6 December 2008

Jamison Creek

I went on another short ride to climb Jamison Creek for December. It was warm in the sun, but slightly chilly in the shade. There was somewhat of a headwind on Hwy 9. I took the slight variation of Glen Arbor into Ben Lomond. At Boulder Creek, there was a band playing in front of one of the stores on the right, but there wasn't much of an audience.

It was 2:03 when I started at the bottom of Jamison. The 1.33 sign had the U.S. flag on it, the "Investigate 9/11" sticker on it, and 2 "I voted" stickers on it. There seemed to be more traffic than usual. It was 2:28 when I got to the top. On Empire Grade, the reason for the extra traffic became clear. There was a lot more extra traffic on Empire Grade for the Christmas tree farms, and numerous cars and trucks with trees on their roofs and truck-beds were on the road.

29 November 2008

Alba

It was cool and sunny. I went out for a quick ride to climb Alba. There were still patches of dampness on the road in the shade. I took Hwy 9 to Felton, then headed up Zayante and Quail Hollow and descended Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond. It was 2:05 when I started at the bottom. By the middle of the climb, sweat was getting into my eyes and it was stinging. About 3/4 of the way up, I had to stop to wipe my eyes out. Near the top, sweat was stinging both eyes again, so I had to stop at the top to wipe my eyes again. It was 2:38 when I got to the top, so I was about a minute and half faster than last time. I then took it easy heading down Empire Grade.

22 November 2008

Saturday harbor ride

It was cold and sunny. It was quite cold in the shade. It was warmer in the sun, but there was a lot of shade early on. The sun was low in the east sky, glaring in my eyes. At San Andreas, the pace seemed slow at first. After Manresa, a truck and a gray Prius went by, the Prius had its horn blaring throughout, for at least 10 seconds or so. A little before Sunset Beach, a gap opened ahead when I was at the back of the pack. I was on a wheel, and he made it back to the pack, but I couldn't hold the wheel, and got dropped. The pack receded maddeningly slowly, but I didn't have enough get back on. After the bridge, a group of 4 came by and I hopped on, and got back to the pack after it slowed down on Beach.

It was a small group doing Hazel Dell this week, but it split on Mt Madonna well before the steep climb, and I was at the back of the trailing group. I went to the front of that group. At the steep part, I hammered up. There were 2 Giant Strawberries riders ahead of me. I gradually closed the distance on them up the Hazel Dell climb, catching up a little before the summit, and followed them into Corralitos.

From Corralitos, I headed back solo over Hames, then lollygagged a little heading over Day Valley and Valencia before picking it back up on Soquel between the red lights. It was warmer, but it still got pretty cold in the shade.

15 November 2008

San Juan Bautista

It was windy with a headwind at the start and the sun low in the sky. It was slightly chilly in the shade in the morning. That would change.

I got to Kirby Park and got signed in. We headed out on Elkhorn, Garin, Vega, San Miguel Canyon, San Juan, Aromas and Blohm to Aromas for a break. Then, it was up Carr and Anzar. On the descent, I pushed hard to stay on the wheel of a tandem and it paid off with an easier fast ride on the flat part going into San Juan Bautista.

After lunch, I headed home through Aromas and Corralitos. It was getting very warm, and I was running low on water by the time I got home.

8 November 2008

Low Key Hill Climb Week 6

The Jamison Creek climb would be the only LKHC within easy riding distance, so I had to do it. I headed up Hwy 9 and it was mildly chilly. I took it easy, saving my energy for the climb. At one point there was dead raccoon in the middle of the lane. I got to the start early and got signed up. For the next 30 minutes or so, there were only a handful of riders around. Then a number of large groups started rolling in, starting with a big Bicycle Trip group.

I started near the back of the pack. The pace was quite fast for the not so steep bottom part, and I moved up to somewhere in the middle of the pack by following wheel after wheel. By the time I got to left-hander that started the real climbing, the leaders were long gone. The first photographer was taking pictures just after that curve. The second photographer was somewhere after the 1.66 sign, but definitely before the 1.33 sign, which still had the little US flag on it. I was concentrating too much on the climb to notice any of the other usual details of the 1.33 sign. For most of the rest of the climb, I was either just ahead of or just behind a Bicycle Trip rider on a Santa Cruz. Another Bicycle Trip rider on a Litespeed went by us breathing very loudly over the course of the last mile or so. With about 80 yards to go, the Santa Cruz rider blew by me with his sprint. With about 40 yards to go, I started my weak little sprint for the finish and shouted out my number. I had no idea what my time was.

