19 December 2009

Solo ride

Due to rain and sickness, I hadn't ridden much in the last few weeks. It was sunny and cool. The roads were still wet in the shade, but dry in the sun. Zayante was one road I hadn't ridden in a very long time, so I headed up Hwy 9 to Felton, then up Zayante. There were lots of houses putting out wood smoke on Zayante, Bear Creek, and Hwy 236. Once I got to the top of Zayante, I headed down Bear Creek. Had I taken Skyline, I probably would have had to worry about lots of cars with trees on top of them.

From Boulder Creek, I took Hwy 236 to Jamison Creek and started up at 12:55. About 2/3 of a mile from the top, a big pack of motorcycles were headed down, with stragglers continuing to come down over the next 5 minutes or so. It was 1:21 when I got to the top. I then headed back on Empire Grade.

28 November 2009

Solo ride

It was windy and clear. I noticed that I hadn't ridden Felton-Empire in almost a year, and I wanted to do a short ride. There are other roads that I hadn't ridden in a while, but would require longer rides. I headed up Hwy 9 to Felton, and it was windy. After a long wait at the red light, I turned left and headed up Felton-Empire. The road was covered with tree debris and there were gusts of wind at times. I finished the climb in about 25 and a half minutes, a new personal best by about a minute, and I wasn't even trying that hard. At the top, I turned left and headed down Empire Grade. It was windy and there was debris in the air, which felt like tiny pieces of dried, dead leaves went they got in my eyes.

26 November 2009

Swanton loop

A low intensity ride out along the coast from Natural Bridges to Swanton Rd, and then returning via Bonny Doon up to Smith Grade, and then down Empire Grade. It was mostly sunny and clear, and warmer than it had been the last couple of weeks, except for the back side of Swanton, where it was foggy and cold.

21 November 2009

Alba

It was chilly and the roads were still wet in the shaded parts from yesterday's rain. I headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond, and then registered for the Low Key Hillclimb.

Riders were sent up in small groups of about 10, with the faster riders going before the slower riders. That made sense from the perspective of recording finishing times. I figured I'd be somewhere in the middle third. On the fast end, there was the guy on the recumbent with the electric motor, and on the slow end, there was the guy towing his daughter in a trailer.

I started at the tail end of the 5th group, which was really slow at the beginning, so I moved ahead of the group except for 1 guy before it even got steep. On the first part of the steep part, I went by the last guy. About 1/3 of the way up, a guy in a red jersey went by me. I don't know if he started in my group or a following group. He stayed in sight pretty much the rest of the way up. Before Alba School, I overtook a rider that started in an earlier group. Just after the vandalism rock, there was a photographer off the left taking pictures of the riders. On the final little kick just before the road curves to the left at the top, I overtook another rider from an earlier group. There was a sign off to the right saying, "200 paces". I shouted out my number, finished, and then collapsed onto my bars for a few minutes. I think my time was about 33 and a half minutes, or about a minute and half slower than I did the same climb 2 weeks earlier.

After recovering, I headed down Empire Grade.

14 November 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was overcast and the roads were wet. It seemed like a somewhat smaller group than I usually see. There was a confrontation with a guy in a bloated blue pickup truck on Opal Cliffs. After Manresa, the sun came out and the road was dry. The pace on San Andreas made it pretty easy to sit in and coast, though it got strung out for a little while after the climb after Buena Vista. Just before the end of San Andreas, one guy blew a tire loudly, but pulled off to the right without incident.

Only 10 went up 152 to Casserly and we all stayed together up Mt Madonna through the start of the climbing on Hazel Dell, when I dropped back from the leaders. I went over the summit with another rider, and one more caught us from behind on the descent. After a pause in Corralitos, I headed home solo.

7 November 2009

Alba

It was sunny, but breezy and cool. I headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond. I started up Alba at 11:40. About a third of the way up the initial steep part, a big pickup truck overtook me, spewing fumes that I had to breathe the for the next few minutes. A little further up, a guy was descending Alba on a recumbent. The clock changed from 12:11 to 12:12 just before I got to the top. There was a tailwind for the descent of Empire Grade.

24 October 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was very foggy by the coast. However, I didn't have to worry about riding in the pack in the fog. After the turn from Bonita to San Andreas, there was a big gap from the rider ahead of me to the pack, so I burned myself out trying to close the gap. After a couple of riders came by from behind, I was able to get back on. However, on the little climb at Manresa, I fell off the back. The pack slowed after the climb, and hung tantalizingly ahead of me for a little while, but I couldn't close the gap. The remainder of San Andreas was solo in the thick fog.

On Beach, a small group came by and I jumped on and caught up to the group in Watsonville. On 152 and Casserly, it was a pretty fast pace. The group split up on Mt Madonna, and I went up Hazel Dell solo. On Browns Valley, a rider went by and I jumped on. We caught up to 2 others, and then I was too cooked to stay with them, so I was solo the rest of the way to Corralitos and afterwards over Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, Trout Gulch and Soquel and then back home.

10 October 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was cold and overcast, and the sunrise was getting later, so it was hard to get up for the early ride. The pack seemed smaller than usual, but I never ended up at the back on San Andreas, so I couldn't really tell, as the pace was pretty easy.

A group of 15 or so went up Mt Madonna. At the steep part just before Hazel Dell, the 6 or 7 at the front surged ahead. I stayed with them until slipping back just before Hazel Dell, then they took off on the descent, and I couldn't match that acceleration. But then, they slowed, so I made up ground until the climbing started after Green Valley, after which I slowly lost sight of them as they started shedding riders off the back. I traded pulls with one other guy on the descent to Corralitos, then headed back solo over Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, Trout Gulch and Soquel.

