10 March 2007

Kirby Park to Monterey

Monterey County Bike Path The club ride to Monterey had various starting places -- Aptos, Kirby Park, Pezzini's Market, and Marina -- so I headed to Aptos, the closest one, which had the earliest start time of 8am. It was early, so it was cooler than I liked, and the sun was low and in my face almost all the way to Aptos, as I was riding eastward. On Soquel Ave between Morrissey and Dominican, I had to stop at a bunch of gratuitous red lights, many of which didn't even have any cross traffic. I thought for a while that I might not make it to Aptos on time, but I did. There was only one guy there for the ride, though there were a few mountain bikers, presumably headed up Nisene Marks. We waited for a while, then decided to get going. Since he didn't remember the way to Kirby Park, I took the lead. Ironically, he lives in La Selva Beach, along the way. Just as we started to go, one more guy showed up, and the three of us headed to Kirby Park. It was still cool in the shade, but it was warming up comfortably in the sun. There might have been a slight headwind, but we rode at a good pace, making it to Kirby Park about an hour.

There were only a few riders at Kirby Park, but the start time from there was 9:30, so there was still 25 minutes or so. We got signed in and looked at pictures from a trip to Chile for Cyclists for Cultural Exchange that some of the riders went on a couple of weeks ago. More riders arrived. A pack of racers went by on Elkhorn just as they did 23 December 2006, the last time I went on this ride. Though I guess the racers ride by every week on a regular training loop.

The ride leader gave a brief speech, and warned of a short stretch along the freeway at Castroville, and then we started off. By the end of Elkhorn, I was in the lead group with the two guys who rode from Aptos and one more guy. A little after getting off the freeway in Castroville, and about a mile or two before Pezzini's, one guy got a flat. I stopped, since, last week, he asked if he could borrow my pump if he got a flat. The other two were a ways ahead, so they continued. As he replaced his tube, a group of five or so on the ride passed by. So, this would be the first time my frame pump would be used. We continued to Pezzini's, where there were three or four riders getting ready. Everyone else had already left. The guy who had the flat asked around to see if anyone had a floor pump, and I headed out in time-trial mode to catch up to the group. I took Monte, then followed the bike path, at a pace of 18-20mph. On the path, somewhere between Marina and Sand City, I was catching up to a pack of cyclists, so I took out my camera and took a picture, but they were still too far away to show up in the picture. The pack was my group, with the addition of riders who started at Pezzini's and Marina.


Approaching Monterey On the approach to Monterey, I took another picture. Part of the group stopped for lunch at Pino's in Monterey, while others went to Goodies in Pacific Grove. I got a sandwich at Pino's. After lunch, I joined a small group that continued along the crowded path by Cannery Row to Lover's Point. Then, instead of continuing to Asilomar, we stopped at Goodies. Instead of stopping there, two others, the guy who was at Aptos on a Giant and a woman who started from Kirby Park on a Calfee, and I decided to head back, so we got back to the path and backtracked and rode together all the way back to Elkhorn Rd. On the bike path on Castroville Blvd, the Giant got a flat, so we stopped for about 10 minutes to put on the spare. He had tubulars. At Elkhorn, the guy on the Giant continued on Castroville Blvd, and, on Elkhorn, the woman on the Calfee was tired and dropped back.

Beyond Kirby Park, I started facing a little headwind. On Salinas Rd, the headwind got stronger, and was quite strong on Trafton. I was only going 12-13mph. On San Andreas, the headwind wasn't as strong, and, after the initial little climb, I got my pace up a little. By then, I was getting quite hungry, and I decided to stop at Soquel. On the little climb after Spreckels to State Park, I was pretty weak, so, while I rode by Cabrillo, I ate the remaining half bar that I started eating at Kirby Park in the morning, and I felt a little better. At Soquel, I got a Pepsi at Hernandez Market. That helped revive me. On the climb towards 41st St, I gained ground on a cyclist in a yellow jersey. There were lots of red lights from Dominican all the way to downtown Santa Cruz, so I caught up to the cyclist, who was riding a Serotta, at each red light. Our paths coincided until I turned off of Mission at Highland.

Some time after getting home, I found that my calves were painfully sunburned. Next time, I'll make sure to use sunscreen.