28 July 2007

Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge Workers' Ride

Big Basin HQ The ride was to start in Scotts Valley from 7:45-8, so I intended on getting on the road at 7:15, but sudden sharp abdominal cramps just as I was getting set to go caused me to consider skipping the ride. Ten minutes later, I was feeling better, so I headed out into the thick fog, which became almost a drizzle as I headed up Glen Canyon.

I got to the start after 8, so most of the riders had already left. After getting signed in, I headed out on Bean Creek with two fast guys. We overtook a large group at the end of Bean Creek, and a scattering of others up Mountain Charlie, where we climbed out of the fog. On Riva Ridge, we caught up to and joined two more for Hutchinson, Summit, and Skyline. Around Black, another group caught up to us, so I wound up in a group of five. This was a supported ride, so there was a rest stop at Castle Rock, which we didn't expect. We slowed, but wound up continuing on.

We headed down Hwy 9 and Hwy 236. After the China Grade intersection, I fell behind on the descent. It was much cooler in Big Basin, but it was not fogged up. We were joined by a handful of riders, and at least one of them would head up Jamison Creek with us. Since they seemed antsy to get going, I didn't get anything but water, which I regretted when going up Jamison Creek, as I would get something full of sugar every other time on this route. My legs were already sore, but we soon headed out. I was a ways behind the main group, though within sight when approaching Little Basin. Then, on the descent after Little Basin, I was behind a car that was behind a van that rode the brakes all the way down. So I had to be on the brakes constantly. After the road flattened out near the China Grade intersection, I pulled out of the lane and a bunch more cars passed me, getting in line behind the van.

I rejoined the group that was stopped at the fire station at the bottom of Jamison. The clock just turned to 11:21 when I started up the climb. On the climb, I felt pretty weak, having not eaten much in the last four plus hours. I had been counting on getting something somewhere along the ride, if not at the Big Basin Headquarters. I was thinking that I'd bonk before getting to the top. The dead skunk on the 1.33 sign was still there. When I did get to the top, the clock turned to 11:52, so the climb took around 31 minutes, but the GPS refused to get a signal until after 11:55, so I adjusted the start time of the climb in my records to make the climb time closer to 31 minutes.

Along Empire Grade, I stopped at the prison for some water, then, a little later, on the side of the road where the group, who went ahead of me on Jamison, was stopped at a support truck with food and drink. I got a banana and filled my bottle with some iced-tea flavored energy drink. I dumped the approximate time of those two stops into a fictional stop at the top of Jamison in my records. There were two options for the ride: a 100 mile route, and a 65 mile route. By this time, I was certain that I was doing the shorter route. Three in our group were going to continue on the 100 mile route, while two others and I would roll down Empire Grade back to town.

21 July 2007

Roaming to Aromas and on to San Juan Bautista

San Juan Hwy It was already sunny when I got started at 7:30. The club ride was starting from Kirby Park at 9:15, so I headed out on Soquel. At first, the sun was right in my eyes, but by the time I was going by Cabrillo, it had moved to my left enough to not be a problem. After Soquel, I continued on San Andreas, going by farm workers and the smell of strawberries, then Thurwachter, McGowan, Trafton, Salinas, and Elkhorn to Kirby Park.

I got signed in. There was a decent turnout, though I wouldn't see most of them much after the ride started. A few others also rode to the start, including the three that I would be riding with for most of the ride. Since I didn't really know the route, I got a route sheet. The longest ride option included a climb up to Fremont Peak.

We started down Elkhorn, then up Hidden Valley, which I had never ridden before. On the climb up Hidden Valley, I wound up in a group of four in front. We continued on Strawberry, San Miguel Canyon, Tarpey, San Juan, Aromas, and Blohm to Aromas, stopping at the market. There was also a group of motorcyclists there. I got a lemonade. It was turning out to be a moderately hot day. Our ride leader arrived just before we headed out.

We passed by a couple other riders on the ride on Carpenteria before heading up Carr and Anzar, then taking San Juan Hwy into San Juan Bautista, where we stopped. It was around 11, a bit early for lunch, so I got a mini sandwich and a 32oz PowerAde, since they were on sale for 89 cents. The bottle of PowerAde was big, but, as it was a hot day, I finished it. During lunch, the sound of drums came from a little parade along The Alameda. It was too far for me to see much of it, and going out to get a better look meant getting out of the shade. Since we all had ridden to the Kirby Park and were going to ride back home afterwards, we decided not to go up to Fremont Peak.

