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.