Another cold and rainy Sunday Farmer’s Market day. Rain means the wife and baby are leaving it for me, and this is a good thing since I have permission to play in the rain now!
The Santa Clara river had opened up pretty wide to the ocean by this point and the estuary has been draining out to sea. Lots of sand making its way from the mountains to the beach.
Thank God the vendors showed up in the rain, not a huge turnout, but my regular growers were there and no crowd, go figure
It was nice having a short break in the rain to load up the produce. That all changed about a third of the way home when the rain was coming in almost horizontal. Bonus points for riding faster so you can catch more drops with your tongue.
I am really liking my GoPro® Helmet HERO™ Wide Camera. Today was the first test drive in the rain, Very nice being able to take shots and not have to worry about getting my GF1 wet. I have been playing around with hand-held shots and different capture modes. The biggest hurdle now is dealing with the water spots. By the time I figure that out the rain will stop for another year.
With Christmas in the rear view mirror I was able to get out of the house for a bit this afternoon. Conditions were all you could hope for and then some.
Light breezes and 62 deg, surf was flat making it easier to keep my mind on the road. Most of the rain had dried up, but some serious areas of mud still resulted in a little portage.
after that it was easy going,
The mission on this ride was to scout out what looked like another possible route into the coastal range ahead of me in this picture. Once again I was greeted with a locked gate, cameras and razor wire. Most of the time the roads lead back into the land leased by the oil companies other times they lead back to ranches and farms. These are the roads that perplex me a bit. They are combinations of dirt and pavement, some have county mile markers, they are listed on public maps either as surface streets or fire roads. The question I have yet to answer, are these public roads, do our tax dollars pay for their upkeep in any way, yet the land owners to the sides of them gate them off? Seems like a lot of effort to keep a few dog walkers and the occasional cyclist out of the hills.
So much has happened in the last year I think I could write a book, the best part is that it is all good. Actually better than good, perfect. Looking back through the pictures is fun, I shot thousands, here is the Roadeo almost new:
Have a safe and wonderful Christmas, I am taking a few days to do the whirlwind family tour and enjoy my wife and daughter.
Today was catchup day and with the rain I was taking a day off, cruising the web and saw this through the Black Mountain Cycles Blog , great way to kill an hour and a half:
This played right into some recent comments Esteban had made about riding his bike on the route next year while teaching in France. It also got me thinking back to the screening of Race Across the Sky I had seen a month or two ago, documenting the Leadville 100 race in Colorado. Both of these movies left me with almost the same feeling. These routes are beautiful, I would love to ride there, or should say ramble. That is the big difference. I want to visit these places, see the area, envision the history, explore a little and take my time.
My inner racer never really developed. I love the personal challenge of riding in tough conditions, I love to cruise through incredible countryside and I even enjoy going really fast sometimes, but have never felt compelled to race. This is probably part why I never really did well in team sports. Untill recently I have not even ridden with other people since I was a kid, only to re-discover social cycling can be fun.
That said I love watching older race footage. There is tons of knowledge buried in there: the graceful spin of racers cruising, the bike set up, older bike racks on little cars, culture and countryside and tricks like the chain tied to the rear brake with a toe strap while the frameset is being transported with the wheels off. All good stuff.
Enjoy the time inside, but get out in the weather if you have a chance – Happy Monday
