genejockey 

I've been doing little diversions from my 55 mile Sunday route recently. Today I went right instead of left, heading up Page Mill. Page Mill is a nasty climb I used to do once a year just to prove I could. It's long, and there are a couple places that are both steep and completely exposed to the sun. For 3 years running, I'd get to this one steep pitch and think, "If there's shade around this corner, I'm gonna stop and rest a bit", but there is no shade.

First year, that's what I thought.
Second year, I thought that again, but realized I'd had the same thought at the same place before, and there was no shade.
Third year, I thought, "If there's some shade around this.....WAIT A MINUTE! I've done this before, and there IS NO SHADE!!!!"

Anyway, this time I only went up as far as Altamont Rd, and took that to descend back to Foothill. Last time I road this was probably 12 years ago. But I remembered there's a really bad corner, where 12 years ago, one of the riders on a Bike Forums NorCal group ride had gone down - nobody saw it, they just came around the corner and there he was, unconscious, with his Litespeed stuffed under the guardrail. So I was hyper cautious! I found the corner, which is actually TWO lefts in quick succession - there's a steep drop off, then the first turn, which is simultaneously 1) descending, 2) severely off camber, and 3) decreasing radius. You get through it, straighten up, and there's ANOTHER one just like it. The rest of the descent isn't too bad, but after those turns I took the rest pretty gently. I was glad to be riding the Canyon with the disc brakes, but I have ridden it before with just dual pivots and managed not to kill myself.