I Actually Had Turkey on Turkey Day

I originally didn't decide to have Turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Since I wasn't going back home for Thanksgiving, I figured today would be like a normal weekend day.

The day started by getting ready for the last of the LKHC series (Low Key Hill Climb). The last event would be going up Mt. Hamilton.

For those not in the know, the LKHC series is a hill climbing time trial. It's you against the clock, almost like the Beat the Clock series, but this is with hills. I originally wanted to do the first one, which was Montebello Road, but couldn't make it ... besides, it was wet and raining.


Anyhow, this was a great turnout. I have no idea how many made it to this, but I give thousand kudos to the organizers for this ride. For those that are interested, they have an awards party at the Sports Basement in Sunnyvale, Monday, Dec 8th @ 6:30 PM. Rsvp at rsvp@aboutpep.com.

Immediately looking at who showed up, I knew I was in for a beating. First, they all look much fitter than me ... and no, it's not because they are all younger than me (although I was going to use that as an excuse). Anyhow, I expected to be one of the last up the hill. It turns out I wasn't, so that was good.

I rode with two father and son outings, and that was cool. One had the 10 year old son on the back of the tandem, and the other was riding his single bike. He was only riding with tennies, and the bike had a kickstand! And he kicked my butt up the first 3 miles of the climb. I eventually passed them, but not sure if they made it all the way to the top.

About 3 miles from the top, my lower back was straining me. That is usually an indication I went out too hard in the beginning. I think it was the adrenaline of seeing everyone pass me, and me trying to keep up. There was an awesome sight of seeing a sheet of clouds in the distance, with blue skies above it. I was so tempted to stop and take a picture of it, but I wanted to finish this freakin' climb. I was hoping to see the same coming down the hill, but it had changed dramatically. Oh well.



There is something about doing a long hill climb, especially one that you have done before. Even though I was hurting in pain, I knew the last 500 feet of the climb, and I kicked it up into another level. I even downshifted 2 gears, and sprinted up to the top, where 'nother got a picture of me. Can't wait to see the outcome of that picture. Unofficially, I made it in 2 hours 8 minutes. I was really hoping to get it in under 2 hours, but oh well. Official results at http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/week9/results.html. I did notice one mistake on there ... they mispelled my club name ... BikeForbes ... was supposed to be BikeForums.

On down the hill, and about 2 miles down, I see Pete climbing. After chatting up about a minute, he invited me to come over for turkey dinner. Now how am I to refuse that offer. In gratitude, I offered to pick him up at the train station, and drive him back to SF (Caltrain only comes once an hour, and if you miss it, you can be waiting there a while).


We were going to also try to crash a few dinner parties in his building. I met one tennant, and it was a cute couple. However, we ate too much at Pete's dinner, and not enough room to crash another dinner. It was great to spend Thanksgiving with Pete and Cathy. We also were busy reading ME's blogs. We sat and chatted a bit about cycling, his writing, my lack of creativity, and generally a good time to be had. Thanks Pete and Cathy for all your hospitality. I do appreciate it.

Oh, and Pete showed me how to get playlist to autoplay ... sometimes, you just gotta step back every once in a while ... it's the KISS rule ... Keep It Simple Stupid!