I wasn’t even planning on going out for a ride this afternoon; I was going to run instead. But Alvin took the day off from work and took care of Carys late this afternoon so I figured I might as well. After all, I hate running.
The grind up Grizzly Peak was the same as always; I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention as I thought about my upcoming (work) trip to Seattle next week and who I should try to make sure to see while I’m there – staying just alert enough to avoid the puddles of tempered glass left over from the beating that the cars up here took last Saturday night.
I usually stop at the top to breathe in the panoramic view for a minute while I pull on my arm warmers but I hadn’t brought them today, so I just pushed on. I settled into the descent, slightly annoyed at the Honda SUV that pulled out a little way in front of me – you can’t get a fast Strava time on this stretch with a car in front. Darn it.
And this stretch down to the top of Claremont is, I think, my favorite descent in the Bay Area – not that long, and not horribly steep, but with some fabulous curves that keep you on your toes without being dangerous. Because really, what kind of descent could be better for a control freak than one that allows you to be in control the whole way but still go pretty fast?
Photo taken 30 minutes beforehand…
