8 March 2008

Boulder Creek club ride

Saratoga Gap It was sunny, but chilly in the shade, in the morning when I started out. I headed up Hwy 9 to Boulder Creek. In Henry Cowell, between Santa Cruz and Felton, I saw a somewhat blobby cross-shaped piece of art to the left next to the fire road. I got to Boulder Creek and signed in. There were about 25 people doing the ride. I elected not to ride the longest option, which would go down to Saratoga and Los Gatos, then up the Los Gatos Creek trail, up the dam, around the reservoir, then over Hwy 17 and up Bear Creek, then down Bear Creek back to Boulder Creek. The route I chose would cut along Skyline from Saratoga Gap to Bear Creek Rd, some 40 miles less.

We started out on Hwy 236, regrouped at Lodge, then headed up Lodge and into the park HQ for a short break. Then, we continued up Hwy 236, regrouping at the intersection with Hwy 9. I hammered up the remainder of Hwy 9 to Saratoga Gap, hoping to do it in under 30 minutes, but it took me a little more than 30 minutes. I got a coke at the hot dog stand. The warm sun felt good, and we sat around for a long time. There were lots of motorcycles stopping by, and not that many cyclists. At one point, a Lamborghini and two Ferraris stopped by.

Finally, the two guys doing the long route headed down to Saratoga, and I headed up Skyline with others doing the shorter route. Eventually, I rode ahead on my own, going by Black, Gist, and finally turning right at Bear Creek. At one point in the descent of Bear Creek, a station wagon or SUV with a Ron Paul sticker passed me. Since it was pretty twisty at that point, it didn't get very far ahead of me for 3 or 4 minutes. Finally, the road straightened out and the descent briefly became a mild upslope after the bridge and then it went off in the distance.

In the last mile or so, a guy in an CSC jersey and a woman went by, so I hopped on their wheels. They happened to be going the same way I was going for a while. We turned left at Hwy 9, then right onto Hwy 236 where there were girl scouts selling cookies on the corner again. A ways up Hwy 236, we passed a guy on a mountain bike, and he hopped on my wheel. At Jamison Creek, all 3 of them continued on Hwy 236. I turned left.

It was 2:04 when I checked the clock at the bottom. Then, when putting the GPS back in my pocket, it fell out, so I had to stop, turn around and pick it up. I wasn't feeling as strong as I did last week. The little US flag and the trace of skunk tail were still on the 1.33 sign. It was 2:31 when I got to the top, and my time turned out to be 27:51. I may now be strong enough to routinely climb Jamison in under 30 minutes. I certainly wasn't a few months ago.

I turned left at Empire Grade and continued much more slowly at first. I was tired, having hammered up two half-hour climbs. It was also slightly chilly in the shade. After Felton-Empire, it was mostly in the sun and that felt good. I saw maybe a dozen cyclists headed up, in pairs or solo, over the length of Empire Grade. At Chinquapin, I saw a dozen mountain bikers on the trail to the left coming up from UCSC. I felt fast going down the stretch between the 8-14% grade sign and the bridge, but my top speed was only around 40mph according to the GPS. Going by the UCSC west entrance, there was a strong smell of ozone.