O Cañada!

Last Sunday Matt and I wanted to go for a long ride, but wanted to avoid going up to Skyline to avoid the crazy holiday weekend traffic. To get the distance, we basically took the route from the week before through Woodside and Portola Valley and extended it by going all the way down Cañada (according to everyone around here, pronounced 'ken-yada') and back, and then up Page Mill and back down Moody.

The route.

I liked going down Cañada well enough, it was nice to go right past the Crystal Springs reservoir I usually go by in my car on the way to Half Moon Bay. Plus, on Sunday's the park service closes down a stretch of it from cars.


Too Hot For Hills

It was a really hot day, in the high 90s and low 100s. For some reason, I was feeling pretty good though about 35 miles, which is why when we reached the Arastradaro and Page Mill intersection, I agreed to go up Page Mill to Moody rather than simply heading home down Arastradaro. Bad idea. Though I think going up Page Mill then down Moody is easier than the other way around since Moody rd is so steep, it was enough to do me in on Sunday. Part of the reason 100 degrees is tolerable when cycling is I'm usually going between 15 and 20 mph, and the breeze keeps me somewhat cool. When climbing a hill at 5-6 mph, not so much. And of course that was the hottest part of the ride, topping out at 108! I didn't realize how pooped I was until I got to the top and got off my bike, at which point I felt kind of dizzy. The piss warm water in my bottles provided little comfort. I asked Matt how much he would have to be paid to try to climb up the rest of Page Mill, and he thought for a moment before uttering, "a million dollars."

Luckily, it was mostly down hill from there to get home, and after 20 minutes with a bag of frozen peas under my neck laying in front of the air conditioner, I was feeling OK. I'll have to remember though not to do any sort of climbing when it's 100 out.

Distance: 51.1 miles
Ride time: 3:20
Wall time: 4:00
Speed: 15.2 mph avg, 35.4 mph max
Heart Rate: 148 bpm avg, 187 max
Calories burned: 2629