Saturday, August 30, 2008

30 August 2008

Saturday harbor ride

I had gotten up late, so I had to hurry to eat breakfast and get out on the road. It was foggy and I had to stop at several lights that turned yellow just as I approached. I got to the start just before 8. There was a pretty big group at the start.

We headed out just after 8, and the pace, though still fairly easy within the pack, was much higher than usual. A top pro was in front warming up. At a stoplight at Aptos, she yelled back apologies. We were 6-9 minutes ahead of the usual time. The last part of Soquel right by Hwy 1 had been recently chip-sealed and had some loose gravel at the edges of the road.

Since it was a large group, I figured someone would really push the pace on San Andreas, but the pace was a little slower than it had been the last few times. Part of that was due to having to go around a slow tractor on the road. It was pretty foggy, especially around Buena Vista. I was at the back of the pack, so after the bridge near the end, the pack split and I was behind the gap.

A relatively big group, more than 20, chose to do Hazel Dell. I was at the back of the pack again. When the climb came, I went around some riders and found myself in a group gapped by the main group. After the first climb, I got on the wheels of some strong riders and stayed within sight of the main group until the climbing started again after Green Valley. On the climb, I slowly lost sight of the main group. Coming the opposite direction was the club ride that I decided to skip, as it started early at 8, and started further away. I hit the descent alone, and started down Browns Valley alone. Eventually, a train of 8 or so came through and I latched onto the end into Corralitos.

I continued over Hames. On Freedom, I was on the wheel of a strong guy. I took a couple of pulls, but it was obvious that he was a lot stronger than me. I stayed with him on Soquel through Aptos Village, but had to drop back by the time we got to Cabrillo, and I didn't see him after that. Heading back to town on Soquel, there were several occasions where the light turned yellow just as I entered an intersection, so at least the lights are sometimes favorable.

Highland from Mission to High had been closed for repaving the last few days. The repaving was finished, so I didn't have to take a detour to get to High. Finally, the last light at High and Moore gratuitously turned yellow just as I approached and I had to stop briefly before it changed green just in time for the car behind me to go through without stopping. I got home before 11 for the first time.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

23 August 2008

Pescadero and Tunitas Creek

There was thick drizzle and the roads were wet when I started out. As I headed north on Hwy 1, the road eventually dried, and the fog on the ground cleared, but still hung around the hills just 50ft up. There was pretty much no wind, so I made good time. The wind sock just before Waddell hung straight down, as did the flag at Pescadero. I turned right at Gazos Creek, which had been recently chip-sealed. A portion of Cloverdale had a relatively thick coat of dirt, which was unwelcome in these wet conditions. After the fast part of Cloverdale, I made it to Pescadero and got signed into the club ride.


Top of Tunitas Creek Rd
The ride started up Stage to Hwy 1, then down to Tunitas, and then up Tunitas. The bottom part was recently chip-sealed, but it soon became the familiar bumpy rutted road as the climbing started. The road was wet in many places in the bottom and middle of the climb. In the middle of the climb, the fog was close to the ground, and the light filtering through the trees made beautiful light beams through the fog. Eventually, I was above the fog and the sky above the trees was clear. Near the top, a large Alto Velo group came descending by. When I went by the top of Swett, the same group was stopped there. On the descent to Sky Londa, the Alto Velo group went by me. I didn't feel comfortable enough on the turns that I didn't know that well to slot in anywhere. Eventually, there was a really big gap, so I tried to latch on there and sort of succeeded. I pulled out at Sky Londa and stopped at Alice's for lunch.

I filled my water bottle and got a greasy breakfast burrito. Eventually more club riders arrived. There was the usual motorcycles stopped there or passing through. Lots of Alto Velo riders passed through as well. The radio played Dylan, Skynyrd, and other oldies. When I was leaving, The Who was playing. It was sunny and warm on Skyline as I slowly rode to Hwy 9.

I headed down Hwy 9, then took it easy up Hwy 236, then down to the park headquarters where I took a break. I got a coke from the store. After the break, I slowly headed up 236. It was 2:41 when I got to Jamison. I had ridden over 90 miles at this point, but I was feeling relatively good due to taking it easy for the last few hours. One car went by near the bottom, but other than that, there was nobody else on the road the rest of the climb. On the 1.33 sign, there was still the U.S. flag, the skunk tail remnant, and the strip of paper. Added to that was a white sticker with red lettering reading "INVESTIGATE 9/11". It was 3:08 when I got to the top, for a time of 26:57, the second slowest of the year, which is expected after having ridden so much, but it was still faster than the fasted time of 2007, though just barely.

After a break, I headed back home on Empire Grade. When passing the UCSC west entrance, I had recovered enough to hammer the rest of the way, going 30mph for the last 2 1/2 minutes (downhill).

Saturday, August 16, 2008

16 August 2008

Saturday harbor ride

It was cool and there was thick fog in the morning. At the start, there was an unusual crowd of people due to a outrigger canoe club or something. There was also people making chalk marks on the road for a run or a walk.

On San Andreas, I was at the back of the pack, but the pace was relatively slow, so the pack was all bunched up. At one time, I saw one guy off the front. Approaching Buena Vista, there were two guys off the front. After Buena Vista, the pace picked up a little, but not that much, so the pack was still pretty bunched up.

