Catching up

I've been lazy about posting my rides over the past couple weeks. But I think I'll appreciate this log later in life when I move away from this beautiful area back to flat-as-a-pancake Michigan. Here's the info on the last three rides.

1) A while ago, I climbed Page Mill road and headed up Skyline, similar to the route I took the first time I climbed Page Mill, except I approached from the bottom of Page Mill rather than Moody. It inspired my post about climbs. The climb took me 50:50, with the stretch from the bottom up to where Moody meets taking 15:42.

2) A couple of weeks ago, I took a ride up Old La Honda (25 minutes for the climb), and then down the West side of Old La Honda back.


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It's a great core loop to any ride. OLH is not too much of a ball breaker, but long enough that you feel like you've gotten in a good climb. Descending the west side is one of my favorite stretches in the area. You start by winding your way though a shaded redwood grove before opening up to a sunny valley. On a clear day, you can see the Ocean.

Some stats from that ride:

Distance: 40 miles
Ride time: 2:38
Speed: 15 mph avg, 33.9 mph max

3) Last weekend, I started off towards Arastradero unsure where I'd go. On that route, you get to a fork where you can either head through Arastradero preserve, or climb up Page Mill.


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I decided to climb Page Mill. However, after the short stretch to where it meets Moody, I changed my mind :) At that point, you are usually starting to get tired, and know you are only about a quarter of the way up. I decended Moody instead. At the bottom of Moody, I cut into the ritzy neighborhoods of Los Altos Hills for a short stretch.


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It took me back up into the hills with some nice views of the valley, some amazing houses, and a Ferrari that drove past. After looking at the map, I realize now I could have head further into the neighborhoods and connected with Magdelena; I'll have to try that sometime.

After getting back to Foothill, I headed down towards Los Altos for a while then turned back and headed home. I was getting bored. It's hard to get much distance if you don't head up to Skyline.

Distance: 30 miles
Ride time: 1:45
Speed: 14.4 mph avg, 29.3 mph max
Heart Rate: 145 bpm avg, 185 max
Calories burned: 1483