17 February 2007

Solo ride

Foothill Blvd It was a warm, sunny day, so there were lots of people out and on the roads. Lots of cars, motorcycles, and cyclists. I decided to ride a route with some places I'd never ridden before. De Anza and Stevens Creek sucked, having lots of traffic, lots of stoplights. I was surprised by the little climb on Stevens Creek just before Foothill, though. Sand Hill Rd, with its rolling hills that I didn't expect, was pretty challenging, as I was trying to keep up with a guy on a Trek who later dropped me about a third of the way up Old La Honda.

I started up Hwy 9. Initially, it was kind of cold under the tree cover in the morning. At the railway tracks, I overtook a cyclist with a little dog in her backpack. It warmed up on the climb up to Saratoga Gap. Near the top, bunches of cyclists were descending. I reached the top less than two hours after starting out, which probably a new personal best. My new bike helped for that. I had a new personal best on the descent to Saratoga as well. There were lots of cyclists climbing, as well as heavy car traffic headed up from Saratoga. There were also lots of huge packs of motorcycles. I stopped at the 76 station and got an orangeade.

The next few miles through Saratoga and Cupertino weren't very enjoyable, with lots of car traffic and stoplights. That's Silicon Valley, I guess. It got better once I got onto Foothill, where there were lots of cyclists headed in both directions. I took a picture. Oops. I didn't realize I had a finger in front of the lens. I saw a guy on a short-wheel-base recumbent zooming in the opposite direction on Foothill. I turned left at Sand Hill, and burned more energy than I should have trying to keep up with a guy on a Trek. I turned left on Portola, then headed up Old La Honda. After overtaking a few cyclists, the guy on the Trek dropped me about a third of the way up. There were also numerous cars headed downhill. Why weren't they taking Hwy 84? I made it to the top in 28 minutes. I'd like to do it in under 25 minutes some day, but I guess I'd need fresh legs for that, which would be difficult, since I'd have to ride 50 miles or so to get there from home. I continued to Sky Londa, where I got a Sprite and then sat on a bench and ate a bar. I was in the sun, and it was uncomfortably warm. There were lots of motorcycles as well as a number cyclists. Two cyclists sat near me, and I overheard one of them saying, among other things, that he didn't need any more climbing and was going to head down through Portola Valley, giving him 40 miles. I mentally laughed a little, as I had already ridden about 60 miles, with about 55 more to go.

After having been in the sun, the initial descent on west Hwy 84 was chilly under the tree cover. There were three cyclists waiting at the end of Old La Honda. I guess that's a popular regroup point, as there were cyclists waiting there the last time I rode by. I zipped by the red barn, and continued through La Honda, turning left at Pescadero Rd. As I headed up Haskins Hill, from time to time, I saw glimpses of a cyclist in a yellow jersey far ahead of me. Mostly, the road was too twisty to see him, though. At the summit, a woman was waiting on her bike on the other side of the road. As I passed by, she said, "You did it." On the subsequent descent, there were a few cyclists climbing. I guess the woman was waiting for them. A little before Loma Mar, I caught up to the guy in the yellow jersey. He was riding a Look. We swapped pulls for a few miles. Then, I dropped back, since the pace was higher than I felt I could maintain, and there was a slight headwind.


Pescadero I stopped at Pescadero and took a picture. Again, I didn't notice my finger in front of the lens. I got an orange soda at the market. There were lots of cars parked on Stage Rd. There was even a car with a consulate license plate or something like that. After resting for a while, I got going at about quarter to three, so I was sure I'd be home before five.

I decided to take Bean Hollow, which I had only ridden once before. After that, there was a nice tailwind on Hwy 1. A little after north Swanton, my right calf cramped momentarily. Immediately afterwards, my left calf cramped hard. I started to stop, and stretched the calf. I didn't stop, but my left calf had an incipient cramp for the remainder of the ride, which I tried to alleviate by stretching it from time to time. I also tried licking the sweat from my upper lip hoping the salt would help, but it probably didn't. At Western, I turned left and headed home. At least the cramp never threatened when I was climbing hard.