Riding to Grandma's House

When I was a kid the "big ride" was to my Grandma's house in Caldwell. Back then we'd go straight down Ustick Road all the way to 10th Ave. It wasn't too exciting riding a dead straight road for 20 miles but at the time it was the quickest and safest route. I remember doing the ride as an out-n-back for the final 50 miler needed to earn the Cycling merit badge. My cousin and I rode out Ustick, ate a big breakfast at my Grandma's place and rode home. Those were some of the best tasting scrambled eggs (my Grandma is old school and scrambles her eggs in bacon grease!), bacon, breakfast cake, fresh fruit and orange juice I've had the pleasure to consume in my life. Until that ride I'd completed all of the others on my trusty BMX bike. For the big one I rented a 10 speed from a local bike shop. Yeah, it was a big deal!

Nowadays Ustick Road is fairly busy and the shoulder hasn't grown any wider over the years so my route to Grandma's house has evolved. Today I rode north to Eagle where I hooked up with Beacon Light, Foothill, Middleton and Hwy 44 before cruising into Caldwell. There was a strong wind from the west so I decided to do a tempo interval into the headwind. I ended up with 45 minutes at 151 average heart rate before I had to turn south. Since I'm trying to develop more power I kept my cadence between 75 and 80. If I go much lower than that my knee yells at me but anything above 75 seems ok. Considering today's original forecast was for rain/snow I'm pleased with my 1:42 even if it was windy!

I don't have any pictures of the ride but here's a shot I took this morning of Alder trying to sneak up on some quail in the backyard. In another few months that dirt will be filled with tomatoes, squash, melons, corn, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, onions, rhubarb, carrots, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, peas and beans. My mom spoils me big time when we visit and this trip is no exception. Her goal is to bake 1 homemade pie each day. Yesterday we had apple and today is rhubarb. Tomorrow will probably be cherry and Saturday is raspberry. If I didn't bring my bike I'd probably gain a few pounds each trip!