Cottonwood Lake Sideo

21 Apr 2020

Today was every bit as beautiful as the forecast predicted: Sunny & 60’s.

I’ve been stuck at home and treating myself to lots of ice cream lately (until Pavitra put the kibosh on it). So I decided to do penance: attempt my most strenuous bike ride.

My usual trail, the Coyote Creek Trail is flat as a pancake, especially the section Southwards from home. It is optimized for maximum pleasure for minimum exertion. So I had to extend it with some steeper parts. First, after a long time, I climbed back up Silver Creek Valley Road. Second, I continued inside Silver Creek which includes some rough stretches. Third, I biked North to Tully Library which added moderate sections. Fourth, at the Southern end, I extended it to Anderson Dam which has a short but steep climb.

I took forever to complete the ride but felt great that I had started to work off some of that Talenti. I came back and excitedly checked my Strava stats in detail. Let’s just say the comparisons with real bikers (Thinking of Martin) is not flattering. And what I thought must have been a 70° slope turned out to be 7°! It turns out that Ramesh & Prabhakar are killing it in the Fitbit challenge. Oh well. All in all, still a personal stretch for me.

Around the customary ride around Cottonwood Lake, I recorded a sideo, a video selfie from the side. It was a bit scary but turned out to be a different effect. I also had the sense to capture a nice wooded portion of the trail. The grass has suddenly grown taller. I loved the strong wind and the glimmer of sunlight on the grass.

I completed the Atomic Habits audiobook by James Clear. I highly recommend it. Turbocharges life. I started on Catch & Kill by Ronan Farrow but decided to discontinue, since I had already enjoyed his wonderful podcast series. I listened to Andre Rieu, starting with Strauss. I’ve got to spend some time in Vienna and scratch the Strauss-Waltz-Danube romatic itch. So jealous of buddy Vishu who gets to travel there for work. Also listened to NPR to what else, news about covid-19.

Back at home I enjoyed delicious poori & potato, rice & daal and curd rice with baaji (sans pav). About that last combo, don’t ask me. It’s a thing. At least for me. Food never tasted this good.

All in all, an excellent biking experience. A variety of biking views and difficulty and also a variety of food for the mind.

🙏🏾

Ranga