After about 15 minutes of recovery, I headed home on Empire Grade. It was warmer than in the morning and my legs felt pretty good. There was a headwind for the final descent by UCSC. According to my GPS track, my time for the climb was 23:09, a new personal best.

25 October 2008

Pescadero to Half Moon Bay

The Bike Hut It was dark in the morning, so I didn't get started until 7:30. The club ride was scheduled to start from Pescadero at 9, but I knew it'd start later than that. I wouldn't be able to get there by 9.

When I got to Hwy 1, I hit a cold pocket and my hands started getting cold. Parts of Hwy 1 were really cold, and parts were quite warm. I didn't like the cold pockets, but they weren't too big so I got past them before too long. There was no wind, and the green wind sock near Waddell hung straight down. There were lots of coastal farms selling pumpkins.

I turned right onto Gazos Creek Rd, which had a new, gravelly, surface. It was cold. It was very cold and my hands were getting numb. It was cold all the way to Cloverdale. It warmed up a little on Cloverdale. I made it to the start and got signed in at 9:15.


The Bike Hut picnic area The first part of the ride took Stage to San Gregorio, and stopped for a break. Then, up Stage and down Hwy 1, then right on Tunitas Creek. On Tunitas, we stopped at the Bike Hut, a very new development that was announced by email that was much forwarded only two days earlier. Currently, there is water and a picnic area with tables. There are more things planned for the future, such as organic energy bars for sale, and other things with cyclists passing by in mind.

Continuing, I went up Tunitas for a bit, then Lobitos Creek Rd, Verde Rd, Purisima Creek Rd, Higgins Canyon Rd, then into Half Moon Bay for lunch at the Moonside Bakery. I had a small, quick lunch, then headed back solo at around 12:30. I figured I'd get home by 3:30. At about 3 miles from home, near the entrance to Wilder Ranch, my rear tire blew with a loud pop. As I changed the tube, I realized that I hadn't eaten enough and the bonk that was lingering in the background hit me. 160 strokes on the frame pump resulted in a very soft rear tire, but it was enough to get me home.

18 October 2008

Solo ride

It was a really nice day. It was warm in the sun, but not hot, and cool in the shade, but not cold. It was a little breezy, but the wind was mostly a tailwind while starting out and was mostly gone on the return. I headed up Branciforte and Glen Canyon to Scotts Valley, then headed onto Bean Creek.

On Bean Creek, I saw the first pro-proposition 8 sign that I'd ever seen. I've seen lots of anti-proposition 8 signs before. After Bean Creek, there was a short stretch down Glenwood, then up Mountain Charlie. After the climb, I took Summit to Soquel-San Jose and headed down, then up Laurel Glen and down Mountain View, then back on Branciforte.

11 October 2008

Saturday harbor ride

It was sunny, but cold and windy. My hands were very cold at the beginning. There was also lots of debris on the road due to the wind over the last couple of days. I stayed at the back of the pack.

On San Andreas, the pace was slow. Perhaps the wind had something to do with that. At first, I didn't have to go hard as I usually do to stay with the pack before coasting. It remained pretty slow until near the end. I let a 10ft or so gap open in front of me and I knew I was going to get dropped. But then the pack slowed just before the descent to the bridge and I caught back on.

Going through Watsonville, some guys were talking about a pro who was riding without a helmet. Sure enough, there he was without a helmet. He had something around his ankles too. Weights? No. He was just in the process of removing leg warmers.

A pretty large group including the pro guy went the Hazel Dell route. The pace up Mt Madonna was pretty easy, so the group stayed together until Hazel Dell started turning up. Then the fast guys took off. I got to the summit in a group of 4 or 5 and then descended to Corralitos hanging onto the tail end of that group.

I continued over Hames, over Day Valley and Valencia. On Valencia, I was loafing along when a guy came by. After dithering for a moment, I got on his wheel, as it was windy. On Soquel, there was a headwind. After the climb out of Aptos, I pulled until Cabrillo, then drafted into Soquel where he turned off.

