I was really worried about this ride. First, I was worried about the roof rack failing again. Second I was worried about doing 4500+ feet of climbing with just two short descents to break it up. We have an even bigger sustained climb planned in Oregon, and I was afraid that we’d do this one and say never again — or worse, give up entirely.

But somehow we made it all the way to Lick Observatory. Anne pulled the trailer most of the way up. I gave her a couple of short breaks, but I was carrying a full pannier load. Then I took the kid for the way back, but downhill is easy.

We could see the observatory from the distance. When we started getting closer, it was actually demoralizing. When you’re doing a climb, seeing the car that just passed you even 20 feet higher on the other side of a switchback is hard. Seeing the obervatory 500 or 1000 feet higher is tough. But you keep going and get there. This ride had a pretty steady and manageable 6% grade, although I think I was starting to feel the thinner air towards the top.

We may need to rethink our food plans. Anne carries the day’s supply of Clif bars and Gu in her handlebar bags. Part of my training load is a second day’s supply in a pannier. We had to dip into my stash. Yay, more weight!

Animal sightings: Deer (including one that ran out across the road right behind us during a rest), a horse chillaxing with some goats, a herd of cows trying (and failing) to all fit in the shade of one tree, woodpeckers, turkey vultures, ground squirrels, a motorcycle dude with a fuzzy helmet, and a lost dog wandering in the street.

Mechanical problems: My front derailleur isn’t quite right, but at least the chain stayed on.

This ride was the first with my new front rack, and the first with the 6 liter water bladder we plan on bringing. Balancing the bladder along with the rest of our gear (approximated) meant 30 pounds up front and 20 in the back. It handled pretty well, although it did make steering a little sluggish.

We’d done this ride before, but Anne extended it to start in Lafayette to add a few miles. It ended up being more climbing than we had expected, including a surprise 10℅+ grade climb at the end (we walked a bit).

Anne took the trailer for most of it. I took it for the two big descents which was kind of terrifying with the full set of panniers. Then there was some more climbing.. I wasn’t quite up to it so Anne took the trailer back.

Then on the drive home there was a weird sounds we kind of ignored. Then we hit a bump and Anne told me to stop the car. The roof rack for the bikes was falling off! It seems the front crossbar slid back somehow, maybe from catching wind on the front fenders, our maybe just loosening over time. We decided to just put the thing back on, tighten it good, and drive home. The roof rack is now off the car until we can figure out how to keep it happy.

Animal sightings: a bunch of horses, a deer drinking from a water fountain, a snake hanging out in the bike lane

Most disappointing moment for Ruth: when a stream engine train went past us a few feet away, but there was a bush in the way

Happiest moment for Ruth: when we let her hold onto the bag of freeze dried mango while we biked. “Mango! Mango! Mango!”