Helixing

A civil engineering joke I ran across:

Any farmer can build a barn that will last more then 100 years, but it takes a civil engineer to build a barn that lasts EXACTLY 100 years.

I headed out this morning on the Schwinn. The plan was to see if I could climb some hills, so I did El Tour De Las Quatro Montañas Pequeños. According to Bikely this route has 3,920 feet of climbing and it is 27.1 miles long. I'm not sure there is quite that much climbing, I this it is closer to 3,500 feet. Ain't computers wonderful?

The route goes north through Mission Gorge, around through Santee, then over to Mt. Helix.

See that cyclist at the top of the hill (the big hill) in Mission Gorge? A few minutes ago he was behind me!



Going up Mt. Helix in the granny/granny gear (24/34) I came upon a runner. I couldn't catch the guy until he started walking a bit, near the top. I thanked him for letting me catch him. He commented on what a beautiful day it was. I passed, but he started running again, so I didn't get very far ahead. When I turned to go up the one-way road, he invited me to ride up the other one-way road, in the wrong direction. What the heck, I did!

We passed two people walking backwards down the hill, and two people rock climbing.

At the top we both drank some water. I asked him if he noticed the two cartons of cigarettes I was carrying. He said he had, and couldn't believe it. He patted me on the shoulder, and we parted ways.

Here's a picture of the smog, I mean view, from the parking lot.



The nice thing about Mt. Helix is: It's a long coast down!

Saw this nifty old Jeep pickup. What a cutie!

Ride Stats

Trip Mileage  27.8 miles (44.76 km)
Trip Time     2:38:39
Avg. Speed    10.76 mph (17.33 km/h)

Week Stats

Schwinn:      27.8 miles
Jamis:       57.33 miles

Week Total:  85.13 miles

Odometers

Schwinn:   7,682 miles    YTD   152 miles  (YStart 7,530)
Jamis:     7,377 miles    YTD   886 miles  (YStart 6,491)
Total                     YTD 1,038 miles