14 March 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was overcast and cool. I got up pretty late due to the onset of daylight savings time and the lack of sun, so I ate quickly and headed out. At San Andreas, as usual, I wound up at the back of the pack. The pace faster than the last few times I was on the ride. I moved up on the outside once, but after sitting in the pack for a while, I was back at the back.

There was a decent sized group going up Hazel Dell. Heading up the steep part of Mount Madonna, the leaders went really hard splintering the pack, so I stuck with the third group. After the top, I had a little more juice so I pulled the group up to a couple other riders, forming a nice little group heading up the climb after the bridge. A couple more riders took off on the climb. I just stayed with the rest and eventually got shuffled to the front. Approaching the summit, one guy led the group by me, going pretty hard. I was too cooked to follow, so I took the descent solo. Eventually, a group of 3 came by and I latched on for the rest of the way to Corralitos.

There was a group of 10 or so headed over Hames, Day Valley, and Valencia, that I joined. Riders dropped off at various spots on Soquel. Headed into Soquel, I was left solo in the headwind the rest of the way home.