10 May 2008

Saturday harbor ride

It was cold and overcast and remained so for most of the ride. On San Andreas, it seemed that nobody at the front was really pushing the pace, so instead of the pack being strung out with me trying to hang onto a wheel at the back, as is usually the case, the pack kept getting bunched up so I started moving forward on the right side. On one occasion, I almost got squeezed off the right side, and on another, I had to brake since there was no room on either the right or the left. It was a new experience.

On to Hazel Dell. I stayed with the lead group up the steep lead-up on Mt Madonna and through the flat initial part of Hazel Dell. Then, the 4 in the lead group rode off while chatting away as I huffed and puffed up the hill. And I managed to get a new personal best. On the descent, a group of 4 went by, so I hopped onto their train through Corralitos and up Hames. Halfway up, they stop to fix a noisy chain, so I continue alone.

Day Valley, Valencia, and Trout Gulch back to Soquel. On Soquel, the sun finally came out. But it clouded up again. Through downtown Santa Cruz to West Cliff. It alternated being cloudy and sunny. There were a couple of tents on West Cliff with bottles of juice and stuff, and there were signs for free bus rides next to them. It said something about "The Human Race", which seemed like some kind of charity walk or run.

I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided to hammer up Western to try for a new personal best. After going by the farmer's market and waiting for the light at Hwy 1, I cranked up the initial steep part and burnt my legs out. So I recovered for a little while after it flattened, then hammered the rest of the way to Meder. Old personal best: 4:36. New personal best: 4:02.