At Watsonville, a big bunch headed off for the long route. A good sized bunch went for the shorter routes, with a decent size group of at least 20 doing Hazel Dell. On Casserly, the pace was slow at first. The latter part of Casserly had been pretty recently chip-sealed, so there was loose gravel on the side of the road. The pace picked up and strung out the group single file. The group bunched back up on the shallow climbing of Mt Madonna, then split up when it got steeper.

At the start of Hazel Dell, the sky was clearing. When the climbing started, I fell back from the lead group. At the summit, it was sunny. I was in a group of 4 and hung onto their wheels on the descent. A couple more riders caught us before we got to Corralitos.

After Corralitos, I continued solo over Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, and Trout Gulch to Aptos, then Soquel back to town. From Main St in Soquel all the way Ocean St, I had the worst luck with traffic lights. All except for 2 were red and a number of them changed to yellow as I was approaching. It was now sunny where it had been foggy in the morning.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

9 August 2008

Swanton and Bonny Doon

The club ride was starting at Natural Bridges, which was close to home. It was sunny and cool when I started off. I headed down Western, waiting for a bus as it stopped at one stop while there was oncoming traffic in the opposite lane, then going by it at the next stop and zipping down to Hwy 1, by the farmer's market, and over the tracks to the start and getting signed in.

For some reason, I was anticipating a relaxed pace, and that's how it started. The pace picked up a little on the way to Davenport, and I contributed a little to that, but it was still not a hard pace. After a break, I headed out with a small group. It was again an easy pace out to Swanton. On Swanton, there was wind, but I stayed shielded from it for the most part. The pace was also picking up. On the climb, the hammering started. We regrouped at the top, then headed down for the return along the coast.

There was a nice tailwind on the return. After the climb out of Scott Creek, the pace was getting pretty difficult for me, perhaps spurred on by a rabbit, a little guy that had gone by us while we were stopped at the top of Swanton. After the railway tracks at Davenport, I wiped myself out catching back on. So after the climb out of San Vicente Creek, I dropped off the back.

At Bonny Doon Rd, the rabbit continued on Hwy 1 way ahead of me. The other 2 guys turned left way ahead of me. When I got there, a car turning left from Bonny Doon onto Hwy 1 started driving at me a couple of times before I could make the turn by him. Before the climbing started, the 3 of us came back together. The climb was a tough slog, but it was a beautiful day. There were several groups of cyclists descending too. After a break at Smith, we continued on Smith and Empire Grade back down.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

2 August 2008

Solo ride

I just wanted to do a quick ride, so I decided to get in my monthly Jamison climb. It was sunny and very warm.

Right away on High St, there were a bunch of cars in the bike lane and there was a police barricade. It was a sign of things to come.

When I got to Encinal and Hwy 9, next to the Salz Tannery construction, I knew the light didn't detect bicyclists. However, there was lots and lots of cross traffic. So I waited and waited. Finally, I decided to run the light, even though there were cars stopped on Hwy 9 and I didn't know how the light was going to change. And a second after I went, my light turned green.

In Henry Cowell, at one spot, there were signs warning of horse crossing and people sitting by the side of the road in orange jackets looking like they were something like course marshals. I didn't see any horses, though.

Somewhere after Felton, there was a siren going, and an ambulance came by heading the opposite way. Then, just before the Glen Arbor intersection, 3 cars were stopped on the shoulder, so I went around them. There was some greasy spillage on the road, and the drivers were walking around outside the cars. I didn't see anything that looked like a crash or anything, though. I didn't really look, though, and turned right on Glen Arbor and headed into Ben Lomond.

At Brookdale, I forgot to look at the restoration of the James Dean mural on the Brookdale Lodge. A week earlier, the legs had been repainted, but the rest was still gone.

A little before Boulder Creek, traffic suddenly clogged up. Police had closed one lane for something, but I didn't see anything there when I went through. Whatever it was was probably cleaned up by then. It probably had something to do with the ambulance from before. When I got to Boulder Creek, I went by another ambulance that was parked on the side of the road.

From then on, it was pretty uneventful, though the heat was getting to me, even though it couldn't have been that bad, like no more than 90 degrees in the sun and the shade was still reasonably cool. I headed up 236 and got to the bottom of Jamison Creek at 12:55. The climb was tough. My legs weren't being worked too hard, but my heart and lungs were. I think I even was in 34/23 instead of my usual 34/26. I think the heat was a factor. The 1.33 sign had the US flag, the strip of paper, and the remnant of the skunk tail still. There was slightly more car and motorcycle traffic than usual, due perhaps to the stoppages on Hwy 9. It was 1:21 when I got to the top. I knew during the climb that I didn't have a very good pace, and that was confirmed with the time of 26:30.

I continued back on Empire Grade. The cool wind from the shaded descents felt good, but it was still uncomfortably warm in the sun. It took a while for me to recover from Jamison too. At the intersection with Chinquapin Trail, there were more horse crossing signs and people in orange jackets sitting by the road. I didn't see any horses this time either. Perhaps the horses were going between Wilder on the coast and Felton. After that was the final descent back home.