29 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 Soquel.
Turn right onto Freedom.
Turn left onto Bonita.
Turn right onto San Andreas.
Turn right onto Seascape.
Stop at Seascape Village Resort. Company picnic.
A leisurely ride of about 14.5 miles in about one hour on a Trek 4000 mountain bike. Even with the very leisurely pace, I arrived at the picnic a little early.
Saw about 4 bikes riding on car roofs or bumpers or truck beds.
Saw several groups of cyclists in brightly colored jerseys on Soquel Drive near Aptos headed in the opposite direction.
The sky was overcast the whole way.

Leave the picnic on Seascape.
Turn left onto San Andreas.
Turn left onto Bonita.
Turn right onto Freedom.
Turn left onto Corralitos.
Corralitos becomes Eureka Canyon Road.
One hour.
Eureka Canyon becomes Highland Way.
Briefly considered going up Ormsby Trail, but after seeing the private property sign, decided against it.
Turn left onto Soquel-San Jose.
Two hours.
Turn right onto Soquel Drive.
Turn right onto Rodeo Gulch.
Three hours.
Turn left onto Mountain View.
Less than two minutes later, turn left onto Branciforte.
Branciforte becomes Market Street.
Turn right onto Water St.
Water becomes Mission.
Turn right onto Highland.
Turn left onto High.
Turn left onto Bay.
Turn right onto Meder.
About 54 miles in about 3:45. Bike was Trek 4000 mountain bike.
Saw about 15 bicycles riding on cars or trucks.
Saw lots of cyclists riding the opposite direction on Eureka Canyon and Highland Way. Saw a few on Rodeo Gulch and Branciforte headed in the opposite direction too.
Heading away from the coast on Freedom Blvd, the sky cleared. It was sunny by Corralitos. It was completely clear up in the mountains on Eureka Canyon and Highland Way. The sky was overcast again heading back into Soquel. Heading up Rodeo Gulch, it became sunny. Heading back on Branciforte, it became cloudy.

Total of about 68 miles in about 4:45. Saw a total of about 19 bicycles being hauled around on cars or trucks.

22 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 Soquel.
Turn right onto Capitola Road.
Turn right onto 41st.
Turn left onto Opal Cliff.
Turn right onto Capitola.
Turn left onto Monterey.
Turn right onto Park.
Turn right onto Cabrillo College Dr.
Turn right onto Soquel.
Heading past Aptos, there are bunches of bicyclists on the road going the opposite direction.
Turn left onto Freedom. There are some more bunches of cyclists.
One hour.
Turn left onto Hames.
Turn left onto Eureka Canyon.
Two hours.
More cyclists going the opposite direction.
Eureka Canyon becomes Highland.
Lots of bunches of cyclists going the opposite direction until I get past the camp.
Highland becomes Summit Road.
Three hours.
Turn right onto Bear Creek Road. This was a mistake.
The first sign that it was a mistake was the sign right at the start: Los Gatos 6 miles.
The second sign that it was a mistake was in the back of my mind: that I was going down on the Santa Clara Valley side of the mountains. However, in the front of my mind was all the blind turns while sharply descending.
The third sign was seeing 17, and Lexington Reservoir beyond that.
Turn left onto Montevina.
Turn left onto Black. The sign says it leads to Skyline, which is where I want to go.
Four hours.
Turn right onto Skyline.
Turn left onto 9.
Five hours.
Run out of water four miles from Boulder Creek.
Stop at Boulder Creek to buy water at New Leaf. They don't have plain, uncarbonated water in a small enough size. Get some overpriced water with some weird citrus and berry flavoring.
Continue on 9.
Turn left onto Graham Hill Road.
Six hours.
Turn left onto Lockewood.
Turn right onto Mount Hermon.
Turn left onto Glen Canyon.
A woman walking with her baby stops me and asks if I ride on Glen Canyon often. I say I used to. She asks if it is dangerous. I say no, why? She says because it is narrow and people drive like maniacs. I say I've ridden it over a thousand times. She said and you're still here. Then she said thanks.
Thinking back, counting both directions, I'd estimate that I've ridden Glen Canyon close to 1800 times.
Turn right onto Glen Canyon.
Turn right onto Branciforte.
Branciforte becomes Market.
Turn right onto Water.
Water becomes Mission.
Turn right onto Highland.
Turn left onto High.
Turn left onto Bay.
Turn right onto Meder.
About 90 miles in about 6:45. Bike was Trek 4000 mountain bike.
I counted about 23 bikes riding on cars or trucks. I probably saw many more than that being ridden on the road.

