24 February 2007

Club Ride led by the Race Team

Jade St Park It was a chilly, overcast day, and the forecasts called for rain later in the day, so I put on an extra layer, leg warmers, gloves, and headed out on my old bike. The repaving of Soquel was finished, which made it much smoother and faster, and the addition of bike lanes was a nice bonus. The ride was scheduled to start from Jade St Park at 9, and I got there at a quarter to, and signed in. I didn't take a route sheet, as I knew the route pretty well. I rode a very similar route on 24 April 2005. There was a huge turnout, with lots of people I had never seen before. I guess a lot were with the race team. I took a picture from behind the sign in table.

When we started, I was riding in the biggest pack I'd ever ridden in. There were a number of curious or supportive onlookers. There were also two motorists that leaned on their horns while passing, so they had their horns going for quite a while. Too bad they didn't drain their batteries. The pace started off at a slow warmup. On McGregor, a tandem and another guy went off the front, so I half-heartedly went after them. Without the pack, and the tandem ahead and out of sight, I and two other guys took Spreckels down to Rio del Mar rather than heading through Seacliff State Beach. We rejoined the pack at the bottom of Rio del Mar. The climb up Rio del Mar split up the pack, and I rode with the group in front to Seascape, where we stopped for a regroup at the bus stop just before San Andreas.


View from Hazel Dell summit It was a big pack again headed along San Andreas. I rode near the front, so I didn't see the pack splitting up, and I didn't see those riding the short route turning off at Buena Vista. We rode to the end of San Andreas and stopped at the start of Thurwachter to regroup. We continued along Beach through Watsonville, crossing over to Lake at Hushbeck, then turned left at Casserly. After zipping along Casserly, it was a smaller group that headed up Mt Madonna Rd. On the climb up to Hazel Dell, two guys put on the hurt, but I managed to stay with them for the time being. After Hazel Dell passed Green Valley, though, I couldn't keep up, as one of them rode away from the other, and they both rode away from me. At the summit, we stopped to regroup. I took a picture. A few motorcycles went by. A group of three cyclists went by. After a pack of motorcycles passed through, we continued without waiting for the rest of the group. It was a fast descent to Corralitos, and we overtook the group of three cyclists from before just before Hazel Dell became Browns Valley.

In front of Corralitos Market and Sausage, girl scouts were selling cookies. Some riders bought some. One enterprising little girl tried to sell some more by saying they wouldn't melt in pockets. One guy got a wad of meat from the market. It was like a sandwich without bread or anything other than the meat. Most of the riders were doing the medium route, which headed back from Corralitos. I was in a group of seven doing the long route, which headed up Eureka Canyon. There might have been others that headed up Eureka Canyon -- I saw two of them descending in an out-and-back up Eureka Canyon, but I didn't see any others. About three quarters of the way up, a light on-and-off drizzle started. I was the second one to the regroup at Ormsby, being unable to keep up with the first guy. At the regroup, we decided to skip the lunch stop at the Summit Market.

The on-and-off drizzle continued on Highland, and the road was wet. I got splashed whenever I followed a wheel. Finally, I got behind a strong guy on a mountain bike with fenders who was sitting on the wheel of the fast guy. Eventually, I couldn't keep up and dropped back a little. After Mt Bache, I caught back up and sat in their draft for the descent down the remainder of Highland. We turned left at Soquel-San Jose, and I continued sitting in their draft for the fast descent. I hardly had to pedal as I took this descent faster than I ever had before. The on-and-off drizzle was more off than on. After Laurel Glen, the road flattened, and I couldn't keep up with the other two, so I rode by myself the rest of the way.

At Soquel, I stopped and got a can of Coke at Hernandez Market. The rain got slightly stronger than a drizzle as I got going, but then it soon stopped, and that was the last of the rain. Approaching the turn to Harbor High, I started catching up to a cyclist, but fell behind after hitting a couple of red lights. I caught up to him at a red light at Morrissey and saw that he was riding a fixie. I think he didn't even have a front brake. Later, I caught up to three cyclists stopped at the red at Mission and Hwy 1. They also turned at Highland and then headed up High. I overtook them on the climb up High, even though my legs were cooked from trying to keep up with the fast guys on the climbs up Hazel Dell and Eureka Canyon.