jg has always preferred biking alone, mostly because no one he knows can keep up with him on the trail. jasper the intern happens to be training for a mountain bike race in oregon. he told me that he could get to the top of romero canyon in 54 minutes. knowing that jg's best time is about 70, i thought i'd set him up for a smack down.
03 july 2010 at 4:10 pm
i did not know that jasper is cal poly wheelman until he showed up at the trail head. the full body spandex was a bit overwhelming.
jg already lagging at the starting line
off they went
they disappeared in less than a minute. i went about my usual business of hiking and film wasting.
nope
that car was parked at the trail head. i did not see a border collie or any other dog during my entire hike.
turn around point
that was the only bit of blue sky i saw on the entire hike. i sat on a rock there for about ten minutes before hiking back down. i took loads of pictures of the local flora.
california buckwheat
caterpillar phacelia
heart-leaved or climbing penstemon
(scarlet honeysuckle is a misnomer)
aren't you impressed with the correct identification of the flowers? that's because i just re-borrowed a stack of field guides from the library. this one is my most favorite:
by nancy dale & california native plant society
chalk live-forever
purple sage
yellow star thistle
farewell-to-spring
white sage
golden yarrow
lance-leaved dudleya
i could hear these two bomb around the corner well before i saw them. i was pleased to see that they hadn't fallen off the mountain. jg was elated to report that he got to the top in 60 minutes and 29 seconds. jasper sort of yawned.
jasper: hm, my average speed is only 13.2 mph.
game over
the intern will be at the races in a few days. i asked if he's familiar with the race course. "no. i guess i should look it up."
