Our very first team ride together!! :)

On August 11, our little Stanford Pedi Rheum Zoom Zoom team was finally able to get together and ride! The four of us! And what a ride it was!! It was one of Jerry's training rides, so a group of us went out from San Mateo, north up to the Sawyer Camp Trail, across over on Sharp Park Road to wind up in Pacifica and down Highway 1, where we will be riding soon in 6 weeks time for the CCC! We went from Devil's Slide all the way down to Half Moon Bay on the PCH, before crossing east again on Highway 92 to get back across the ridge to our own neck of the woods on Canada Road. It was our most climbing in feet: 2800-3000 feet, and we rode about 40 miles!

Here's the four of us shortly after getting on Highway 1 for our first pit stop. It was a foggy, cold day, but we were still happy to be by the beach and see the ocean, who will be our companion for 8 days on the CCC. This is right before we started Devil's Slide...(see how happy and innocent we are, unknowing of the upcoming turmoil...)

Here's us with Jerry!
And here's Evelyn and Mel...
So, we climbed up Devil's Slide, which was not too bad of a climb, but precarious because it was on the side of the road with fast-moving cars on our left, and a cliff and the Pacific Ocean on our right! The cars would come in bursts, and there was also some construction in the area, so everyone had to accomodate each other. It's hard enough to concentrate when we are struggling up the hills, but the fear of getting hit by a car at least makes you climb quickly! Here, there were no stops for a quick breath or leisurely climbing. It was get up the hill and do it as quickly as possible, or you will be hit by a car!! Going down was gorgeous...one of the most spectacular sights I've seen since starting to ride my bike...even though a car got close enough to Evelyn's bike that it brushed against her side mirror! Ay! Everything turned out okay, but that sure was scary! Going down Devil's Slide was exhilarating: you could see the waves crashing against the cliffs and rocks down on the beaches below. It was just beautiful! Of course I couldn't take any pictures, but the views made the climb up Devil's Slide definitely worth it!

Devil's Slide really was nothing in comparison to roadbiking on Highway 92 starting from Half Moon Bay. After the Slide, we had nice, flat riding through the agricultural fields of that area...seeing lots of vegetables like Brussel sprouts and artichokes...before arriving in foggy Half Moon Bay. I have never seen HMB sunny before! I think a sunny day in HMB is an event such as a lunar eclipse or the passing of a comet or something, it is so rare. Now, driving in a car on Highway 92 is twisting-turny enough...and I couldn't believe now I was going to do it by bicycle! Lots of cars zooming by close, and the climbing...oy! The climbing seemed to go on forever! I tried not to look up, but there just seemed to be more and more road up ahead of me! However, it was a great, great feeling to reach the top, and pretty fun to reach the bottom of the other side too! I'm getting more comfortable on the downhill descents, still scared, but going a bit faster now. After we reached Canada Road, we turned around back to San Mateo, where we had a satisfying lunch! Here's us after eating lots of food...
Dwight and Evelyn are really good on their bikes, despite being away traveling around for a while. Mel and I were happy to finish the ride in one piece!! All in all, it was a happy day!