3 September 2007

Labor Day Ride

Pierce at Vintage It was sunny, but a little chilly when I started. I headed up Hwy 9 just as I did three days earlier, but felt quite a bit better. I only felt two or three twinges in my hip, rather than constantly having to hold back as I did before. So I made it to the top in about 2:02 from the start, which is a normal time for me, and much better than the 2:10 of 3 days earlier. I rolled down to Pierce, then headed up and stopped at Vintage at the top at 9:06 and waited for the group. I ate a snack and was constantly harassed by bugs buzzing around my head and my legs.

Finally, the group rolled by and I got to see the BF NorCal jersey for the first time in person. So I joined the group and went back down Pierce, then back up Hwy 9. I followed wheels all the way to the top. An Alto Velo group passed by early in the climb, and late in the climb, we almost caught up to the stragglers in that group. At the top, we stopped and chatted for a few minutes, then decided to head over to the fire station.

We regrouped at the fire station, and that was the only time I saw pretty much the whole group, which was pretty impressive at, I imagine, over 25 riders. There were excellent cookies from the couple driving SAG. Group pictures were taken. One guy was stung by a bee. People decided whether to head down Page Mill or 84. I didn't hear any talk of continuing to Kings Mountain. I had decided that if nobody was going on to 84 or beyond, I would head down Alpine, then over Haskins to Pescadero. More than half of the group opted to head down 84, so I decided to go on to 84.

The descent of Skyline is always more fun in a pack, and this was no exception. We stopped at Page Mill to decide again whether to go down Page Mill or 84. More pictures were taken. I think most decided to continue to 84. We regrouped at Sky Londa. When the group headed down to the valley, I said goodbye and headed the other direction down to the coast by myself.

After La Honda, there was a chilly headwind as usual. I stopped at San Gregorio for a snack and a coke. After the break, I continued to Hwy 1, where there was a lot of traffic, so I had to wait a while before I could make the left turn. After the initial ups and downs flattened out a little, the tailwind started kicking in, which was nice. There were lots of kite surfers at Waddell. The wind sock wasn't indicating a terribly strong wind, but it was holding steady at about 85 degrees. The wind picked up around the descent to Scott Creek, and I probably hit 50mph there. The wind remained strong through Davenport, and I regretfully slowed for the track crossing. I was feeling a lot better than I did riding Hwy 1 from Hwy 84 to Santa Cruz 3 days earlier at this point. I had a few twinges in my hip, but it didn't bother me much, unlike earlier. Then, around the entrance to Wilder, I bonked. I had no energy in my legs and was feeling light-headed, yet ravenous. I managed the climb up Western by going much slower than usual.