15 August 2004

Start south on Western from Meder.
Turn right onto Mission.
Turn left onto Natural Bridges.
Turn left onto Delaware.
Turn right onto Swanton.
Turn left onto West Cliff.
Turn left onto Front.
Turn left onto Pacific.
Turn right onto Soquel
Turn left onto Ocean.
Turn left onto Ocean.
Turn right onto Graham Hill.
Turn right onto East Zayante.
One hour.
East Zayante becomes Upper Zayante.
Upper Zayante starts by going down.
Upper Zayante continues going down before finally turning up.
Turn right onto Summit.
Two hours.
Turn right onto Old Summit Road.
Turn right onto Summit Road.
Turn right onto Soquel-San Jose.
Turn right onto Laurel Glen.
Laurel Glen becomes Mountain View.
Three hours.
Turn left onto Branciforte.
Turn right onto Granite Creek.
Turn left onto South Navarra.
Cross gate onto Green Hills.
Turn right onto Glen Canyon.
Turn left onto Mount Hermon.
Turn right onto La Madrona.
La Madrona becomes El Rancho after crossing under 17.
El Rancho becomes North Plymouth.
Turn right onto Emeline.
Four hours.
Run out of water.
Turn left onto Grant.
Turn right onto Market.
Turn right onto Water.
Water becomes Mission.
Turn right onto Highland.
Turn left onto High.
Turn left onto Bay.
Turn right onto Meder.
About 58 miles in about 4:15. Bike was Trek 4000 mountain bike.
Unusually, this was a predominantly clockwise route.
Saw at least 8 bicycles on car roofs or bumpers. Outside the Santa Cruz city limits, saw 2 bicycles on the road, one on Summit Road, between 17 and the top of Mountain Charlie, and one on La Madrona, ridden by a kid.
Saw lots of bicycles on the road in Santa Cruz, especially around West Cliff.

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.

My standard ride of 1996-1998

Generally, rides headed out of Austin on 2222, then returned to Austin on 2244.
Start west on W 38th from Speedway.
W 38th becomes W 35th.
Cross under (I think) Mopac.
Turn left onto Balcones.
Continue on Parkcrest.
Turn left onto 2222, which, if I recall correctly, has a short descent from here.
I recall 2222 climbing a little when the river is in view to the left.
Cross 360. For shorter rides, turn left onto 360.
Turn left onto 620.
There are signs for Hippie Hollow, known as a nudist area, somewhere along here.
Turn right onto Mansfield Park Dr. I preferred taking the small road over the top of the dam to staying on 620 and taking the bridge that's much lower. I think I stayed on 620 once when the road over the top of the dam was closed.
Rejoin 620 by turning right.
Turn left onto 72 at Bee Cave.
Turn left onto 2244.
Cross 360 into Westlake.
Continue through Rollingwood.
Cross under Mopac and turn left along the edge of Zilker Park.
Turn right onto Barton Springs.
On the left is Chuy's, the Tex-Mex place where Jenna and Barbara Bush were drinking underage in 2001.
Turn left onto the 1st St bridge.
Turn right onto W 1st St, and move to the left side of the 1-way street.
Turn left onto Lavaca.
The governer's mansion is somewhere to the right around W 8th St, I think. (George W. Bush at the time.)
Turn left onto MLK.
Turn right onto Whitis.
Go onto campus paths heading towards Speedway, turning left onto Speedway.
Take a break at the RLM building on 26th and Speedway.
Outside on the east side of the building were vending machines. In the summer, temperatures were generally in the high 90s. Usually buy and drink a 20 oz. soft drink there, walking the bridge over E 26th St.
Ride going right on Speedway.
Turn left onto E 31 St.
Turn right onto Speedway, which continues up to 38th.
I think it generally took about three and half hours.
The bike was a Trek road bike bought in Austin in December 1995 or January 1996. I sold that bike in November 1998, just before moving to Santa Cruz. In December 1998, I bought a Trek 4000 mountain bike in Santa Cruz, which I still ride.
Unlike in New Jersey, harassment from motorists was very rare in and around Austin.