After lunch, we started backtracking through San Juan Bautista, stopping for 10 minutes or so for water and restrooms. There was an outdoor antique market there. While we were stopped, most of the rest of the riders on the ride were arriving. Then, we headed off, backtracking back to Aromas. At San Juan Rd, however, since we were headed back to town, we turned right instead of backtracking all the way to Kirby Park as the route sheet indicated.

We took Murphy Crossing across the county line, then Hwy 129, Carleton, and Thompson. On Thompson, we discovered that a rear tire had some kind of sidewall flaw. After looking at it for a couple minutes, we decided it would probably hold up for the rest of the ride and to ride carefully. He had taken the descent of Carr pretty fast on that tire.

We continued on Carleton and Casserly, and I was tired and my right hip was tightening up at times, so I dropped back a few times, but the others slowed down and let me catch back up. At times, the metal plate felt dislocated, which a feeling I had often on my first ride since my injury, especially when standing. Normally, I wouldn't feel the plate that much these days, so it must be because I was so tired.

On Casserly, we decided to take Hazel Dell, and, on that climb, I fell way back. But, the others were waiting at the summit. On the descent to Corralitos, I fell back again, but rejoined the others at Corralitos, where we got water. We also discovered that another rear tire had a nasty cut in it, much worse looking that the first tire. In the end, we didn't do anything about that except to ride carefully on that as well. A couple of women rode up, one on an Orbea time-trial bike, and the other on a Pinarello. The Pinarello was the same model, F4:13, I think, as the one in our group, and they both had Record. The woman's had a smaller frame, and was pink rather than black, and had Speedplays rather than Looks. They headed out to Hazel Dell, and we headed up Hames, continuing onto Day Valley.

On Valencia, the guy on the cut tire was far behind, so we turned around and headed back up Day Valley. Sure enough, he had gotten a flat, so he fixed it and booted the tire with a dollar bill. Then, we started off again back to Valencia and Trout Gulch to Aptos Village, then onto Soquel back to town. I was tired and was dropping back again. Then, on the descent to Soquel, I got aero and caught up with and went by the others before stopping at the light at Porter. On the ensuing climb, I dropped back again, of course, but got caught back up at the stoplights. Somewhere after Dominican, the others turned off and I continued by myself. I was so hot and tired, I took the climb up High embarrassingly slowly.

14 July 2007

Eureka Canyon

Branciforte It was cool and foggy near the coast in the morning. I put on the windbreaker that I had just gotten and headed out to Capitola to join the club ride scheduled to start at 9. I had to stop for lots of red lights on Soquel Ave and Capitola Rd. I made it to the start of the ride and got signed in. There was a nice turnout for this ride, as usual for the Eureka Canyon ride.

Instead of the usual route through Capitola, then up to Park and McGregor, we headed up to Soquel, then by Cabrillo to Aptos Village, then took the usual Trout Gulch, Valencia, Cox, Day Valley route, then down Freedom to the next stop. It was sunny on Cox and Day Valley, so I unzipped my windbreaker, which turned into a parachute on the descents.

The faster group today was more antsy to get going, so we headed off soon after the slower riders arrived. In the past, we'd wait, then ride the lower part of Eureka Canyon at a more leisurely pace before pushing the pace somewhere between one third and halfway in. So, this time, the pace was faster at the lower part of Eureka Canyon. Then, about halfway in, a lone guy on a Specialized blew by. Then, the two fastest guys upped their pace and the group split up. I was in no shape to even try to keep up, so I was the fourth to the regroup at the top. The climb took 41:32, not too far from my previous and best time of 41:06. However, the previous time had leisurely riding at the bottom part, followed by hard riding to the top, so the faster pace today on the lower part masks the slower times that should have resulted from my loss of fitness. It was also getting quite warm, and the climb had me breathing pretty hard.

The regroup at the top was shorter than usual, and we headed off before any of the slower riders arrived. I had to fall back on the climbs on Highland and was sixth to the next stop at the Summit Market. I got a sandwich and a coke. I had just barely finished the sandwich when the faster group decided to get going. At least it would start with a long descent, and, in the pack, it would be a new personal best for me down Soquel-San Jose to Laurel Glen.

Then came the little climb up Laurel Glen, while still digesting the sandwich. At least everyone else was pretty tired too, so I was second to the top. From there, four guys would take Rodeo Gulch, while two others and I would head down Mountain View and Branciforte back to town.

