Less than 2 weeks to go

Training. Out of time to do much more. We'll head out for another three day training ride on Friday, then we'll just be getting organized..

Meanwhile, I conquered a hill that I'd not finished before. They really nag at me, those steep hills that manage to make me walk. This one was at about the 75th mile of the Livestrong century ride a couple of years ago, and the temperature was about 90 by the time I got there. It seemed sooo steep! I finally gave in & sat in the shade for a while with quite a few others who had come to the same conclusion. Then I walked up the rest of the way. Only I found that I had almost finished the steep part. Annoying.

It's not in a place that I go very often, at least not with enough time to fit in a ride, so a couple of years passed & I still hadn't climbed it. Last Wednesday, my schedule just begged me to add Metcalf to the day. I set out on a route that would take me to the hill at about mile 3. Just barely enough of a warm up. And it was a nice, cool day. It's steep, yes, but nowhere near as steep as I remembered. And it is beautiful, maybe one of the prettiest routes in the area. I don't remember that at all.

Maybe that is partly because we've had such a wet winter & it's still early enough that there are tons of wildflowers, but I also have to admit that my primary thought on Livestrong day was a whiny, "I thought we'd already done all the climbing!" as I saw the rollers coming up after the summit.

Anyway, this time I was happy and comfortable and loving the flowers, the birds, the creek & trees & farms & cows & horses.

Then I got lost. I only needed to make one turn to get back into territory I'd recognize, and when I saw a familiar street name, I took it. It ended in about a half mile, but there was a bike path that took me through to another road. Its name did not look at all familiar, so I crossed it & continued on the bike path - which soon led me onto a golf course that clearly had no use for bicycles. I was on the cart path. I finally found some guys working on a house who gave me directions. I'd managed to wander into a gated community; they seemed a bit bemused by someone who needed directions but who'd presumably gotten past the gate.

It was easy from there, but it made me think a bit about making a wrong turn in the middle of, say, a state I've never even visited before.

We're walking the 100th Bay to Breakers tomorrow. It's supposed to rain - not too much. I hope plenty of people come out & make it as much fun as it has been in other years. We'll hardly notice the rain that way.