The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/lrqXJm2 Sunday is one of my two hard workout days. I started with about 20 minutes of upper body strength training, then did a bit over two hours on my recumbent, riding North through the Coyote Valley to San Jose. On the way home I did intervals and on-bike strength training. It was a beautiful sunny day but cold. Fortunately I anticipated that and was sufficiently bundled up. The last of the morning fog dissipating in the Coyote Valley Climbing the hill that leads to the Santa Teresa neighborhood of South San Jose At the bottom of the climb up Bernal Road that goes to Santa Teresa County park Coming back North On Santa Teresa boulevard, the camera handled the glare of the sun pretty well

https://ift.tt/aCylx0G Today was my first ride back after all the rain we’ve had (totally just under 2″ at my house). I rode my upright in glorious sunshine, with lots of puffs of clouds from the remains of the storm. I headed into the hills East of Morgan Hill up and over E Dunne Ave, part of the way towards Henry Coe State Park. Some of the roads were a bit sloppy with big piles of wet leaves in the shoulders, so I had to be careful, but it was a really nice ride. South on Condit Rd East On Dianna Ave Towards the Hills Heading up East Dunne ave The Southwest of Morgan Hill from the Shoulder Descending the back side of E. Dunne On the back side of E. Dunne, this is the bridge over Coyote Creek where it feeds into Anderson Reservoir The Odd Sight of Anderson Lake completely drained. There is a large project to replace Anderson Dam due to Seismic concerns, which will take several more years The exhilarating descent back down Dunne to Morgan Hill. I had to control ...

https://ift.tt/o9apd0D We were originally forecast to get continuous rain pretty much all this week, but there have turned out to be some dry interludes and I sneak in rides whenever I can. Yesterday I managed to get in three hours, two and a half in the morning on my upright, and 30 minutes in the afternoon on my recumbent. El Toro Shrouded in fog Going past Chesbro Reservoir Heading down Uvas Road towards Casa Loma Road On Casa Loma, very muddy from recent rains Parking Lot at Rancho Canade Del Oro Open Space at the end of Casa Loma Heading Back down Uvas, some blue skies peaking through I turned from Uvas road on to Oak Glen Ave, the left on Willow Springs, which has a steep descent captured in a video here . At the bottom of Willow Springs

https://ift.tt/MHzgs9D I’ve been only doing shorter rides on my upright because it was causing neck problems. But I’ve recently gotten more diligent about PT for my neck, and thought I was ready for a longer session on the upright. Friday I went for just under two hours and it felt fine. My neck doesn’t like extended periods of being leaned over the handlebars, but I can give it a break from that by either throwing in breaks of standing up to pedal, or using the bar extension set-up on my handlebars that I call “standing bars” to sit upright. I made sure I did one or the other every few minutes. It’s important that I be able to do this because my upright is much more transportable. Also, if I want to do any adventures on vacation I can rent locally. The chances of renting a recumbent are minimal but upright rentals are commonplace. One local adventure I discovered is renting electric-assist fat bikes in Monterey , where there are a lot of great places to ride. Friday’s ride was to Ha...

https://ift.tt/ejaMD2u The cold and fog I mentioned last week has continued but I have been getting in some good riding anyway. Also, last week Costco had a good sale on GoPro Hero 13 cameras so my wife bought me one as a Christmas present, and I’ve tried it out on a couple of rides. I like it because it has voice activation so is hands free. I’ve tried both photos and videos. Photos are great and you can also extract good stills from video frames. But I have to raise my camera mount because it catches my phone and handlebars in the shot. Easy to edit that out for stills but not videos. Also I need to get good at video editing so I can extract short clips. So in this post I’ll just show some still photos. Sunday I went on a long ride on an especially foggy day. Cars were barely visible, just dim headlights in the fog. Also I was afraid if anyone were driving with their lights off I might not see them at all. So I headed over to Coyote Creek trail. By the time I got their the visibilit...

https://ift.tt/SBjVMui I’ve started bumping up the length of some of my rides, which is tolerated well as long as I don’t push too hard. This is really relaxing and enjoyable when the weather is nice. Last Tuesday we had a group ride that started out cold and foggy. I was surprised how many people showed up, all bundled up. But after we’d been riding for about half an hour, it burned off and turned into a great day for riding. A friend told me that this persistent cold fog we’ve been having is just occurring inland, it has been sunnier along the coast. Wednesday I had another nice long ride along the Coyote Creek trail. Intrepid riders getting ready to brave the cold and fog on Tuesdays The fog had just burned off on Wednesday and there’s a great view of the Santa Cruz Mountains from a high spot on the Coyote Creek trail

https://ift.tt/aS2nC3F Fall in our area is not as spectacular as in other places but it’s nice that it lasts this long. Some trees have lost their leaves by now, but other species, such as maples, are peaking. Yesterday I enjoyed a long ride up into the hills West of town. I rode through Paradise valley then past Chesbro reservoir, and returned to town via Willow Springs road, enjoying the glorious sunshine. Long rides at an easy pace, like this one, feel like they are good for my leaky heart valve, or at least are relaxing. I won’t give them up unless my cardiologist convinces me too, but I’m pretty sure he’ll approve. The hill across Chesbro reservoir, with the dam on the left Looking down Willow Springs road Japanese Maple in our back yard

https://ift.tt/CQJWXi5 The mornings have been extra foggy lately and it’s continued to be cold, but it still makes for good riding as long as you bundle up. My back has also permitted me to go on longer walks, up to half an hour and continuing, and I am happy to be able to stand up to pedal for prolonged periods on my upright. All with no sciatica or SI joint problems. I guess all the PT I’m doing helps! El Toro from its base at the top of main Ave, with the top hidden in the fog My Group Taking a break at Metcalf Park Yesterday, after the sun came out