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.

21 February 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was overcast and not too cold. The sun glowed through the clouds at first. The group went a lot slower than usual through East Cliff and Capitola. On San Andreas, the pace was enough to somewhat string out the pack a few times, but I was never over my limit. It seemed like only a few riders turned right at Watsonville to go to San Juan. Probably because rain was forecast for the afternoon.

Going up 152, a small group disappeared ahead, while the main group was happy at a more social pace. I stayed with the group up Mt Madonna and the initial part of Hazel Dell, until the group split up on the climb. On the descent, a couple of riders went by, but I couldn't hang on. Later, I latched onto a group of 3 that came by into Corralitos.

Then I took Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, Trout Gulch, and Soquel back home. There was probably a slight tailwind. I felt pretty good on the final little climb up High St, and it didn't rain.

16 February 2009

Watching the Tour of California, Stage 2

Chalk on the road It was raining pretty hard at 8, but it lightened to occasional showers after 9, so I headed up the coast, then up Bonny Doon Rd to Smith Grade. At the lower parts of the climb, there were a few spectators already setting up. There were tents set up on the curves just after the bridge. Cars lined the road on the straight climb leading up to Smith. I continued up to Smith, then headed back down a little to watch. It was 10:30 when I arrived. It was cold and wet, with occasional showers. The first racer, Barredo, went by a bit after 1pm, with the lead group close behind.

At 1:30, I headed out on Smith. Leading up to the intersection with Empire Grade, there was a line of cars, most of which had passed me on Smith, waiting for the road to be reopened. I watched the trailing riders zip by with the small group of spectators there.


Racer on the climb After the broom wagon went by, I headed back home. There were still spectators by the side of the road, but there were also a lot of cars going by me. In Santa Cruz, the sun was out.

7 February 2009

Alba

It was sunny, but there were dark clouds around. It was cool and damp, and the roads were still damp from the rain over the last couple of days, particularly in the shade. Since there was a chance of showers, I went on a short ride to lessen the chances of getting caught in the rain, and headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond, then up Alba in 37 minutes, demonstrating that I'm not in good shape, and then back down Empire Grade.