29 March 2008

Miserable wet Skyline

Top of Old La Honda It had rained overnight, but it was supposed to clear up during the day. At home, the roads were wet, but drying, so it looked pretty good, even though it was clouded over. So I headed up Hwy 9. It was damp at first, but not too bad. Then, as I climbed into the clouds, it got more wet and cold. At times, the fog made the visibility horrible.

At Skyline, I turned left and it was even worse. The fog was thick and wet, and made it hard to see. I was wiping my glasses occasionally as water drops built up on it, but then the lens would be fogged up from the finer drops left behind for a few minutes after the wiping.

I stopped at the top of Old La Honda to wait for the bikeforums.net ride. I was getting colder from standing around. One of the riders lent me a vest and I got talked into heading down Old La Honda to Portola. Heading down the east side, I saw the sun for the first time in the day and the roads had pretty much dried out. We headed right on Portola and stopped for a break at the coffee shop at the corner of Alpine.

After that, it was Alpine, Junipero Serra, Foothill, and Stevens Canyon. We stopped at the Matt Peterson-Kristy Gough memorial briefly. Then, I headed off and went up Redwood Gulch and Hwy 9. At the higher elevations, it was cold and cloudy and the roads were still wet.

I continued down Hwy 9. As I descended, it was cold and windy at first, but there were more sunny spots as I went down. It was sunny in Boulder Creek. There was heavy traffic between Boulder Creek and Felton that I usually avoid by heading up to Empire Grade. I didn't have the energy to climb Jamison Creek this time, though.