Setup a Fifield-Cahill ride for FCC Peninsula Crew and Mochi Gang joined along too. It would've been for Ollie's birthday too but he pinched a nerve on his actual birthday and was unable to join. Before the ride, I was trying to decide between the gravel bike and the XC MTB. I was curious whether it was really going to be slower and up until this point, I was always apprehensive to try. Looking at the route, I decided that Epic EVO was the better choice for today. I think if it was going to be hotter, I would've gone with the Thesis just because it has a bigger bar bag (the Epic can't fit a bigger bag :( ). It ended up being the perfect bike today and it didn't feel any slower. It was more comfortable over all the bumpy terrain and more fun on the descents. On the climbs I think I held my own just fine and I don't think I would've climbed any faster with the gravel bike. Easily the longest ride I've done on it by almost double. When I set it this ride, the weather had been sunny and hot, so I was pretty shocked by the forecast temperatures and wind. And those weren't quite right either. Luckily I double checked the forecast using Epic Ride Weather and saw that it was going to be colder, windier, and cloudier than Weather.com's forecast. I couldn't believe I was putting my Perfetto winter jersey on in July but it was totally the right call. I warned everyone that it was going to be colder than expected but I don't think most people believed me and weren't quite dressed for it. When we got to the start, it was worse than I expected. It was much windier, much foggier and wetter. In fact it was practically raining on us until after Purisima Creek and even after lunch my glasses were still getting wet from the mist. Sometime before lunch, despite the Perfetto jersey, the mist had soaked my gloves and cap and I was feeling a little cold. There was a misunderstanding at Fifield-Cahill. I found out after that the manager had sent the wrong itinerary to the rangers and dispatch so they were waiting for us at the wrong gate at the wrong time. When I called dispatch to check in, I didn't know about this and I had asked, and gotten the okay, to possibly change the plan again due to the weather conditions. At the beginning of the ride, I kept getting calls from the ranger that I couldn't answer because I was riding. I finally stopped and got dropped by the group to pick up the call. I got a surly supervisor with that police officer vibe chewing me out a little bit for not following the plan he was expecting. I also tried to explain we might want to change plans but he was having none of it. I've had nothing but great interactions with everyone at the Watershed until this point. We still had a great time. When we were in the trees it was fine but once we left the watershed, it got cold and windy again. Unfortunately, there weren't really any views to speak of because of the fog and cloud cover. The trees and trail itself were very pretty though. About 5 Mochi Gang people cut the ride short and descended 92 back into San Mateo. The rest of us decided to continue the ride as planned. The top part of Purisima Creek was quite wet with parts of the trail being quite muddy. It was a gnarlier first gravel ride for Irene than I had planned. Anthony and I shepherded her down but she fell quite a few times going down Whittemore Gulch and later in the day too. Luckily she didn't have any major injuries. I guess Margaret crashed somewhere and got a cut on her leg. Near the top of Whittemore Gulch there was a 10-15' tree branch or small trunk fallen across the trail. Frank and I decided to clear it. The plan was to toss down the downhill side of the trail only I wasn't quite ready and I could see my end, the thicker part of it was going land on my bike. I tried to tell Frank to stop but he had already let go. Miraculously, because of the way the tree was curved, the end of it didn't smash my bike. That would've been a terrible end to the ride. Jesse, Johannes, and Alan missed the turn for Whittemore and yeeted down North Ridge trail instead. Erik and John made the turn, thought those guys were still ahead of them and chased like crazy trying to catch their ghosts. Jesse and Co. caught up to us right around the steep section at the bottom of Whittemore. It might have been a little sketchy to descend today but it sure was pretty. Luckily when we got to the coast, it wasn't completely fogged in and we could see some ocean but man was fraction of how pretty it can be when it's sunny. Lunch at Dad's was great. Scott was back behind the register, which I really like because I got a very nice Friends Discount. After lunch the headwind picked up but it wasn't as bad as forecast which was really nice. Somehow, all the climbing after lunch was the steep stuff and we seemed to have a lot of it. There was tons of flowy descents too that everyone seemed to really enjoy. After leaving Gray Whale Cove, on Golden Garvin trail, on the way to Devil's Slide, Margaret unfortunately had another crash. It was in that slightly downhill section with wooden planks because it gets muddy. She must have freaked out a little seeing the planks when she came around the corner causing her to veer off of the left side of the bridge into the ditch. And that cause her to fall to the right into some thorny plants. And the crash caused her to get a front flat which she fixed at Devil's Slide. On the way into Pedro Point Headlands, I told everyone to keep their momentum up to make it up the trail. Frank maybe took it too much to heart and plowed into some rocks and I saw an explosion of sealant when I looked back after hearing the noise from the sealant escaping. He threw 3 bacon strips in and it held for a little bit until another explosion of sealant just before the singletrack down to Ace Hardware. Frank threw a tube in. While they were doing that, Irene and I headed down to let the Mochi Gang know what was going on. And because it was getting late and the ride was taking longer than expected, I told them to go on ahead without us. That left FCC Peninsula Chapter to finish the ride and Taco Bell just a block away. I wonder what we should do? (Go to Taco Bell for some warm food to boost morale). We also tried to stop Pacifc Java Cafe where I first discover the Strawberry-filled Croissants but they were already closed. Because of the overcast conditions, there was no sense of time the whole day until the end when it started to get darker and feeling like the morning again. In the afternoon, I was still saying, "Morning!" to people. By the time we got back to the car it was windy and foggy again and it felt like the start of the ride all over again. The weird thing about the weather, I saw more people on the path in Half Moon Bay in the bad weather than I ever do when the weather is nice and sunny. And when I go, it's usually sunny. Maybe that's why people always comment on how busy it can be and how foggy it can be. That must be when they go. :) A very strange day but everyone had fun and we ended up getting back safe.