Meeting up with
the Stockton Cycling Club in the most unlikely of places!
It started
out as a normal Sunday afternoon ride, the plan being to ride over
Old LaHonda, down to LaHonda, up West Alpine and back via Skyline to
84. But once in LaHonda I came across Pete (one of our semi-regular
Tuesday/Thursday morning riders) and his buddies from Stockton, who
were on the way back from a ride to Pescadero.
I wasn't really looking for an excuse to ditch West Alpine (one of
my favorite climbs), but when I heard that Pete didn't know about
the "faces of Old LaHonda", well, I just had to make sure they found
it! So no West Alpine today; basically, just an out-and-back to
LaHonda. Beautiful day for it though, and very nice company.
Click on any of the photos
for a much-larger version.
If you were on the ride and interested in the original,
please send me an email. However, make sure you've got a
high-speed internet connection, as the originals are from 1-2.5 megs
in size.
On the left you have... Joni? Knowing me, I've really botched the
name, but Pete will email me with the correct info. She thought I
was taking a photo for the cover shot of BikerChick magazine, but I
blew it by clipping off her head. Those over-the-shoulder shots get
tricky sometimes...
The Red Barn, one of our more well-known landmarks, found on Highway
84 just west of Old LaHonda.
Just past
the Red Barn is the turnoff for Old LaHonda's west side, one of the
nicer little diversions around, with very little traffic, reasonable
pavement and beautiful scenery.
On the
left Pete's leading the charge up Old LaHonda, through the most
scenic part (great views of the coast on a clear day, but a bit too
much haze today).
Remember you can click on any of these photos
for a much-larger version!
A group
shot, featuring the famous "faces" carved into the rock in the
background.
From left to right- Cindi (two
"i"s, from San Jose), Pete, stone face, Gary, Roger, Joe (president
of SBC), Steve, Joni (yes, she's the headless biker chick).
The last
mile of Old LaHonda winds gently through the Redwoods, but with
quite a little (steep) kick at the very end.
We're
greeted at the top of Old LaHonda by some kids who had put on a bake
sale to benefit the Tsunami victims. Very well received by very
hungry cyclists!
Finishing up the ride
in Woodside, where the group had parked at the elementary school
parking lot, just west of Robert's Market (the intersection of 84 &
Canada Road).
Just another great
January day in Northern California for a bike ride! Temps ranged
from 50 to 60, no wind, very light traffic (football playoff games
may have had something to do with that) and nice people.
Chain Reaction sells bicycles & accessories
from Trek, Gary Fisher, BikeFriday,Shimano, Pearl Izumi, Continental, Descente,
Sidi, Giro, Blackburn, Speedplay, Oakley, Saris, NiteRider, Bontrager,
Torelli, Look, DeFeet, Rock N Roll, Hammer, Cytomax,
Powerbar, Fox, Clif
Bar, CamelBak, Chris King, Profile Design, Craft, X-Lab and many more!