30 May 2011

Solo ride

It was sunny and windy, even though it had been partly cloudy earlier. I started off with a tailwind, and headed up Hwy 9 to Felton, took a right onto Graham Hill, then headed up Zayante and Quail Hollow, then descended to Ben Lomond. Then I headed up Alba. Around a third of the way up, a descending cyclist zipped by. A little later, another descending cyclist went by. Around Alba School, I overtook another climbing cyclist. After 35 minutes of climbing, I turned left on Empire Grade and headed back. There was a headwind for much of the descent. And, as usual, the new light at Heller was green when I first saw it, but turned yellow and red as I started accelerating to try to make the light, so, as usual, I had to stop for the light.

28 May 2011

Solo ride

It was sunny and windy. The wind was mostly a tailwind at first. I headed up Hwy 9 to Felton, where there was suddenly a lot of traffic and a lot of people walking around. I don't know what was going on. I turned right at Graham Hill, then left at Zayante. There was still quite a bit of traffic, which thinned out above Lompico Rd. After East Zayante became Upper Zayante, it got a little cloudy. It was partly cloudy as I took Summit Rd over Hwy 17 then down Soquel-San Jose. I headed over Laurel Glen and Mtn View, then took Branciforte back. From Branciforte all the way home, there was a headwind. When I got home, it was sunny again.

21 May 2011

Solo ride

I started off north on Hwy 1 into a tough headwind. At the bottom of the dip for San Vicente Creek just south of Davenport, the speed detector said I was going 24mph. It usually says that I go well over 30mph there. There were relief from the wind in the valley and the climb of Swanton Rd. At the end of Swanton, it was back to Hwy 1, but now with a tailwind, as I headed back towards Davenport. The speed detector just north of Davenport mostly said 56-61mph as I approached it due to motorized traffic, but it flickered to 28 and 29mph a few times, so it was a good tailwind on this flat, if not very slightly uphill section. I turned left at Bonny Doon Rd and headed up, continuing on Pine Flat, then down Empire Grade. This was only the second time I had ridden since being sick all last weekend and so I was kind of weak on the finish down High St.

7 May 2011

Solo ride

It was sunny and breezy, with the wind mostly from the north. I headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Boulder Creek, then took Hwy 236. On 236, a white van waited behind me for a while, then, passed me, sounding its horn, and moved towards me while passing. As it went by me, it was at least 2 feet right of the center line, and there was no oncoming traffic to attribute its moving towards me while passing, so I think the motorist was deliberately trying to intimidate me. I think motorists that use their vehicles to deliberately intimidate people should have their licenses suspended, and repeat offenders should have their licenses revoked. I started up Jamison Creek at 12:14. There may have been a slight tailwind for the climb, but I didn't notice any wind. There were 3 cyclists descending about a quarter mile from the top; one of them was wearing a Radio Shack jersey. There was a group of mountain bikers at the top -- they had passed me in a number of trucks on the way up. It was 12:38 when I got to the top. I turned left and headed down Empire Grade. For the fast part of the descent by upper UCSC marked by the 8-14% grade sign, I was behind a couple of cars that were going relatively slowly and had to ride the brakes down to the bridge.

5 May 2011

Swanton time trial

I headed north on Hwy 1 into the wind. It had been a very warm day, but it was cooling on the coast. The wind seemed to ease a bit north of Davenport. There was a headwind for the start of the time trial, but didn't seem to be a factor once I got into the valley. One rider overtook me before the climb, and three others on the return leg. Near the end, my left calf repeatedly threatened to cramp, but, just after finishing, my right calf briefly seized up. Based on my GPS data, my time was around 36 minutes.