Ollie texted me this week about doing some Peninsula gravel and suggested doing Planet of the Apes. Naturally we had to do my home gravel loop and see if I could get permission to do Fifield-Cahill Ridge. I've never asked with such short notice before and to my surprise they got back to me pretty quickly and approved it. We just had to go a little earlier so we could avoid two hiking groups organized by the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The day was clear and sunny but a bit chilly because it was windier than forecast. Really the conditions were pretty great. When we got to the Skyline Quarry parking, I got a phone call from the hike leader saying there was a woman on her way who said she was with my group. I was wondering who it could be. When she came around the corner I had no idea who it was or how she could be part of my group. It turned out Monica is a watershed volunteer and must have seen the scheduling email. She knows Emily and rode with us to Portola Gate where she headed back to the start. And thanks to Monica for getting the shot of us at Pilarcitos Lake. The climb up from Skyline Quarry Gate to Cemetery Gate was a little looser than before because they added some fresh gravel. The rest of the trail was in pretty good condition. There were really any signs of the mud we encounter on the ride from a couple months ago. I was doing a bunch of photo sprints and climbing harder than I wanted to to get shots. I was worried it was going to come back and bite me later but I was mostly okay. A lot of the rest of the trails we did today were looser and more rocky than before. San Pedro Mountain Trail and Old Colma Trail were also more beat up. I was able to ride the chutes on my gravel bike in the past but they were gnarlier today. Kudos to Ollie and the gang for doing them. Ollie didn't want to do anything to MTB and the trails have are definitely more MTB now than before and they crushed it. And they had fun doing it. We got to Dad's pretty late. We knew we weren't getting Homemade Chips. At least it was pretty dead. After lunch we ran in to a big group on beach cruisers on their way back to the Ritz Carlton. We rode with them for a bit and joked around. After that, the clouds moved in and it got a bit colder and a little greyer. All the wildflowers at Cowell-Purisima Coastal Trail were gone. The fields had been tilled. BOO!!! Getting back onto Hwy 1, you really appreciate how peaceful the ride was up until that point. When we got to Purisima Creek, it was decision time. My legs were tired but I think I could've done Whittemore Gulch. I just would've suffered. Bryan and Mike were game but I think the rest of us were more pragmatic about it and we decided to go up Purisima Creek Trail instead. We plan to go back on fresh legs to do the rest of the trails. Climbing Purisima Creek instead was really the right call. I had just enough legs for that climb without it turning in to Type 2 fun. At the top, it was really cold. Very glad I dressed properly for the forecast. A super fast descent of Skyline and then a descent of Hwy 92 where we were passing the stop and go cars and we made it back before sunset. I actually just made it home before sunset. On the bike path climb back up to Ralston I was still producing some good power numbers which surprised and pleased me. I was also testing the new custom footbeds/insoles. I was a little apprehensive about doing such a long ride without testing them first but the felt great. An awesome day!