It was about 10:50, so, with the wind, I figured I'd be home around 11:15, which was pretty much when I got home.

27 September 2008

Davenport and Swanton

Bonny Doon Elementary It was sunny with a slight chill when I started off. The club ride started at natural bridges and there was group of runners there also. Team in Training, I think. I got signed in, and eventually we started towards Davenport.

Heading north on Hwy 1 soon led to heavy fog. I could barely tell that I was at the descent just before Davenport at San Vicente Creek. There were a couple of busloads of tourists at Davenport. German, I think. A guy motorpacing a scooter went by headed north, and then came back headed south just as we left.

On Swanton, the fog started clearing, and it was clear at the summit. I took off my windbreaker. It was chilly descending back to Hwy 1. On Hwy 1 back to Davenport, it was foggy again, but the fog was spottier.

Heading up Bonny Doon, it got sunnier. I stopped at Bonny Doon Elementary, and it was warm and sunny. An old guy in a really old VW stopped to ask for directions. He had a map printout and was really close to his destination. Ice Cream Grade had been resurfaced, though there were still patches of gravel.

Empire Grade had been resurfaced since last weekend. The gravelly mix was covered with a smoother surface. There was still gravel on the edges of the road though. Other than the foggy start, it was a beautiful summerlike early fall day.

20 September 2008

Quick solo ride

The previous weekend, I was visiting relatives and got sick from playing with disease-ridden kids. I was still feeling a bit sick, so I went for a short ride, up Hwy 9, Hwy 236, Jamison Creek, then Empire Grade back.

It was warm and sunny. There was lots of gravel on the roads, due to lots of roads being resurfaced. Bay St was pretty much finished after being worked on the last 2 weeks. There was lots of traffic on Hwy 9. The James Dean mural at the Brookdale Lodge had been pretty much restored, though the little man holding the puzzle pieces to the right hadn't been restored.

It was 2:33 when I started on Jamison. Even though I was coughing a bunch, I felt relatively strong on the climb. The 1.33 sign still had a bunch of junk on it: the US flag, the investigate 9/11 sticker, the remnant of skunk tail. There was spiderwebs attached to the right side. The clock just turned 2:58 when I got to the top, so the climb took under 25 minutes.

After easing up, my cough got worse. Parts of Empire Grade had also been resurfaced, and there was lots of loose gravel, so I had to take those parts more cautiously than usual. The resurfacing started at Pine Flat and ended just before the sharp curves leading to Smith Grade, then restarted after the climb out of Smith Grade and ended just before the curves after the 8-14% grade sign.

6 September 2008

Moss Landing

It was warm and sunny in the morning. It would become a pretty hot day in the sun. I headed to Capitola to get signed into the club ride. The first part of the ride was a slow jaunt down to La Selva Beach to join more riders starting from there.

When we left La Selva, I decided to hammer away along San Andreas, and was joined by another guy. The smell of strawberries was pretty strong. On Bluff Rd, I rode through a cloud of bees. A bunch of them bounced off my face, but none of them stung me. There was a pack of motorcycles on Struve. We stopped for lunch at Phil's Snack Shack in Moss Landing. I got a coke and a half pastrami sandwich.

After lunch, we headed back to Dolan, then Russo and Elkhorn. On Elkhorn, the one other guy and I started hammering again. Instead of following the route back to Trafton and San Andreas, we decided to head to Freedom, taking Garin, Lewis, Vega, San Miguel Canyon, Murphy Crossing, Hwy 129 and Carleton. We took a break at the market at the corner of Hwy 152.

Then, we took Casserly, Green Valley, Pioneer, Varni, and Corralitos, then Freedom and Soquel back. A little after 41st St, I started feeling a bumping from my rear tire. It wasn't flat when I checked it. The bumping got stronger. I checked it again. The wheel wasn't out of true and wasn't rubbing the brake. It got stronger again. I checked again. There was a piece of something wedged in the tire, and I couldn't pull it out on my first try. So I decided to just ride it home and then pull off the tire to remove it. I got to High St and started climbing when the tire blew with a loud hissing. It was the thing lodged in the tire. Since I was only about a mile and half from home, I walked the rest of the way home.