We rode Old Mines Road south from Livermore on Saturday with Pepi. As we waited for Pepi, two women cyclists approached to ask if we had a spare inner tube so they could repair their flat. We did, but way too big a tube for their skinny tires. Just then, Pepi arrived. I asked if she had a spare inner tube. Pepi, assuming that these two women were riding with us, said sure and gave them a tube. They finished changing the tube and rode off. I'm not sure they even thanked Pepi. Pepi had to go to the bike shop to buy a new tube along with some other equipment.

We were all strong riding out Old Mines Road. I think we had some tailwind. Since we were off to a somewhat late start, we decided to go only as far as the top of the ridge, 25 miles out, instead of riding to the Junction Cafe, another five miles farther with a substantial hill. We were worried that there might not be enough daylight to go the whole way, especially if we had a flat along the way. We had lunch at the top, then turned around to come back. That nice tailwind on the long climb up turned into a freezing blast going down! It'll be April before I stop shivering.

Our team has shrunk by one - Roy has to have back surgery! He won't be recovered in time for the ride. We will miss his company. He is a very agreeable companion. Not least, he is a reliable navigator. I tend to gawk at the scenery or doze off while I ride so I roll right past the intended turns. On our previous coast-to-coast ride, we would have ended up at Hudson Bay instead of Boston if we hadn't had Roy to correct our course. Roy has an engineer's eccentricities. For example, when Michele and I stopped to take a picture of a verdant valley, we might discover Roy taking a picture of the farmer's irrigation equipment instead. Roy's good-natured acceptance of our teasing made the trip go faster. Readers may recall that I explained previously that I didn't feel a need to train because, as long as there's somebody slower than I am, what's the hurry?! I'll miss Roy even more because now I don't have someone who is reliably slower than me. Roy promises to ride the East coast when we do that.

No ride last weekend because we were birding in the Panoche Valley east of Paicines and aroundLos Banos. We saw a lot of beautiful birds, but most striking was seeing thousands of Ross's geese rising as a mass in response to a predator flying overhead. I'm thinking about making a ride out of this next year. Hollister to Paicines, then out J1 to Mercey Hot Springs. Overnight at the hot springs and then back the same way. Who's in?

Big ride today! Michele, Pepi, Roy, and I went out to Concord on BART to ride Morgan Territory Road. The weather was cold with some threat of rain. We worked our way through residential parts of Concord to get to Clayton Road. The road gets smaller as it climbs toward Mt. Diablo. We crossed a ridge and coasted down to the turn off for Morgan Territory. That road shrinks to one land and winds through the forests on the east side of Mt. Diablo. It's a long climb, 2000 feet I would guess. There are huge views at the top of the Livermore and Pleasanton valleys and back toward San Pablo Bay. We couldn't see much at the top for clouds, but we had some vistas before and after the top. The descent on the other side is breathtaking, and freezing today. The ride totaled about 42 difficult miles.

This is a little off-topic. Michele volunteers at the International Bird Rescue facility. A couple of the other volunteers are also docents at Ano Nuevo State Park where the elephant seals breed. Larry and Joan offered to take a few of the volunteers today for a special tour at Ano Nuevo. I horned in.

It was a steely grey afternoon, cold and windy. We dressed warmly and packed binoculars.
We learned a heap about the seals. They can dive to 5000 feet. These northern elephant seals weigh in at only 4000 pounds for the big males; their southern cousins can weigh 9000! They look like giant slugs, but when provoked they can gallop fast enough to run over and crush a person whom they find threatening.

The seal pups will stay on the beach for a couple of months, growing to over 300 pounds. When they finally take to the water, many of them will immediately perish; great white sharks are waiting just off shore to feast on the vulnerable pups. Tough world!

We got a bigger crowd together for yesterday's ride. We had Pepi and Char along with John and Chi. Our ride was a version of the Three Bears. We left the Orinda BART station and rode a few miles to Bear Creek Road. At left, Chi reaches the top of the Papa Bear.

At the end of Bear Creek Road, one may choose to turn left or rig

ht. Left is easier. Somewhat to my surprise, people chose to turn right. Right leads to Pig Farm Hill. It's not long but it's pretty steep. Here's Pepi reaching the top. John was right behind her.

It was a hilly 25 or so miles. Everyone should be proud.

Good news! Rodian Magri (builder of my bike frame) was able to fix the damage easily. Steel is a forgiving material.

So I was able to ride with Michele and Pepi on Wednesday. We took BART out to Castro Valley and rode home from there along Redwood Road. The weather was drizzly and foggy. I remembered my camera for a change. I stopped for a photo of the road disappearing into the mist ahead only to find the camera battery was dead. Michele and I peeled off our glasses for the downhills because we couldn't see for the water on the lenses. Somebody has probably invented windshield wipers for eyeglasses.

Forty-two days before we leave! I've been shopping around for how to get to San Diego with five bicycles. I don't want to take a plane or the train because then we have to box up the bikes. We can't fit all the bikes into a conventional car. Maybe we can get a car with a bike rack. Otherwise we may have to rent a truck to carry the bikes. We can't all fit in the truck so we would have to rent two vehicles. Problems, problems!