16 October 2010

Solo ride

It was overcast and cool. I headed north on Hwy 1 into the wind. There were bunches of cyclists, a lot of them wearing some green and black jersey, headed south. I turned up Bonny Doon Rd and headed up. Less than half a mile into the climbing, "HURT YET?" was painted on the road. Shortly after that, "HOW ABOUT NOW?" About a mile later, "AIN'T NO CORN HERE, RUSS", and shortly after that, "OUCH!" Then, at the start of the extended 10% grade after the bridge, "THERE'S MORE?", and about 3/4 of the way up the extended 10% grade, "NOW THIS IS FUN!" There were also a bunch of faded stuff from 5 months earlier, when the Tour of California came through. By the time I got to Smith Grade, I had gotten above the fog, and it was sunny.

At Pine Flat and Empire Grade, a tree had fallen and was blocking the road. The way south was cordoned off, so turned around and headed down to Ice Cream Grade, and then to Empire Grade and back down.

9 October 2010

Saturday harbor ride

It was sunny, but a bit chilly early on. The sun was fairly low on the eastern horizon, making it hard to see through the glare. Near the end of Soquel, just before Freedom, I was at the back of the pack when some mishap happened in the middle of the pack. Three bikes were on the ground, but I think everyone was okay. On Bonita and San Andreas, the pace was pushed hard early on, but then, a little before Buena Vista, around Renaissance school, it slowed drastically. On Casserly and Mt Madonna, the pace was hard for me, so I went up the steep part of Mt Madonna with the 3rd or 4th group, and then fell off the back after the bridge on Hazel Dell, and rode alone to Corralitos and back home.

2 October 2010

Solo ride

It was a very nice day, neither cold nor hot. I headed up Graham Hill to Felton. The Hwy 9 detour signs were gone, so Hwy 9 was back open. Then I took Hwy 9, Glen Arbor, and Hwy 9 to Boulder Creek. At the intersection with Hwy 236, a fire truck, siren blaring, came up Hwy 9 from Ben Lomond and then headed up Hwy 236. After it went by, I headed up Hwy 236.

I started up Jamison Creek at 12:04. Soon, another fire truck came heading down from Empire Grade, and turned its siren on. During the climb, three more fire trucks headed down Jamison to Hwy 236. About 3/4 of a mile from the top, I went by 2 climbing cyclists who apparently were taking it easy. They certainly weren't breathing hard like I was. I got to the top at 12:28, and it took just about 24 minutes for the climb, for my best time in almost 2 years. I turned left and headed home down Empire Grade.