First Big Summer Ride

The summer biking season has officially begun. With everyone home for the Memorial Day weekend, Kris, Rich, Lawrence, Scott, his brother Eric, and I leisurely rode from la casa de familia Lou in Willow Glen to Los Gatos and back. We had intended to take the Los Gatos Creek Trail all the way up to the Lexington Reservoir, but, much to Kris' chagrin, a trail closure spared us the climb. All the same, it was probably a blessing in disguise given our early season conditioning.

According to Eric's onboard computer, we traveled approximately 21 miles in an hour and 45 minutes of riding time--resulting in a rather unimpressive average speed of 12 miles per hour. It was actually a decent overall pace when you consider that Kris hadn't been on a bike in eight months, Rich's knee was dodgy, and that we had to slow down considerably for the crowds in Vasona. Since this ride was a bit more of a cruise than a race, I'll treat it as a prologue to the summer season and refrain from handing out jerseys.

Photos courtesy of Kris' mother and Lawrence's camera.

Prior to departing:






Pausing to walk our bikes down the ramp:


Stopping to watch the Vasona steam train pass: