Palo Alto Day 1 of Riding!

Well, the Internet FINALLY came up, so this is my 1st blog for the trip. Myself, Wendi, Richard, Jim, Dale and Desi met at Howard's yesterday and finally got on the highway around 12:15pm. We were really concerned about the 152 delays, but I have to say the ride up was just perfect, no traffic and great company. We got in around 6:15pm, so we still had time to get spiffed up a bit for the dinner party at 7:30pm for Howard.
So we arrived at MacArthur Park's Restaurant for Howard's birthday. Wine was good, food was good and BD cake was good too! All and all a lovely evening! A few of us got Howard some gag gifts which I can not say what they are here, but I am sure you can just imagine. All in good fun!

Ok, so day 1 of riding!! WOW AND OUCH!!!!!!!!!
Well, driving up the mountain was nice and cool! Then when we got to the trail head, yikes! It was HOT!!! We had 2 groups with 20 + riders. Huck lead one group and Charlotte lead the other group which is what I was in. This trail had a little bit of everything. Loose, steep fire roads, amazing, rolling, fast single track covered with trees and some VERY tight switchbacks!!
Everything was so incredibly green with just a ton of trees, very picturesque! We all kept switching positions a lot pending on the climbs, sometimes we rested, sometimes we fixed IPODS, Etc.
Both groups met up about half way and finished the 1st part of the ride together. When we got to the rest spot, there were a ton of bikes, scooters and motorcycles everywhere! Oh and SNAKES IN THE BUSHES!!! I always have to pick the bush with the snake in it! AHHHHHHHHH! My scream scared him away and all was ok.

So.............now is when the adventure REALLY began! We started climbing up one of the single tracks when I saw Desi started to ride on the left side a bit too much, the next thing I knew she was rolling down the steep slope and just kept sliding down because it was all hay and slippery. Well, she finally stopped and was still attached to her bike, so we ran down, picked her and her bike up and got them going again. Desi was giggling a bit, but I think she was about to toss her new Enduro off the cliff. It is about 30 pounds and she is usually rides her Stumpy which is 24#.

Once we all got going again, it was pretty amazing. Very smooth rolly single track under tree cover. Then we had some descending to ride, so the other riders in our group were nice enough to let Wendi H (snowho) and myself go 1st. Hmmmmmmm, maybe not the best idea. Well, I have been feeling very confident in my downhilling lately..........not always a good thing.......we were both right on top of each going down....little did I know it would be LITERALLY on top of each other in a few seconds! Well, there I go again, making a silly beginner mistake. I plowed through the big tree roots and rocks no problem. Up comes a narrow, tall, big clump of dirt and what do you think I did?! YUP! Looked right down at it and the next thing I know I hit it hard, bounced off the side and went skidding and DOWN hard. I was still down on the ground clipped to my bike when I turned around and there is Wendi! Ahhhhhhhh!!! She ran right over me and off the side of the steep slope. Neither of us could move and I kept yelling rider down because I couldn't see anyone and if they didn't see me, another 8 riders were going to run my bum over again! (can you say SNL Skit?!)Thank god Susan came up and saw us and stopped the trail of riders!! THANX SUSAN!!! I really didn't want any more tire tracks on my bum! The ground on the trail and the cliff was very soft, so we both only had some minor cuts and of course my confidence dropped a notch or 2 after that. However, I recovered better than normal after a fall so I am still pleased. I have been so good about looking ahead, but I guess I just need to keep talking to myself more on the trail to LOOK AHEAD!! Wendi H bounced back of course without a glitch.

So, after the carnage, we still had a ton of amazing single track to ride and the lake to see. We finally got to the trail head/parking lot and realized we missed a turn. So we went back down a really fun single track just a short ways to see the beautiful lake and take pictures.
When we got back to our cars, it was still pretty darn hot and a lot of us drank all of our water and were a bit over heated, so we were ready to turn it in!
The riders in my group were all amazing in their own way. Charlotte did an outstanding job leading and rode very strong as usual. Jennifer kept a really good pace from the start and I liked following her. Very good line choices. Susan and Wendi H both got their second wind on the last half of the ride and were strong as ever. Desi is still not sure if she digs her new bike or not but was smiling, so that is good! We had a few riders in and out of our group as well: Ruth, Norm, Howard, Alan,Jim H and Graham.

Soooooo, then we all went to the famous Alice's restaurant for lunch. Most of the girls got a cute Harley Tank which we modeled for the camera's. This was a really cool lunch place. Tons of motorcycles and bikers.

Desi, myself and Jim had a few errands to run after lunch, so we didn't get back to the hotel until after 5pmish. The internet was still down, so I stayed on the phone with the tech guy trying to fix the wireless connection. By the time it came up, I just took and shower and started to blog while some of the others hung out by the pool. Some of the group went down town to a Tai Restaurant. Since I didn't get much sleep last night and I am pretty sore, I am going to stay in and try and rest like a good girl! Ok, maybe I will go down to the bar a little later for a glass of wine, but then OFF TO BED!

So, tomorrow we meet at 7:15 for breakfast so we can make the 9am start time at the trail head. We are riding Skeggs point tomorrow, so stoked for another day of riding in this beautiful area.

Ok, loves, Thanks for letting me gab, hope you got the feeling that you are here with us. I hope all of you are going to have a fabulous 4th and will talk to you tomororw night via blog!

Be Fabulous!

Wendy!