Thanksgiving Ride

This year I was stuck at home for the holidays. I always thought guys with nowhere to go for Thanksgiving or Christmas were losers, but I guess I was wrong because I turned into that guy. Hahaha. I couldn't quite bring myself to drive up north to be with my family and instead choose to relax at home and just lay low. In retrospect I would have driven up just because it sucks being alone on a holiday like Thanksgiving.

However being at home did have a few benefits. With essentially a four day weekend, it meant more time on the bike.

This year I became aware of an annual ride up Harding to share bagels, coffee, etc. with other riders. Apparently Rock and Road (local bike shop) sponsors this every year.

The ride was scheduled to start at 7PM, but I made plans to ride with Mike at 6:30AM. We figured this would help us with parking and would give us a good head start. Plus I think Mike had somewhere he needed to be that morning.

The parking for Harding is never great, but then again not that many people are ever there at one time. As I drove away after the ride I was _very_ glad I had arrived early. Parking turned into a total nightmare for a lot of riders. I even saw cars parked on the side of Santiago Canyon Road!

I had lots of friends signed up to go and was anxious to see them at the top.

Mike and I started right before Troy, but as I found out later, Troy's chain broke or something and he got stuck.

Fast forward to the ride ...

On the ride itself I was surprised at how good I felt. Mike wasn't pushing too hard and it let me relax and keep my heart rate low. We just cruised for the first hour or so. After that Mike said I could push harder if I wanted to and with that I put some space between us. I got passed by two guys on the way up, but that wasn't so bad. I was prepared to be passed by maybe 20 guys.

I reached the top right before the flood of riders. After about 10-15 minutes the population of Four Corners went from 6-8 to 30-50. Riders started arriving from everywhere. Maple Springs and Harding and who knows where else.

Friends I knew at the top: Jerry, Chris, Mike, Superjoe (real name is Joe?) and Troy. New Friends: GrannyRing (I don't remember his real name).

Going down was a bit sketchy as tons of people were riding up to get in on the party.

Good times.