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.