17 January 2009

Solo ride

Top of Alba I hadn't been riding very much lately, so I went on a shorter ride. I had also decided to start climbing Alba more regularly this year. I've climbed it maybe twice a year the last few years, while climbing Jamison Creek 14 times each of the last 3 years. This year, I intend to climb Alba more, and Jamison less. Jamison is still a much more convenient route home from many rides, but since I've just been riding out specifically to Jamison much of the last few months, I could do that with Alba instead.

It was sunny and it was warm in the sun when I started. However, when I was in the shade on Branciforte and up Glen Canyon, it was pretty chilly, though not chilly enough that I regretted not putting on leg warmers. I got to Scotts Valley, and headed down the heavily trafficked Mount Hermon to Felton, then turned up Hwy 9 to Ben Lomond. I took Glen Arbor to detour around part of Hwy 9 before rejoining it at Ben Lomond.

It was 11:11 when I got to the base of the steep slopes of Alba. It was shaded, but not chilly, even without the hard climb. About a mile from the top, I saw a white van pull out of a turnout. As I passed the turnout, painted on a big rock in the turnout was "Bonnie and Klide F.T.W. Tour" in blue and orange. I wonder if the people in the van had just painted it. About a half mile later was the shaded part that always seemed to have a headwind, though this time there wasn't any wind. After that, there was relatively a lot of traffic, plus a cyclist descending followed by a pack of 3 motorcyclists. It was 11:46 when I got to the top.

I headed down Empire Grade, then turned right onto Pine Flat, where I caught up to and passed a small, slow truck that was emitting lots of smelly fumes, just as a small group of cyclists were headed uphill. I turned right on Bonny Doon to do the outer loop, then turned right again when it rejoined the lower end of Pine Flat to head down to the coast. There was a group of 3 noisy motorcycles speeding up as I descended. I also zipped by a solo cyclist climbing up.

At the bottom, I turned left and headed by to town and then back home.