31 August 2007

Stanford Hospital

Blake Wilbur Clinic Since I had a doctor appointment and X-rays at Stanford today, I took the day off. I decided to ride there and back, and figured I could get there in under 4 hours. I hoped that I wouldn't be stuck waiting in the waiting rooms for so long that I wouldn't be able to ride back before dark, as, last time, I was there for over 4 hours.

Also, I originally planned on taking Pierce, Mt Eden, and Stevens Canyon from Hwy 9 to Foothill, but, due to wildfires between Montebello and Redwood Gulch, Stevens Canyon was closed yesterday. So I decided to take another route from Hwy 9 to Foothill, heading up Saratoga-Sunnyvale and taking one or another of the roads leading to Foothill. I wound up going into Cupertino and taking Stevens Creek.

I got up early, and headed out before 7am on my old bike with toeclips, since I didn't want to walk around the hospital in cleats. This would be the first time I would ride on Hwy 9 on a real weekday, and, just like on the weekends, there was lots of traffic between Felton and Boulder Creek. I even saw the light by San Lorenzo High red for the first time. Beyond Boulder Creek, the traffic was light, just like on the weekends. My hip bothered me quite a bit, so it took me about 2:10 of total time to get to the top, which was a few minutes more than I expected.

On the way down, I saw a bunch of Porsches and a cop car stopped in a turnout. At Redwood Gulch, there was a sign saying the road was closed. At Saratoga, I turned left onto Saratoga-Sunnyvale, and took that giant road lined with strip malls up to Stevens Creek, and turned left. I turned right at Foothill, and the first four traffic lights turned yellow just as I approached. How annoying. Finally, the fifth one stayed green.

I turned right at Alpine, then right onto Sand Hill, then right onto Pasteur, and headed to the orthopedic clinic. There weren't as many people there as the last time, so it all took less than two hours. The doctor said my X-rays looked good -- my bones and the screws hadn't shifted around. I guess the bone was healing too. I should make another appointment in about 6 months.

I was hot and sunny when I started back. I took Sand Hill and Portola to Old La Honda. It was 12:57 when I turned onto Old La Honda. Despite the shade, it was pretty hot on Old La Honda. There was some traffic on the bottom part, about 8 cars. There was only 1 car after the one-lane road sign. It was 1:25 when I got to the top, so my time, which was 27:43, was about the same as my last time, which was 28:00. I turned right at Skyline, then left at 84 and headed down to the coast.

After La Honda, I faced cool coastal headwinds. They were slightly chilling, but it was also sunny. With my hip bothering me, I didn't feel like going hard into the headwinds, so I was going pretty slowly. Finally, I got to San Gregorio and stopped for a break. I got a 7up at the store.

When I got to Hwy 1, it was overcast. The sign said 38 miles to Santa Cruz, and I was tired. There was somewhat of a tailwind, but it wasn't much help. The windsock after Waddell was at about 70-80 degrees, sometimes sagging down to under 45 degrees, sometimes picking up briefly to 90 degrees. I guess it was windy enough, as there were a half dozen or so kite surfers at Waddell. After Dimeo, on the hill to the left, I noticed 6 or 7 cattle lined up and walking slowly north along a fence. I saw a calf about 50 yards behind that group also by the fence.

Finally, I got to Western, and, as usual, had to run the light to turn left, and headed up the hill.