My standard ride of 1993-1995

Don't remember some of the details. Make stuff up based on the map. I generally varied the details of the early and late parts of the route anyhow, while keeping the distant parts of the route more constant. Generally, rides started by going north or north-northeast, then turned west or west-southwest, crossing the Delaware on one of the bridges from Lambertville to Riegelsville, then heading south along the eastern edge of Pennsylvania and crossing back into New Jersey at Washington Crossing, then heading back.
Start north on Scotts Corner Road by Dey Road.
Turn left onto Friendship Rd.
Turn left onto New Rd.
Turn right onto Rte. 1.
Take the Major Rd jughandle and turn left to cross Rte. 1.
Continue on Sand Hills Rd.
Turn right on 27.
Turn left on Suydam Rd.
Turn right on 615.
Turn left on 514.
Turn right on 533.
Pass through Manville.
Turn right onto some street into Bound Brook.
Turn left onto some street headed north.
Cross 22 and climb Vosseller Ave.
Turn left on 616 into Martinsville.
Turn right and climb Mt Horeb Rd.
Roll into Liberty Corner and turn left onto Liberty Corner Rd.
Turn left onto 523 (don't know if it is called 523 at this point) into Far Hills.
The Far Hills New Jersey Transit station is on the right.
Pass through Bedminster, and cross 206.
The sign on the right side of the road says mile 29.
523 briefly joins 22 at Whitehouse before splitting off on a right turn.
Head through downtown Flemington, passing lots of antique shops, then out of Flemington onto a circle.
Occasionally took the wider 12 out of the circle towards Frenchtown, but usually continue along 523.
523 and 579 briefly join. The sign with both 523 south and 579 north is amusing.
579 splits off to the right looking pretty steep. I've never ridden that way.
Roll down into Stockton. That should be 29 miles since 523 and 206, according to the milage signs. I didn't get a bike computer until 1999. Dismount and cross the bridge.
I think a sign there said it's called Center Bridge because it's halfway between New Hope and Lumberville.
There was a burger stand on the right. I got a shake there once.
Turn left onto 32. Odd for a north-south road to have an even number.
I recall somewhere on 32 a sign saying Devil's Half Acre, but it was probably north of the bridge from Stockton. I don't see it on the map. I think the sign was hand-made.
Pass through arty New Hope, where there's generally heavy car traffic.
Turn left at Washington Crossing. The sign on the road to the right says it heads towards New Town.
Dismount and walk over the bridge.
Ride up out of the Delaware River valley on 546.
At Pennington, 546 briefly joins 31.
Once, at this place, I remember being crowded by a car so much that I stuck my hand on the rear passenger side window.
Swing around and turn right off of 31 onto 546 into Lawrenceville.
Turn left onto Lawrenceville Road.
Approaching Princeton, there are really fancy houses.
I imagine that the governer's mansion might be around here. (Jim Florio or Christine Todd Whitman at the time.)
Turn right onto Lover's Lane.
Turn left onto Mercer Road.
Turn right onto Springdale Road. I think there's an arch there.
Head into the Graduate College on the left and take a break. Rides from 1991-1993 would have started and ended here.
Head out on College Road.
Pass the McCarter Theater.
Enter the campus by the Spelman Apts. Cross the campus on campus paths.
Return to the streets by turning right onto Washington St and head downhill.
Once, on Washington, I was riding down, when the car behind me started having horn diarrhea. I turned around to see what the issue was. I think the driver's issue was that a bicyclist was on the road. When I turned back to see where I was going, the car ahead of me had stopped. I couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting it, but at least I had enough time to slow down a little. I was really pissed off at the driver behind me after that.
Continue down Washington over the bridge.
Once, near the Washington St bridge, there was some power line or phone line maintenance that I stopped for. One of the workers told me I'm supposed to ride on the sidewalk, I assume in general. I said no. He said I'll get hit. I was pissed off enough to go to the mayor's office and write a letter. I don't think anything ever came of that. In any case, the only time I've been hit since then was once, heading down the very same Washington St, when there was an oncoming driver signaling a left turn into the parking lot by the ricechex or biochem building, but apparently spacing out. So I kept going. Then, just as I was about the cross the entrance to the parking lot, a car behind the spaced out driver honked. The driver then accelerated towards the parking lot. I let out a yell and started turning right. My rear wheel got clipped but I didn't get hit hard enough to fall, as I recall. The rear wheel was warped after that. The driver gave me $49, but rear wheels at the shop on Nassau St were around $80. Actually, I got hit once more in 1999, hit by a van mirror while going down Graham Hill Road, which has no sidewalk.
Continue past Rte 1 to the Princeton Junction station.
Dismount and walk through the tunnel under the tracks at the station.
Ride left on Wallace Rd, which becomes Cranbury Rd.
Go through Grover's Mill, which, I think, is where the War of the Worlds radio broadcast was set.
Turn left onto Millstone.
Turn left onto Maple Ave.
Turn right onto Edgemere Ave.
Turn right onto Scudders Mill.
Turn left onto Scotts Corner.
I recall it taking about seven and a half to eight hours.
The bike was some kind of Nishiki road bike bought in the summer of 1988 in San Diego. I abandoned the bike at the Princeton Junction train station, after having locked it there one Saturday to go to New York in August or September 1995. When I returned, some vandal had filled the keyhole with Krazy Glue or something. It was the third time that my bike was vandalized there. The first time, my front tire and tube were gone, and my LOOK pedals were gone. The second time, the front tire and tube were gone again, but at least the cheap toe-clip pedals were still there. I reported each incident to the police. Nothing ever came of those reports. I did not get another bike until December 1995 or January 1996, after having moved to Austin, when I got a Trek road bike.

