8 August 2004

Start north on Bay from Meder.
Turn right onto High.
Turn right onto Storey.
Turn left onto King.
Turn left onto Mission.
Mission becomes Water.
Turn left onto Market.
Market becomes Branciforte.
Turn left onto Glen Canyon.
Turn right onto Mount Hermon.
Turn right onto Scotts Valley Drive.
Turn left onto Bean Creek.
Turn left onto Glenwood.
Turn left onto Mountain Charlie.
Sign at the bottom says fresh oil.
Mt. Charlie is very narrow. Let a bloated Toyota Sequoia pass me. It's so fat, it barely fits on the road.
The road is in very bad shape at the bottom part.
One hour.
There is an inexplicable brief stretch that is smoothly paved.
Signs mark mile 3.33 and mile 1.89.
Turn left onto Summit Road. I had originally planned on going the other direction on Summit Road, returning on Soquel-San Jose, but, at that intersection, given the choice between going up an unfamiliar road and going down an unfamiliar road, I chose to go up.
The call boxes on the side of the road say Santa Clara County. This could be the first time I've crossed a county line by bicycle since briefly riding in Williamson County in 1997.
Turn left onto Bear Creek Rd.
On the left, there's a great view of the Monterey Bay. Can get glimpses of the Loch Lomond Reservoir too.
Two hours.
Turn left onto Highway 9.
Stop at Boulder Creek and buy a bottle of water at New Leaf. Top off my water bottle. There still about a pint left. Drink it.
Head west on 236.
Turn left onto Jamison Creek.
It starts out surprisingly easy. Based on Felton-Empire and Alba Road, I know that that cannot last. It doesn't.
There's a yellowish car, looks like a Volvo, wrecked off the right side, in the trees on a steep incline. It looks like it's been there for a long time. A caution that motorists can be pretty reckless.
Three hours.
When a stinky truck goes by just before a tough looking switchback, take a break for a minute and take a couple of drinks.
Continue going up. Speed is between 4 and 4.5 mph.
38 minutes from the bottom of Jamison Creek, reach Empire Grade, not counting the break.
Thought Empire Grade would be mostly downhill from here. It's mostly uphill for a while.
Reach Felton-Empire and Ice Cream Grade at around 3:45. It's definitely going to be more than 4 hours when I get back.
Four hours.
Empire Grade turns into High St.
Turn right onto Bay.
Turn right onto Meder.
About 4:10 not counting the stop at Boulder Creek. About 54 miles. Bike was a Trek 4000 mountain bike.
Saw about 10 other bicycles on the road, and none on car roofs or bumpers. Usually see more bicycles on cars than on the road, but I've never ridden most of this route before.