7 July 2007

Boulder Creek, Big Basin and Skyline

Skyline and Bear Creek Rd The club ride was starting at 9 from Boulder Creek, so I got started around 8. It was cool with thick cloud cover, but the forecast for the mountains was warm and sunny, so I dressed lightly. On Hwy 9 and at Felton, I was joined by a couple of guys also doing the ride. It was a struggle to hang onto their wheels, but I made much better time than I would have by myself.

At Boulder Creek, it was warm and sunny, and there was a pretty good turnout of about 20 for the ride. We headed out on Park, then Hwy 236. After China Grade, the pace picked up, and I couldn't keep up, but we regrouped at the start of Lodge. We continued on Lodge, the middle part of which reminded me of Pipeline Rd in Henry Cowell. At one spot after the road widened and smoothed out, a truck was blocking most of the road, with a worker doing something like chainsawing tree trunks. Near the end, there was a big group of hikers. One of them had a video camera and pointed it at the cyclists as we went by. We stopped and took a break at the park headquarters. It was a bit chilly and cloudy there.

We continued up Escape, which had, a third to a half of the way in, a gate barring car traffic. There was also very little room to get around it, so, one by one, we went around it to the left. There were a bunch of steep little climbs, and, once again, I couldn't keep up with the fast guys. After the gate to Hwy 236, we regrouped. (I moved six minutes that I stopped at the regroup to China Grade in the GPS data. We didn't stop at China Grade.) On the descents after China Grade, I didn't have the confidence to take the turns quickly, and fell way back. We regrouped at the intersection with Hwy 9. On the climb up to Skyline, I again could not keep up with the fast guys, but did the climb in about 34 minutes, which was much better than the last two times, which took about 44 minutes and 39 minutes. However, on the day of my injury, I did it in 30 minutes. We regrouped at the top. I was disappointed that the hot dog stand wasn't there. I would have expected it to be there around midday on a nice Saturday.

Continuing on Skyline, I was able to keep the fast guys in sight until a bit after Black, when my cautious descending dropped me way back. We regrouped at Bear Creek. I took a picture there. After our break, two guys headed left to descend Mtn Charlie. The rest of us headed right, to descend back to Boulder Creek. There were lots of cyclists climbing Bear Creek.

At Boulder Creek, I got a coke at the gas station and took a break to drink it near the post office. Then, I headed out on Hwy 236. It was 2:43 when I started up at the bottom of Jamison Creek. The dead skunk was still on the 1.33 sign. I got to the top at 3:15, and the GPS data showed a time of 32:34. Last week, I did the climb in 33:12, so I've gotten past the point where big improvements are easy.

After turning left onto Empire Grade, I was pretty wiped out, and took it easy for the rest of the ride. At one point, I was trying to shift from big ring to the small ring and dropped the chain. I then shifted back into the big ring, then tried to shift back to the small ring, and the chain jammed somehow. I was afraid I would fall, but I got unclipped and got off the bike. It seems that a couple of links were somehow stuck to the teeth on the big ring, so when they were supposed to release from the chainring, they prevented the crank from turning. How odd. I pulled the chain off the chainring and got it on the small ring.

After passing the UCSC west entrance, somewhere near the arboretum, a bus passed close to me, its wake knocking me a foot to the right. Due to that, I hoped the three-foot law would get passed and signed.

I pretty much coasted from the UCSC west entrance back home. I was almost as tired as I was after Wednesday's ride.

4 July 2007

BikeForums 4th of July Ride

Hwy 9 and Skyline I got an early start and headed out at 6:30. It was a little chilly as I headed up Hwy 9. Since hot weather was forecast in the mountains, I dressed lightly. And, above Boulder Creek, it warmed up and even seemed slightly humid. My leg felt noticeably better than it did on my last ride just three days ago. My pedal stroke was much more even, and I could stand on the pedals while coasting much more comfortably.

I got to the top of Hwy 9 and joined the BikeForums group when they arrived. After getting acquainted and some small talk, we headed out and stopped at the fire station. I topped off my water bottle. After the break, we continued on Skyline to the top of Page Mill, where everyone else decided to cut the ride short and turn right and head down. I continued on Skyline. At one point, although there was a solid double yellow stripe down the middle of the road, an oncoming car crossed over to pass another car. Fortunately, it completed the pass pretty far ahead of me, unlike the similar situation three days ago where the oncoming passing car was side-by-side with the car it was passing as they passed by me.

