Saturday, March 29, 2008

29 March 2008

Miserable wet Skyline


Top of Old La Honda
It had rained overnight, but it was supposed to clear up during the day. At home, the roads were wet, but drying, so it looked pretty good, even though it was clouded over. So I headed up Hwy 9. It was damp at first, but not too bad. Then, as I climbed into the clouds, it got more wet and cold. At times, the fog made the visibility horrible.

At Skyline, I turned left and it was even worse. The fog was thick and wet, and made it hard to see. I was wiping my glasses occasionally as water drops built up on it, but then the lens would be fogged up from the finer drops left behind for a few minutes after the wiping.

I stopped at the top of Old La Honda to wait for the bikeforums.net ride. I was getting colder from standing around. One of the riders lent me a vest and I got talked into heading down Old La Honda to Portola. Heading down the east side, I saw the sun for the first time in the day and the roads had pretty much dried out. We headed right on Portola and stopped for a break at the coffee shop at the corner of Alpine.

After that, it was Alpine, Junipero Serra, Foothill, and Stevens Canyon. We stopped at the Matt Peterson-Kristy Gough memorial briefly. Then, I headed off and went up Redwood Gulch and Hwy 9. At the higher elevations, it was cold and cloudy and the roads were still wet.

I continued down Hwy 9. As I descended, it was cold and windy at first, but there were more sunny spots as I went down. It was sunny in Boulder Creek. There was heavy traffic between Boulder Creek and Felton that I usually avoid by heading up to Empire Grade. I didn't have the energy to climb Jamison Creek this time, though.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

22 March 2008

Saturday ride


UCSC road race
It was cold in the morning. My fingers were cold inside my gloves. The sun glared low in the eastern sky, which bothered me going out on High and Water and Soquel, then on East Cliff and Soquel. And even a little bit on San Andreas. The pace didn't jump as much on San Andreas this time, and stayed relatively tame throughout. I still hung out at the back of the pack, though. When I got out of the draft, the wind seemed kind of strong, so that might have been part of why it was not so fast this time.

A bigger group went the Hazel Dell route than the last few times. The group split at the steep run up on Mt Madonna. I was was at the back, so I moved up to the front of the back group and then started making up a little ground on the front group. After Green Valley, people started dropping off the front group, and one guy from behind went by me. Approaching the summit, I caught the wheel of the first guy to fall off the front group and followed him down the descent. A little ways down, a group of 3 came by, and we joined them. I hung at the back, staying out of the rotation, since I was working too hard just to stay on their wheels.


UCSC road race
From Corralitos, I continued on Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, and Trout Gulch, then Soquel back to town. Since there was a college road race at UCSC, I headed up to the bottom of the course and watched some of the riders go by. I got pictures of the first few who were probably off the front. I couldn't get my camera ready in time for the main pack of about 8, though.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

13 March 2008

Swanton time trial

After work, I got home and changed. It had rained early in the morning, but it had been sunny and warm all afternoon, so I headed out without a wind-breaker and no leg warmers. At first, I kind of wished I had the wind-breaker, since it was a little chilly in the shade, though still warm in the sun.

The ride out to Davenport along the coast had a stiff headwind. I didn't want to work too hard, but I also didn't want to get there too late and have to start so late that it would be dark before I got back.

I wound up starting 22nd, which it was going to be pretty late when I got back. The sun was also setting, and the wind was chilly, so I was shivering while standing around waiting to start. After starting, though, the cold was not an issue. At first, I was afraid I went out a little too hard, but then I stopped worrying about that. About half way out, the guy who started a minute after me went by. About 2/3 of the way out, I saw the fast riders who started earlier headed back. More riders zipped by on their way back. Finally, I got to the climb, and there were more riders descending. I shifted into the small ring and huffed up to the turnaround. It was hard, but I felt pretty good, considering. The road still had wet patches, so I took the descent pretty conservatively. The tailwind kicked in at spots on the return, but mostly, the wind was blocked by the hills. Coming out of the sharp right-hander, the guy who started 2 minutes after me went by. Then it was time to hammer back to the line. The time of the guy just ahead of me was 33:11, so my time was around 35:20-35:30.

After a few minutes of catching my breath, I headed home with the tailwind as the sun set. It was twilight by the time I headed up Western.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

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.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

1 March 2008

Solo ride


Zayante
Due to the rain, I hadn't climbed Jamison since December, so this would be my chance. It was cloudy early in the morning, but since I was riding solo, I could start later, and by 10am, it was sunny. I headed out up Hwy 9. A little before the tracks, a bunch of cars passed me, including a pickup spewing clouds of noxious blue smoke. At that point, a couple of guys passed me, so I hopped on their wheels and let them pull me into Felton, where they turned right at Graham Hill. I continued on 9 to Glen Arbor, then over Quail Hollow and up Zayante. I took it easy almost all the way, only briefly ramping up the intensity for the steepest bits.

Then, I headed down Bear Creek into Boulder Creek. There were a bunch of girls and their mothers selling Girl Scout cookies in front of Johnny's Market, and they were shouting at the motorists, pitching the cookies. I continued along Hwy 236.

It was 12:56 when I got to the bottom of Jamison. Since I had mostly taken it easy up to this point, I could increase the intensity for this climb. On the 1.33 sign, there was still a trace of the skunk tail on the right side. There was also a very new looking little US flag stuck on it. At the right curve around the 1 mile point, the right edge of the road had been scraped off, a patch 3 or 4 inches wide. A little ways before the 0.48 sign, I guess around 0.6, a white limousine went by going up and emitting the most noxious smelling fumes, just the thing for someone gasping for air on a tough climb. What the hell is a limo doing heading up Jamison? My effort seemed a little less than it had the last few times I did this climb, so I was able to finish strong, and it was 1:21 when I got to the top, so I definitely had a new personal best. My old personal best was 27:08 on 3 March 2007, pretty much exactly a year ago. My new personal best is now 25:32. It must be due to the weekday morning UCSC hill repeats that I've been doing the last few months.

After the climb, I felt fresher than I usually had after that climb, and turned left and headed home on Empire Grade. After Felton-Empire, the mostly sunny parts felt nice and warm.