19 July 2008

Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge Workers Ride

Just before starting, I checked to see where the ride would start, and it started from Scotts Valley High. I had been anticipating starting at the Scotts Valley Transit Center, which would be 5-10 minutes less to ride to, so I was starting late and had to hurry or skip my final preparations. It was foggy and chilly in the morning, but it would be warm in the mountains, so I didn't wear anything over my jersey. I headed up Glen Canyon, then Green Hills to Granite Creek, and Glenwood to the high school.

Oddly, there was no sign in. I took a look at the route sheet. A route emailed to the club list the previous evening had two changes from last year's route. Most significantly, instead of taking Riva Ridge and Summit to Skyline, it continued on Mtn Charlie to Old Santa Cruz Hwy, then over Hwy 17 at Bear Creek and Black up to Skyline. The other change was to go around the Bonny Doon loop to Martin instead of going straight down Pine Flat. I was relieved to see that the change to include the Black climb wasn't there. The Bonny Doon loop change was there and that was a nice minor change, because it has long straight descents that are fun.

We headed out going up Glenwood, then up Mtn Charlie, which sorted out the riders into groups. The front group didn't go too hard, but appropriately pacing for the long hard ride. Riva Ridge provided a nasty steep little climb after Mtn Charlie, and then it was Summit Rd. One guy was a fearless descender and off in front out of sight. When we caught up to him at Bear Creek Rd, his rear wheel was way out of true and his saddle was bent backwards. What had happened was that there was suddenly an oncoming car in the middle of the one-lane road near the Zayante intersection, and he got on the brakes so hard, his rear wheel lifted. I guess when the wheel came back down, a spoke and the saddle got messed up. He got the saddle fixed when we got to the rest stop, but would ride the out of true rear wheel the rest of the day, and continue doing his rocket descents.

We continued up Bear Creek and Skyline to the rest stop at Castle Rock. We stopped for about 35 minutes, and, for tracking purposes, I moved that stop to Saratoga Gap rather than create a new location. Food and drink for the long ride. Then we continued down Skyline to Hwy 9. There was no hot dog stand at the intersection yet at 10am. Then down Hwy 9 and up Hwy 236. Just before the China Grade intersection, there was a camel perhaps outfitted for riding with a bunch of cloth coverings on it off the left side of the road. Then down to the park HQ for a little break. Then it was up Hwy 236 to Little Basin and down Hwy 236 to Jamison Creek.

We turned right onto Jamison at 11:19. Some of the group had never done this climb before and one guy announced that he wouldn't go too hard, not knowing this climb. He would do the climb in 26-27 minutes, which I think is really good. Since, I've done this climb lots of times and had a good sense of the pacing, I went ahead by myself. The US flag, trace of skunk tail, and strip of paper that were on the 1.33 sign 2 weeks earlier were still there. A number of cars, trucks and motorcycles went by in both directions. It was 11:43 when I got to the top and it turned out to be a new personal best of 23:44 for the climb. Most of the rest of the group did the climb in 25-30 minutes, which was better than I could do most of last year. I sucked down most of the water in my bottle. After regrouping, we headed up Empire Grade to the next rest stop, which was only a little ways up the road.

We stopped about 35 minutes at the rest stop. For tracking, I moved the stop to the CDF station. More food and drink. Then we continued on Empire Grade. Some riders doing the 100km route continued on Empire Grade, while the rest of us doing the 100mi route turned right at Pine Flat, then right on Bonny Doon for the fast descents. At the other intersection with Pine Flat, we headed back up to Martin, then by the areas devastated by the Martin fire, then Ice Cream Grade. After that was the fast descent down Felton-Empire.

From Felton, we headed up Zayante. I was in a group of 3. We were joined by an Alto Velo rider for the upper part of the climb. It was long hard grind up. Then, it was Summit Rd over Hwy 17. We took Old Summit Rd, avoiding the Summit Rd traffic for a stretch. The bumpiness of Old Summit Rd and Summit Rd rattled my bottle cage loose. I wound up holding my bottle for a few hundred meters before stopping at the Summit Market. I hand tightened the bolts, which would be good enough for the time being. We got water and gatorade. After a while, a 4th rider, who had stopped at Zayante Market earlier joined us. The rest of the group had stopped to fix a flat. We waited for them for a while, then bombed down Soquel-San Jose.

Stopped at Casalegnos was a SAG truck, so we stopped, got more food and water. Not long afterwards, the rest of the group arrived, so we headed up Laurel Glen in a group of 8. Down Mountain View and Branciforte. At Granite Creek, 5 turned right to head back to the high school. The remaining 3 of us continued on Branciforte to ride back to town and home. One turned off at Goss. On Market St, I thought to myself, "Another ride safely completed." Ironically, my front wheel got caught in the uneven concrete at Market and Washburn. Fortunately, I didn't go down, but that was kind of a scare. The other guy turned off at Ocean, and I continued through downtown and then up High. Now, I need to get an allen wrench and tighten the bottle holder bolts.