28 February 2009

Boulder Creek Club Ride

The day started well. There was a tailwind heading down High. At Hwy 9, the tannery project looked pretty much ready for residents. There was an immediate headwind heading up Hwy 9, but it was protected from the wind in the trees and mountains further up. I got to Boulder Creek and signed in.

The ride started slowly up Hwy 236 and Lodge to the park headquarters. After a break, we continued up Hwy 236, then up Hwy 9 to Skyline. On the way up Hwy 9, the sun came out. There was also the booming sounds from the gun club. The first disappointment of the day was that the hot dog stand wasn't there.

The longer ride would continue down Hwy 9 to Saratoga and Los Gatos, but I chose the shorter route, taking Skyline to Bear Creek. On Skyline, I felt my rear tire getting soft. It seemed like a slow leak, so I pumped it up a bit and continued. This was the start of making the latter half of the ride a bit frustrating. At Bear Creek, I put some more air in the tire. Then, it was back down to Boulder Creek. I pumped some more air into the tire, then headed up Hwy 236 to Jamison Creek. I was starting to feel bonked. At the base of Jamison, I put more air into the tire. And, as I really needed to eat something and I was out of food, I headed back to Boulder Creek and got a snack. Then I pumped more air into the tire and headed back down Hwy 9.

Headed into Felton, the tire suddenly got very soft. I stopped at the Graham Hill intersection and started pumping air into the tire, but it wouldn't inflate. So I swapped the tube with my spare. After putting the wheel back on, the chain kept getting jammed by the crank-arms, so I had to get my fingers covered with chain grime to get it back on the chainring. Finally, when I headed off down Hwy 9, there was a headwind.

It was actually a turning into a pretty nice day when the sun was out, but I was still half-bonked and wasn't enjoying as much as I otherwise would.