I've also been doing more than my typical hard bike climbs. I've done Mt Hamilton solo 4 times so far this year. They've repaved the entire road and it's quite the nicest of climbs anywhere in the area. Outstanding vistas, dreadful fire damage in the last long climb, and the monuments to the Gods of giant telescopes and giant minds at the top of this, the highest mountain in the San Francisco Bay region.This shot is from my May 22 ride to the top.
It's been a long empty period with the CoVid shutdown of all races. We're re-emerging, and I've done 2 triathlons this year so far: Folsom Lake Triathlon on May 8, and the Bass Lake Triathlon June 5, both with Rick Ferrell along. Bass Lake went well, although I've definitely slowed since my outstanding 2014 last race there. My hip has generally been cooperative. I can hold a pace of a little over 1,000 miles/year, without "blowing up". Long weeks of 30 miles require short weeks of maybe 15 or less, but that's to be expected.
I needed to get away. My last days of Spring break. I chose Caliente Peak at Carrizo Plain. I hoped to photograph a peak display of wildflowers, and do my 17 mile run to/from Caliente Peak along the ridge of the Caliente Range. The day began with a 1 hour sleep. That was all I got that night and day; then a drive up to UCSC to get video/GPS time-stamped observations of the occultation of a 12th magnitude star by the asteroid Regina - a success! Got home at 3:45am, quickly unpacked the astronomy gear, packed the running gear and food, and drove the 250 miles to Carrizo Plain and the dirt wide spot at the trail head. The weather was perfect, and the first full weekend of Spring drew more people than usual. Every camp spot along the road up to the ridge was taken. I felt good, running. But slowed to a power-hike / jog as the miles clicked by. The trail was pretty empty, as always... but at the old ranch, two mountain bikers whizzed past me. I had the rest of the way to the peak to myself, until getting to the peak, then I saw the mountain bikers returning, and at the peak I met a small group of Russian hikers who arrived. It was nice to see these fine people, but at the same time, I regretted that I did not have the entire experience only to myself - which I'd looked forward to. Alas, no flowers. The drought. And no snakes, nor horned lizards. My pace has kept well this year. As I write this in early April, I'm on pace for another record year, near 1100 miles. After this 17 miler, I did have a couple of weeks of recovery and some hip psoas soreness, but that seems to be over now. Very good!
I had a pretty minimal cycling mileage in the Year of CoVid, as my daily commute got terminated early, and other competing things... I hadn't done a tough ride in many months, but it is now a new year and I'm hopeful I may be able to do some races. Time to gain some confidence by doing a tough climb. I'd not seen Mt Hamilton since the big fire singed parts of Lick Observatory - and that became my plan. It was a pretty warm day Jan 17, more like late Spring than mid-winter. Pefect conditions considering coming down would be long and normally darn cold. I was gratified to find that 2/3 of the ride was not marred by fire. It was at the fire station, at the end of the second descent that the fire got to. Above that, it was near total burnout. Tragic to see the old Barnard house completely burned to the brick walls. Otherwise, the Observatory fared pretty well. Even a few patches of unburned trees on the north side of the summit. I was about 25 minutes slower this time, on the ascent, than my last time (the final race of the 2018 Low Key Hill Climb series). Some was lack of cycling fitness, some was just easing off the accelerator.
Climate change on continental land, due to the loss of the Arctic Ocean ice, is predicted to be worse in Central California than anywhere else on Earth. So far, that has been our trend, sadly.