It remained overcast. On the last little climb up High St, my chain kept skipping. Somehow, my rear skewer had come loose.

3 October 2009

Alba

It was sunny and a little breezy. I headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond, and then up Alba. It was 12:12 when I started up the bottom. Near the end of the initial steep part, a car on its way down spewed out a lot of stinky diesel exhaust, and I had to breathe it well into the less steep section. I got to the top at 12:44, so the climb took 32-33 minutes.

26 September 2009

Very short ride

Since I had to work this weekend, I went for a very short ride up and down UCSC. It was sunny and clear with no wind. Even though the fall session had just started, there was not much traffic, as it was still a weekend morning. But there was more traffic than there was on the weekends over the summer.

19 September 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was foggy in the morning and some of the roads were wet. It was overcast for most of the ride, and there was fog for parts of San Andreas between Buena Vista and Sunset. The pack was very slow for much of San Andreas. There was a dead bird on the road, and it was even slower for a little while after that. This was before the foggy part. Also, with starting from East Cliff later than usual, the arrival at Watsonville was 7-8 minutes later than usual.

After Watsonville, the pace was higher than usual. But then, on the climbs of Mt Madonna and Hazel Dell, I managed to stay with the 2nd group and rolled into Corralitos with the 2nd group. There was a sudden lane closure with a big truck blocking the right lane on the Browns Valley descent. I then headed back over Hames and Day Valley solo. The sun finally came out briefly on Day Valley. It was overcast again by the time I got back to Aptos. The sun finally came out for good around 11, approaching downtown Santa Cruz.

12 September 2009

Half Moon Bay

It was foggy and, in places, drizzly. I woke up at around 6:45 and had to hurry to eat breakfast and get out on the road at around 7:15. Fortunately, there was no headwind until after Ano Nuevo. It got a little stronger by around Costanoa. Turning off as Gazos Creek got me out of the wind. I made it to Pescadero a little after 9, and got signed into the ride.

First it was up Stage Rd to a stop at San Gregorio. There was a Team In Training stop at San Gregorio, and I saw numerous Team In Training packs on the road. Since I had to hurry in the morning, I brought a banana from home and ate it there. Then it was on to a short stop at the Bike Hut. Then it was up part of Tunitas Creek, Lobitos Creek to Verde, then Purisima Creek and Higgins to Half Moon Bay, stopping at the New Leaf on Hwy 92 for lunch. It was overcast and chilly.

After lunch, I headed back on Hwy 1. At first, it was foggy and a little drizzly. After Davenport, it was sunny the rest of the way. There was a recumbent tandem headed the other way somewhere near Tunitas Creek. I sucked the wheels of a couple of fixed-gear riders up the climb after Tunitas Creek, then went by them on the descent. They came by again somewhere near Pigeon Point, so I sucked their wheels again up to the descent to Waddell, when I went by them again. I thought I might see them again, but I didn't. There wasn't any noticeable tailwind until I started approaching Pigeon Point. Just after Pigeon Point, there was a slight headwind, but, after that, it was mostly a mild tailwind.

I was kind of tired at the end, so I headed up Western pretty slowly.

5 September 2009

Alba

It was sunny and comfortable, with a light breeze. The traffic light at Encinal and Hwy 9 doesn't change for cyclists, so, after waiting through a light cycle, I waited for a break in the cross traffic, and then ran the light. As I started, a voice behind me yelled, "You fucking moron." I didn't look to see if it was directed at me.

I started up Alba at 11:53. There seemed to be a little more car traffic than usual. I even encountered a cyclist, also climbing, around the early part of the middle steep section. There two large packs of Miatas descending, with a a few strays trailing each pack. Sweat was constantly dripping into my eyes. I got to the top at 12:26.

30 August 2009

Tour of the Santa Cruz Mountains

I got up at 6:30 and had to hurry, and didn't eat enough breakfast and forgot to put on sunscreen, and headed out just before 7. It was very foggy and damp. I headed north on Hwy 1 and the road was damp. The fog was thick and damp. After Davenport, the fog cleared a bit. It even became sunny briefly around Ano Neuvo, but it soon became overcast. There was very little wind until around Waddell, when a headwind started picking up. The wind got stronger approaching Costanoa. There was a relief from the wind on Gazos Creek, but it picked up again on Cloverdale. I turned right on Butano Cutoff, which I had never done before, and then headed up Pescadero Rd. I met up at the start at 9:10, even though the ride was scheduled for 9.

We headed over Haskins, then up Alpine. On the way up Alpine, I felt the onset of a bonk due to my abbreviated breakfast, so I ate a bar. At the top, I ate another. We met up with 4 others who were planning on joining us, but then decided on shorter route. Then it was up Skyline to Saratoga Gap. I stopped at the fire station, refilled my bottle, and got a Sprite, which helped in avoiding the bonk. Then, it was a quick descent down Hwy 9 and a slower climb up 236, then down to the park headquarters. I got a coke at the store and refilled my bottle. Then, we continued on 236 to Jamison Creek. I topped off my bottle at the fire station, and then came the climb up the road. It was starting to get warm, and sweat was dripping in my eyes. Various parts of the road had been repatched, and there was loose gravel. My rear wheel slipped on some gravel on the inside of the turn leading up to the 1.33 sign, which still had the skunk tail stuck on top of it. I made it to the top in about 27 minutes, which was not very good, but not very bad, considering that I already had over 75 miles and 5500 feet of climbing when I started the climb.

I then headed home on Empire Grade. It was getting pretty warm, and it was getting uncomfortable in the sunny parts, though it would have felt good on a chilly day.