and the verdict is. . .
Bike riding is fun! Since I really didn’t have to peddle on the way down the hill and walked about half the way back I don’t count my Safeway trip on Thursday night to be a real ride. Today I drove down to Safeway, bought some lunch, parked at Redwood Camp, and rode from there up Zayante to the Quail Hollow Ranch. It was a really fun ride and perfect for where I am right now. Rather than being completely flat it is rolling hills. So there aren’t any big climbs like coming into Mount Hermon but it’s not like cruising along West Cliff. And the other nice thing is that as my legs get stronger and it’s easier to ride around I’ll be able to add distance and difficulty to the ride by doing it from my house or picking somewhere further down the road to ride to.
Before I took off I did lower the seat about 1/2″ and it was way more comfortable. I think before, at REI, when they were having me put my heel on the peddles with my knee locked I was stretching a little bit to do it. My knee is still locked now but I don’t need a ladder to climb on. Now I need to work on my shifting. I was reading a thing talking about anticipating your shifts so you don’t waste energy trudging up a hill in the wrong gear. As a result, I have been down shifting too soon. Instead of waiting until I reach a point where I’m just starting to slow down I shift too early and all the sudden my legs are racing to catch up with the bike as I lose momentum. I left my bike in the car with hopes of driving either to West Cliff or Wilder Ranch tomorrow after church to go for a ride. I think I am going to wait on biking down the hill from my house until I’ve built up a little more strength and endurance. I’m certainly not going to try riding into Santa Cruz until I can make it up Conference Drive. Anyway, pictures will be up on Flickr later tonight so you can poke your head over there if you want to take a look.
Tomorrow morning is the Easter Sunrise Service up the hill at the Cross above Ponderosa Lodge. I’m excited for that but even more excited for breakfast after that. It was AMAZING last year and should be great again this year. I’m excited for church at Vintage too. It will be the first major holiday I’ve stayed here for. It’s kind of nice not to be looking for someone else to take pictures since I’ll be out of town. 
