The Biathlon

The biathlon was an outgrowth of my "ride to the run" that I recently did on a Tuesday afternoon.
I rode through Briones from our house to meet up with the group that our family hikes and runs with. Vince contrived the real biathlon after our run that evening. We scheduled it for the following Saturday.

30 miles on the mountain bikes - from Martinez to Lafayette and back again through Briones Regional Park - split evenly in half with a 5 mile run around the Lafayette Reservoir Rim Trail.
The entire route was hills. I estimate 3,500 - 4,000 feet of climbing on the mountain bikes, and 1,500 running.

Most of the trails we rode were familiar, but the final descent of the first leg into Lafayette was a new one, and gave rise to a lingering foreboding. For the entire run around the reservoir, I couldn't get off my mind the fact that the descent into Lafayette had been really fast.

The foreboding was entirely warranted. The furthest extent of the Rim Trail circuit, our running "leg" of the journey, put us on the opposite ridge of the valley from our recent descent, with excellent views of the hills we would soon pedal back up. Even across the valley they appeared rather steep.

They were extremely steep. There were times during our return when even in our lowest gear, our cadence (pedal stroke) was well under 60 RPM. It's hard to just stay balanced going that slow - no less being at nearly 100%. Nonetheless, we returned through Briones in less time than it took us in the opposite direction.


Bec and Ella walked 4 miles around the lake while we ran, and met us back at the car before we pedaled away. The Pilot served as bike storage while at the reservoir.



And, Bec was the real Hero of the day, bringing home made quiche, muffins, and fresh fruit to the reservoir for a rest stop before and after the run.
Oh yeah, and we made a new friend on the trail...

He was kind enough to let us squeeze through the 18" that he had left between his rump and a tree. Going around the tree wasn't an option as that side was protected by a much more formidable beast - Poison Oak!!!

Daylight Saving - We Got Our Hour Back

Winter is not over, but we can at least pretend. Daylight saving has crept earlier and earlier it seems, and this year officially fell on March 8. I'm personally not a fan of the event. Why bother? - Ya know?

No matter - it happens, and we oblige.

March 9 Monday found us on an afternoon ride in celebration. Vince and I sped around the San Pablo reservoir - me sporting a new red walled gift tire, that Vince had conceded to reduce the risk of a repeat of our last double flat misadventure. Front tire is now all black with a yellow "Continental" logo on the side, and the rear is black with a bright red sidewall. It doesn't even come close to looking like it was meant to be that way. It looks like what it is. I don't care. I'm telling people that it's more aerodynamic that way.



Since that afternoon I have managed a few other solo rides, including a couple of trips to the top of our local 3800 foot hill - slipping beneath the radar of my new GPS enabled Treo Pro cell phone, and exchanging my bluetooth head leash for a helmet.

By the way, did I mention that I bought a new phone? The other was in active mutiny and the rebellion had to be suppressed before it spread to my other digital vessels.

While on the topic; I love my gadgets. I hate them too. I suspect I'm normal. I've owned a Palm Treo since when the 650 was new. That's at least 3 years, maybe 4. I've had more headsets than I can remember. GPS, laptop, external drives, stereo bluetooth headset, voice recorder, and a multi function pen that produces an ink pen with one twist and a stylus for the touch screen with the other and laser pointer at the top next to a blue LED flashlight. Carried the fancy pen for 1 week.

These things do not bring me joy. Much to the contrary. Most of them are fortunate to have avoided becoming projectiles during failed paring and synchronizing events. Among the worst, is when my computer and phone don't both convert to daylight saving correctly. All of my meetings become exactly 1 hour off. The computer says one thing, and the phone, another. I typically realize this halfway through a bad Monday, resulting from waking up to my phone alarm - exactly one hour late. I do not need these conveniences.

And then I think how simple a concept is the bicycle. But wait - Electric Dura Ace? Oh no.

Here we are full circle. Back to daylight saving. The more I ponder this, the more I think this may be a good issue for a sort of Civil Disobedience along the lines of a Critical Mass. If we all just said forget it, then we would all be right, and the only ones off would be the government. And that wouldn't be new.