27 June 2009

Saturday harbor ride

There was light fog that was burning off early in the morning. On the way to the harbor, I got a number of green lights that normally would be red. The fog soon cleared up, and it was a nice day, not too cool, not too warm.

The pack went relatively slowly on San Andreas. I would find myself at the back, then move up on the outside left without too much effort, then get back in line, and then see riders coming by on on the left and I'd be at the back again.

A small contingent headed south from Watsonville, maybe a quarter of the pack or less. On 152, only 2 or 3 turned off at Holohan. However, about half of the remaining pack turned off at Casserly and Mt Madonna. There weren't any super strong attacks on Mt Madonna. There were 2 riders with somewhat of a lead, and I stayed with 2 others. On the first part of Hazel Dell, the 3 of us made up some ground on the 2 ahead. On the Hazel Dell climb, 2 riders went ahead. I stayed with 2 others. I sat behind them on the descent to Corralitos.

I continued up Hames solo, then joined another rider down Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, Trout Gulch, and part of Soquel. There was a tailwind on Hames, but on Soquel, it became a slight headwind. From Soquel, I headed home solo.