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.