The Adventures of Franz » Old But New

So much for getting my exercise program back into balance with more running and less cycling. It was a cool, but sunny this morning when I got up. I figure I just had to do something on the bike. I was not up to doing a long ride, with only 6 days since the Furnace Creek 508. If not a long ride, how about a fast ride? I knew that the Low Key Hill Climb series was having a race up Alpine West today, so decided to do it. It was a long drive up from home to Palo Alto. Then I had to drive up Page Mill road, maybe a first for me. I have biked it many times but never in a car.

I parked up near the top with the rest of the racers and biked down Alpine West to the start location to register for the race. It was cold at the top, maybe less than 50 degrees. But I felt fresh enough to race.

The first part of the climb is a low grade so a bunch of the young bucks darted out ahead of me and were able to get some lead. When the real climb at 8% grade started I was able to slowly pass some of them. You can tell the ones who are not the real good climbers because their cycling style starts to waiver as the hill continues on. They are those you know you can pass with no attempt on their part to hang on your wheel.

My final time was 37:47. That put me right in the middle of the male racers. From what I can tell I was faster than anyone over 60 years old (see results). These racers are those who like to climb hills so being in the middle of the pack is okay with me although I could probably do a bit better if I were fully recovered.

On the way home, I heard a song on the radio, “Now I am a Believer”. That brought memories. But wait, this was not the Monkeys singing it. It was Smash Mouth. It was kind of like me, something old, but still feeling new. If you want to hear this “new” version, click the play button at the bottom of this post.

When I got home I noticed the Furnace Creek 508 medal on the table where I had left it. I picked it up and was amazed I had won a medal that had some real meaning. When I was a kid, I never did get a medal for anything because I was never really allowed to participate in sports. It is rather ironic that when I am older, then I get the medals that many received when their were teenagers. Kind of like something Old But New.