill as fast as I've ever bombed down a hill before. Off course there were sections that had blind corners, where I slowed a little too much, but whenever possible I tried to simply breath, countersteer, and zoom.

When I got to the bottom, after a pretty good amount of time, I had a grin that was hard pressed to leave my face. A complete 180 from a year ago (I know, right? Just about a year ago) on Hanging Rock.

The ride home had conversation, a tailwind, a gorgeous sunset, and perfect temperatures.

So yes, things are relative. In Greensboro, the riding was Vanilla. A little up, a little down, a little up, a little down, a little wind, a little view, wash, rinse, repeat.

Here, you get exactly what you give. Give big, get big. Suffer like a masochist up a climb, get a fantastic, breathtaking trip back down. Ride in a leg melting headwind on the way out, practically get pushed all the way home.

Here, the riding is Rocky Road.

Now please don't get confused and think that I don't like Greensboro because of this fact. Greensboro is much much more than just the roads, it's the amazing people and friendships I made there, the camaraderie, the well honed routes and roads so familiar you don't even have to look for the rough patches.

I'm just super psyched to get a new flavor.