17 March 2007

Eureka Canyon

Cox Rd It was foggy when I started out to Jade St Park, where the club ride was to start at 9. There was a moderate turnout, and the fog was thicker as I signed in. I started out coasting slowly, but then hammered up the little climb on Monterey Ave to Park Ave to join up with a tandem and two other guys. I turned left at Trout Gulch with the tandem and one guy. The other guy continued on Soquel to Freedom, which was the shorter option. We continued on Valencia, then turned left onto Cox. I got out my camera phone and took a picture. Just after taking the picture, the road steepened and the tandem dropped back. After the summit, the other guy slowed, so I went ahead. With the pace in my hands, I hammered down Day Valley and Freedom to the stop at Pony Espresso, which was formerly 5 Mile House. The fog was so thick, my glasses got covered with water droplets.

More people were joining the ride at the stop. Riders started trickling out, and eventually I went. I took it very easy on Corralitos Rd, but kicked up the pace once I hit the bottom of Eureka Canyon and started catching groups of riders. Eventually, I settled in with three other guys, while another guy had disappeared off the front. Finally, we were out of the fog. A little before Koinonia, one of the guys and I went ahead, eventually pushing a very hard pace. We managed to catch up to the guy who went ahead earlier at about 100 yards from the top. Up in the mountains, the sky was blue and it was warm and sunny. This was the first time I climbed Eureka Canyon on my new bike, and, thanks to the motivation of the chase, I got a new best of around 41 minutes, two minutes better than my previous best.

A little later, the other two guys came riding up. Three or four groups of mountain bikers came riding by. Eventually, we decided to get going instead of waiting any longer for any of the others to show up. Looking left from Highland, I could see the fog blanketing the coast. After Spanish Ranch and Mt Bache was the fast descent to the Summit Market, where I got a sandwich and a coke. Several other groups of cyclists stopped there as well. I hung around there for a long time to let the fog on the coast burn off. I saw someone ride up on a carbon Ibis (same as my new bike) for the first time. Eventually, I headed out and joined two others for a while. However, since I was leaving them behind by simply coasting, I tried to see how far I could coast. I managed to make it through two of the little upgrades without having to pedal, and then made it to almost the 6.91 marker before finally coming to a stop and having to pedal. I coasted much of the rest of the way to Casalegno's, where I stopped and waited for the other two. After chatting with them a little, I headed up Laurel Glen, while they continued to Soquel.

I went up Laurel Glen, down Mountain View and Branciforte, and then headed home.