18 May 2008

2008 Strawberry Fields Forever

Corralitos rest stop I started from home at about a quarter past 6. The sign-in for the ride was from 7-8 at Pajaro Valley High School. I'd never been there before. It was totally foggy as I started out and then headed out on Soquel. Then I continued on Bonita and turned left at the end, heading up Larkin Valley. As I climbed, it finally got sunny. I stopped at the summit because the fog on my glasses made the glare of the sun almost blinding and wiped them off. At Larkin Valley and Mar Monte, though, there was a descent back into fog. Fog that got thicker and thicker.

At Airport Blvd, I turned right, having planned on taking it to Harkins Slough Rd, but found that it was a dirt road, so I turned around and eventually found myself back on Airport heading away from PVHS. I knew I'd get to Freedom eventually, and turned right there. I started seeing people already starting on the ride. I turned right at Green Valley and saw lots more riders. I finally got to PVHS and got my number, wristband, and route sheet. Then I headed out.

At first, there were groups of riders around me. But then, just about 5 minutes into it, they all turned off on the 100km route, so I was alone for quite a while after that. It was still quite foggy. I overtook a pair of riders on Green Valley, and another pair on Casserly. I overtook a small group on the initial part of Mt Madonna, but then saw nobody after that for a while. It was finally sunny. I kept telling myself to take it easy, since I figured I was going to ride over 140 miles this day, but I still had to hammer a little up the steep part just before Hazel Dell. After Hazel Dell started climbing, I started overtaking riders. On the descent, I caught up to a woman and stayed behind her until the curve left onto Browns Valley, when I went by. At the Russian themed rest stop at Corralitos, I got some gatorade, a piece of bread, and a quarter of a banana.


Burrell Fire Station rest stop Heading up Eureka Canyon, I went by a bunch of riders on the initial climb, and then the road was pretty empty for a while. Somewhere between a third of the way up and half way up, I started overtaking riders. There was a bunch stopped at Ormsby, but I just continued onto Highland, and road was empty again for a while. I think I paced myself decently up Eureka Canyon. There were mountain bikers headed in the opposite direction on Highland. Eventually I started overtaking riders until I caught a couple of riders that were going fast enough that I decided to save energy by getting on their wheels. Suddenly, they slowed down and we pulled into the second rest stop. It was pretty hot, so I took off my windbreaker. I got more gatorade, a small chunk of some pastry, and a little tortilla with beans and other stuff in it.

I headed out and took the descent of the remainder of Highland pretty quickly. Then, heading down Soquel-San Jose, I hammered harder than I should have, as I kept seeing glimpses of a rider ahead. A little after Olive Springs, I started overtaking riders. On one part where the road curved to the right, as bloated white pickup overtook me with the driver laying into his horn for something like 5 seconds. He then waved his arm out his window. I don't know what his problem was.


Calfee rest stop Then I was back on Soquel, where I had ridden earlier, but this time it was sunny. I continued onto Bonita again, but then turned right onto San Andreas. I had been following a reasonably fast rider, but my legs were starting to feel sore, so I backed off my pace a bit and let him go. There were still lots of slower riders around, though. After the little climb following Buena Vista, I turned right and headed downhill and over a bunch of speed bumps to the rest stop. It was cool, damp and breezy, and fog hung over the nearby area towards the ocean. I got more gatorade, another quarter banana, some grapes, a stuffed olive and biscotti. There was the bamboo bike and a Calfee recumbent tandem.

I headed out again, my legs still a bit sore, and I still had over 70 miles to go. However, when a guy in a LiveStrong jersey on a Giant went by, I hopped on his wheel since it would probably be windy on Thurwachter, McGowan, and Trafton. We caught up to another guy and he traded pulls with LiveStrong guy. On Trafton, there was actually a tailwind much of the time. On Elkhorn, my legs were still pretty sore, so I dropped back. I continued left on Castroville Blvd, then right on San Miguel Canyon. At the stoplight at San Miguel and Moro Rd, I caught up to LiveStrong guy, almost an hour since I last saw him. The other guy was probably long gone. I stayed with LiveStrong guy on the initial climbs, but then dropped back. I caught up with him again just before the first of 3 short, but brutally steep climbs. The first was on Tustin, just after Karen Dr, climbing about 170ft in under 0.1 mile. There were a few riders stopped at the bottom of the climb. I hammered up, overtaking a small cluster of riders. I had to slow down halfway up, it was so steep. I overtook a unicyclist walking up. At the summit, a woman was stopped. She said, "Good job." as I went by and dropped down the following descent.


Royal Oaks Park rest stop I turned left onto Echo Valley and started up another short, somewhat steep climb, overtaking a tandem. This one gained only about 80ft in about 0.2 mile. The tandem blew by me on the subsequent descent. Then, the right turn onto Maher led to another short, steep climb. A few people were walking up. I hammered up yet again. This one gained about 130ft in about 0.15 mile. After another fast descent, there was another little climb up to rest stop at Royal Oaks Park. I got a coke, hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, another quarter banana, and a cookie. Then I made a mustard, turkey, tomato, and lettuce half-sandwich. The mustard gooped over my hands and, even though I wiped it off, grimed up my bars and hoods when I started off again.


Gizdich Ranch rest stop My legs were sore again, so I took it easy on the remainder of Tarpey and onto San Miguel Canyon. A little before Vega, I went by a scene where a woman was being loaded into an ambulance, her neck in a brace. She was in cycling clothes too. I hope she's okay. On San Juan Rd, I caught up to a pair of riders that were reasonably fast and sucked their wheels for a little while. But then, on Murphy Crossing, my legs were still too sore and I dropped back. That was too bad, because there was a headwind on Hwy 129, and it would have been nice to have a fast enough wheel to follow. Finally, I headed into the rest stop at Gizdich. There was a long line, so I just got more gatorade, a cup of lemonade, and another quarter banana. I got banana goop on my hands, so this time I went to the drinking fountain that I knew about and washed my hands.

My legs felt a little better, so I rode a bit harder out on Carlton, Casserly, Green Valley, Pioneer, and Varni. However, my right calf started threatening to cramp. Finally, on Corralitos Rd, it cramped hard, so I unclipped and it got worse. I stopped and stood on it painfully as I unclipped my left shoe. After a few minutes, I continued cautiously. The soreness in my legs were pretty much gone, but higher cadences seemed to make the cramp threaten to return, so I couldn't really hammer. I continued on Freedom, Airport, Loma Prieta, and Green Valley back to PVHS. I got some chicken, pasta, salad and a soda. There probably were chocolate-dipped strawberries, but I forgot to look for them, and they were not obvious.

I retraced the route back to Freedom, seeing lots of riders headed the other way, then took Freedom back to Soquel and back home.