Well, I only have 250 miles left to go to reach my target milage for the year and I might even be able to hit 100,000 feet of climbing.

The temperatures have been slowing everything down with 29F in Napa this morning and 30F here (below freezing) This makes it a bit dangerous to descend and even late in the day in shadows you might have black ice. Though with the roads so broken up I don't know what effect that will have.

A couple of years ago I was returning from Moraga and made a turn from Pinehurst onto Redwood road near noon and when it was probably 50 degrees. I slid all the way across the road and caught traction at the very far right of the road and saved myself from falling. This worked because I had no speed on. But what happens if I'm going down Pinehurst the other way towards Moraga and go through the "Icebox" at 25 mph? I can't remember what the conditions are like if it is very cold. My memory tells me that the icebox under those conditions are slightly warmer than the surrounding air but usually it is significantly colder than the air down the descent.

They've opened the bike path again and now I'm taking that down Valley into Moraga because the actual road is in such horrible condition that there is the danger of a new and wide crack appearing in the road and throwing you off. And now they don't have a sign saying "No Trucks" but rather "Trucks not advised" which means that the heavy trucks use little Pinehurst as a short cut (even though it really isn't, Google Maps says it is). There are 180 Degree turns on it that are sharp for a bicycle. You can imagine what it is like for a 20 ton truck.

The bike path is often a horse path do you have to be careful to avoid horse droppings. But it is better than the road. Two weeks ago I beat the group into Moraga, much to my surprise. I had assumed that they were at least 5 minutes ahead of me. Moraga is one of those places that gets warm in the direct sunlight but stays cold in the shade. And where are all the chairs? You guessed it - under canopies.

But all in all it turns out to be a 25 mile ride and 2200 feet of climbing and we get back around 11:00am I could probably ride from home which would make it 37 miles and 3500 feet of climbing but the other old farts prefer to drive to the 25 mile round trip area. Who am I to complain? Besides there is little traffic from where we start. Largely Joe Racer in a BMW squealing around every turn or motorcycles clearly being ridden by people without the slightest sense of safety.

But all in all, it is a fairly safe ride as long as you stay to the far right so that traffic racing in the other direction has room to use most of your lane to make the turns. It used to be a really fun road to descend in both directions but overuse and California's refusal to repair the roads has turned it into a danger at speed so you end up staying at 20 both ways.

But it is the climbing that is important. Redwood Road is only 9 or 10% grade but several sections of Pinehurst and Valley are 12%. Presently my condition allows me to climb right up these without any trouble. But it would be better if I lost 10 lbs. There are longer courses with steeper climbs that cause weight loss but I seem to be the only one that would like to do those anymore. And traffic is now to the point where you have to have someone along in case of an "accident". Hit and run is now so common that you can count of anyone hitting you to drive away because they don't have car insurance as required by law. But they DO have a new BMW.