14 October 2006

Eat and ride day - Progressive dinner

The ride was to start by meeting on Highland for coffee and pastries at 9, so I got my bike out about ten minutes before that. I decided to try using a camera phone for adding pictures here, so I took a picture of my bike. The easy route and the food succeeded in attracting a lot more riders than usual, despite the chilly, overcast weather. There were even four tandems.

We headed out back to High, then down Western to the bike path along Wilder. After an out and back, we headed down through Natural Bridges, along West Cliff, by the Beach Boardwalk, and over the trestle bridge where I took another picture.

We went around the yacht harbor and out on Brommer and stopped at Sorrento Oaks Park for snacks and appetizers. I took a picture of all the bikes there.

We headed out along Brommer to Capitola, down Cliff, up Monterey, and along Park. We passed by New Brighton, taking McGregor and State Park and Soquel to Huntington. I had never before ridden Huntington, a nice quiet road with a few ups and downs leading to Valencia.

A short leg along Valencia led to the well-worn Day Valley to Freedom. We headed down Freedom, briefly on Corralitos, Varni and Amesti to lunch on Corona Ct. There was salmon and various salads for lunch. I took a picture before leaving after lunch.

The long route option, which I was riding, had most of its climbing, such as it was, after lunch. I headed out in a small group along Amesti and Pioneer. On the rollers of Pioneer, I got ahead of all of them except one guy. I gradually gained on him on Green Valley, and continued on when he stopped at the Hazel Dell intersection. I headed off on my own up Hazel Dell and down Browns Valley to Corralitos, up and down Hames, along Freedom and Soquel. I saw the four tandems between Aptos and Capitola.

From Capitola, I took East Cliff, went around the yacht harbor, and took the river paths through Santa Cruz, up Potrero to High St, then up the steep end of Highland. I took a picture at the hairpin in the middle of the climb. At the end of the ride, there was dessert. The apple pie and apple cobbler were quickly finished.

Since it was still chilly, I headed home soon afterwards. But, before leaving, I took a picture of three of the tandems.