At Sky Londa, I turned left and headed down Hwy 84. The final few miles had the usual headwind, which was damp and chilly, and there were patches of fog around the hills near the coast. I stopped at San Gregorio and got a soda at the store and ate a snack. It was warm and sunny in front of the store, but, just a short ways over on Hwy 84, there was the chilly wind from the coast. It was a little before noon when I continued on 84 to Hwy 1, where I turned left.

When I got to the tracks at Davenport, I slowed down, and safely crossed square on.

I started feeling weak and hungry less than a mile from Santa Cruz, and had to slow down. The final climb up Western was a struggle.

1 July 2007

First substantial ride since my injury

South end of Skyline I got a late start, but still decided to go on a ride that wasn't a short ride like I had been doing. It was another warm, sunny day. Another great day to be outdoors. I wanted to see how long it would take to climb Hwy 9. Prior to my injury, it was taking around 2 hours from home, and about 65 minutes from Boulder Creek. This time, it took about 2 and half hours, and about 85 minutes from Boulder Creek. I think where I've lost the most are on the not-so-steep climbs.

Here are the situations that I've found I've been doing the worst:

• Starting from a stop: a minor effect on my times
• Climbing while seated: this is where I lose the most time
• Unweighting the saddle on rough roads: this causes me to take descents much more cautiously
• Unclipping my right foot: I used to put my right foot down at stops. Now I have to use my left foot, but adjusting to that wasn't difficult. However, I did unclip my right foot four times in the course of this ride, and it was painful each time, as my leg still didn't have the strength to twist my foot out of the pedal.

Note that I wasn't having much difficultly climbing while standing.

The upper part of Hwy 9 was accompanied by the sound of an almost constant barrage of distant gunshots, presumably from the Los Altos Rod and Gun Club. After getting to the top of Hwy 9, I unclipped my right foot for the first time, and stopped for a break, getting a coke at the hot dog stand. There were the usual crowds of motorcyclists, a few road cyclists, and a couple of mountain bikers. After finishing my coke, I continued south on Skyline.

At one point on the two-lane road, an oncoming white car moved into my lane to pass another car. I slowed to a crawl. The motorist ignored me and continued making the pass. The two cars were side by side as the passed me. I yelled "Don't do that" as they passed. The motorist probably didn't hear me. What a jerk.

The sound of gunfire reappeared and got louder as I passed the gun club entrance, then eventually faded in the distance.

Between Black and Bear Creek, there were a handful of cyclists headed the other way. I stopped at the end of Skyline, unclipping my right foot for the second time as a group of motorcyclists stopped briefly at the Bear Creek and Skyline intersection before heading north on Skyline. I took a picture and then continued down Bear Creek Road back to Boulder Creek.

At Boulder Creek, I stopped at the gas station, unclipping my right foot for the third time, and got a coke. After finishing the coke, I headed out on Hwy 236. It was 4:05 when I got to the bottom of Jamison Creek. There was still a skunk on the 1.33 sign. I gave it a wide berth, but still got a brief whiff. It was 4:38 when I got to the top, with the downloaded GPS track showing a time of 33:12. Last week, it took 38:15 with about 35 less miles on my legs, so that's a pretty good improvement. The time was not too far off of my pre-injury times on this climb, although still over 6 minutes slower than my best time, so I've been doing pretty well climbing while standing.

Finally, I took Empire Grade back home. There were many rough and bumpy descents, and, for the first time, I found my saddle uncomfortable. The final descent, beginning at the sign warning of 8-14% grades, was smooth, though. And, typically, there was a car a little ways behind me as I started that descent, and I left it behind on the twists of the descent. It caught up and passed me on the little climb after the bridge. By the west UCSC entrance, the road widened, and the trees thinned out, giving a view of the bay to the right. Soon, I was home and unclipped my right foot for the fourth time.

Today, I also found the SRAM rear shifter a bit annoying. About half of the time when I wanted to downshift, I'd press the lever until I was in the gear I wanted, then it would upshift when I released the lever. I think I tried holding the lever for a while, then releasing it quickly, and I don't think that helped. I think pulling the lever towards the bar while pressing it to the left might have helped, but it was hard to tell.

I also remembered that if the shift wasn't clean, I'd sometimes, without thinking, push the lever in a little to nudge the chain over a bit, and it would upshift, which was not what I wanted. The nudging of the shifters worked pretty well with Shimano shifters for cleaning up shifts. Today, though, the shifting was always pretty clean, having just been adjusted by the shop, so that didn't happen.