1 August 2004

Start going north on Bay from Meder.
Turn right onto High St.
Turn right onto Storey.
Turn left onto King.
Turn left onto Mission St.
Mission becomes Water.
Turn left onto Market St.
Market becomes Branciforte.
Turn left onto Granite Creek.
Cross over 17.
Turn right onto Scotts Valley Drive.
Having never ridden this way before, miss the left onto Glenwood.
Turn left onto Vine Hill
Turn right onto Glenwood.
Pass by Scotts Valley High School for the first time.
Turn left onto Weston. The sign said it is a private road. The gate was open. The private road sign causes some apprehension, but, according to the map, this is the only way to East Zayante short of going to Summit Road, so I continue.
At first, it is ok. Then, as it descended, it got much narrower.
Riding the brakes the whole way down, I vowed to get new brake pads.
Then it became a dirt road. Get off and walk.
Then it was paved for a while. Ride for a while.
Then it was dirt again. Walk again.
Vow never to ride this way again.
Then it was paved again. Ride again.
Then it ended at another road. The map at home led me to believe that Weston ended at East Zayante. I didn't have the map with me, but the map was not detailed enough anyhow.
Turn left onto that other road. The sign said the road I was on was Weasel Way or Werewolf Way, and not Weston Road.
The other road turns out to be Lockhart Gulch.
Wind up heading back into Scotts Valley, instead of going down East Zayante and turning right onto Quail Hollow into Ben Lomond as planned. The Scotts Valley city limits sign comes up and I get myself oriented.
Turn right onto Mount Hermon, back onto a familiar road.
Turn right onto Graham Hill.
Turn right onto Highway 9, going this way for the first time.
In Ben Lomond, stop at a red light at Highway 9 and Glen Arbor.
Rejoining my planned route, continue along Highway 9.
Turn left onto Alba Road.
Turn left onto Empire Grade and stop for a minute, the first stop since the red light at Glen Arbor, over 45 minutes ago.
The sign on Alba Road says 10% grade.
Glad the first time riding Alba Road was climbing and not descending.
Decide to never descend Alba Road.
At Empire Grade and Pine Flat, back to a route ridden before.
Further down Empire Grade, front tire gets wobbly. A slow leak. Pump it up.
Decide to get a new tire and tube, as I'm already getting new brake pads. The front tire probably has about 16000 miles over 5 years, mostly due to an 8 mile commute from 1999 to 2003. The rear tire only has about 1000 miles over 1 year, as the commute since 2003 is much shorter.
Ride conservatively.
Empire Grade becomes High St.
Turn right onto Bay.
Turn right onto Meder.
The tire holds up, but goes flat by the next morning.
About 42 miles in about 3:20. Includes walking on the dirt roads.
Bike was a Trek 4000 mountain bike.

25 July 2004

Start off going south on Western.
Cross Highway 1.
Turn right onto Mission St.
Turn left onto Natural Bridges.
Turn left onto Delaware Ave.
Turn right onto Swanton.
Turn left onto West Cliff.
Continue onto Beach St.
Walk up to and over the footbridge by the tracks.
Turn right and start riding on East Cliff.
Turn left onto Seabright.
Turn right onto Murray.
Turn right onto Lake.
Turn left onto East Cliff.
There is a sign saying East Cliff is closed, so
skip over to Portola for a few blocks before going
back to East Cliff.
Various streets that I don't know the names of until
Opal Cliff into downtown Capitola.
Turn right onto some street.
Turn left onto Bay.
Turn right onto Park Ave.
Turn left onto Soquel.
Turn right onto Soquel-San Jose.
One hour.
Turn left onto Laurel Glen. Easy first climb.
Laurel Glen becomes Mountain View.
Turn left onto Branciforte.
Turn right onto Granite Creek. Easy second climb.
Cross over 17.
Turn left onto Scotts Valley Drive.
Turn right onto Mount Hermon.
Two hours.
Turn right onto Graham Hill.
Wait at light, then cross Highway 9.
Continue on Felton Empire. Third climb.
Stop at Empire Grade for a minute.
Continue ahead on Ice Cream Grade.
Stop before Pine Flats for a minute.
Turn left onto Pine Flat.
Pine Flat becomes Bonny Doon Road.
Sign says 10% grade for 2.4 miles.
Top speed about 43mph on the bridge.
Once hit 46mph there.
Three hours.
Turn left onto Highway 1.
Less of a tailwind than usual.
Turn left onto Western.
At Western and Meder, about three hours
and forty minutes. About 52 miles.
Bike was Trek 4000 mountain bike.