Grandma, cyclistrick, me, Mom and Dad at our nuptialsWe brought her two pounds of her favorite Peet's New Guinea to start the weekend off right. Saturday morning after coffee, we headed out on one of her favorite rides - up Huasna Canyon in Arroyo Grande. We all stayed together up to the mouth of the canyon. Then, cyclistrick and I 'raced' up the grade. It's about 8.5 miles to the top of this quiet and wooded canyon. There are vineyards, scrub oak forest, rambling ranches and political statements posted at front drives - mostly conservative in nature. There is the occasional hot-head driver with a horse trailer that likes to make a point that we do not belong there. But, it is one of the best rides around that area. It is also a good ride to push yourself. It averages about 2-3% over most of the distance and then goes up to about 8% grade for the last 1.5 miles. We did a couple standing climbs up the last hill and then started down and found the mamma a couple miles from the bottom of the final hill.
We ate at a nice restaurant for dinner on the creek in downtown San Luis Obispo. It was called the Mission Grill. The dishes were well prepared, though the selection was small. The atmosphere was great. We ordered a fruity pinot gris for the mamma, because she likes light, fruity wines.
This morning, cyclistrick and I headed out on a very brisk ride on Highway 227 and Corbett Canyon. I again worked on my standing climb. Legs are feeling fried. It's a lot of work slogging my large self around out of the saddle. When we got back, we installed mom's new SPD pedals on her bike and gave her a lesson on using them. It's her first try going clipless on her upright bike. She's been using them on her 'bent for a couple months. That at least got her used to the feeling of clipping in and out. She did great! She'll get to try them for real tomorrow with her regular cycling buddies.
We wrapped up our time there with a trip to church and a nice Sunday lunch at home. Unfortunately, Grandma wasn't feeling well and had to go lay down before we were done :(
All-in-all, it was a great weekend!
Now, I'm back to the grind, 'listening' to an online lecture - the last one of the semester! I only have the thesis left now. Woo hoo!
5 comments:
Your post makes it sound like you did two efforts on *a* climb up Huasna; you could have made it clear that it was two times up the hill :-)
Sorry for being such an annoyance. I shall try to amend my ways.
And I am sure your mother was thrilled with all the spoiling and attention you gave her this past weekend, and all the time ....
Well, yes, we did two climbs up Huasna. But, it's only 1.5 miles, so it's more like an effort than a full climb. :)
So on the race up the hills did you leave Cyclistrick in a heap of lactic acid and tears? :)
Chris - that's a yes and no. If the grade is 2-4% I can put some hurt in him. If it pitches steeper, he can REALLY put the hurt on me. He was nice and stayed with me on the steeper climb to the top. :)
chatterbox--sounded like a fun ride, regardless of who left who in the dust!! Hope you enjoyed the weekend..I did the Solvang Loop on Saturday and the weather was ideal for riding..not too hot!
Post a Comment