I rode up Old La Honda today for the first time in 2008. It was a good ride with Mike and Jose, climbing up 1300 feet of elevation within the 3 miles to Skyline road. Mike had his altimeter and informed us that we started at 250 feet above sea level. Starting the ride at Alpine Inn in Portola Valley was nice on our Friday off. Nine o'clock and we were off to see the road. The first mini hill right out of Alpine Inn up Alpine road to get to Portola Valley road is a good warm-up and we all three spun our gears to get the blood in the legs. I didn't even realize I was using my big ring for the first part of the ride. Turning right on to Portola Valley road is a nice fast mini descent to lead up to the entrance to Old La Honda road. I decided to stretch my legs a bit and sped away from the two and met back up with them at the intersection of the hill. Climbing Old La Honda road was gorgeous today. It was sunny with high clouds so the sun was still warming up the trees. The redwoods were as grand as I remembered from last year. Jose was glad to have his triple chainring and Mike was trying out his new sports drink gu2o. We got to the top and had our snacks: I had a mint chocolate clif bar, Jose had his chocolate chip clif bar, and Mike had his accel-bar. Descending was the usual, riding the brakes while trying to navigate the potholes. Getting back to Alpine Inn, we had our celebratory beer. Afterwards, we parted ways and Jose vowed never to do Old La Honda until next year. We'll see...