24 September 2011

Solo ride

It was cool and overcast when I started out. I headed up Hwy 9, where there was a lot more traffic than there had been the last few months. The sun came out, but it remained cool under the tree cover. At Felton, I turned left and headed up Felton-Empire. At Empire Grade, I turned left and headed back for a short ride.

17 September 2011

Saturday harbor ride

I woke up a half hour before starting off and it was overcast. There seemed to be a bigger group this time at first. At the start of San Andreas, I was trailing the pack, about to fall behind, when two other riders came up from behind and pulled me back. After Buena Vista, though, I couldn't keep up and immediately joined up with three others for the rest of San Andreas and Beach, getting back to the main group before Watsonville. On Mt Madonna, I fell behind the main group well before the steep part. The clouds had cleared, but it was still cool, and it would remain so for the rest of the ride. I caught a few on the steep part, and a couple more on the Hazel Dell climb. On the Hazel Dell descent, a group of four came by me, so I jumped on and followed them to Corralitos. From there, I took the usual route of Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, and Trout Gulch to Aptos, and Soquel back to town.

10 September 2011

Solo ride

It was overcast as I started north on Hwy 1, and it became quite foggy in places. At one spot, a red car, going over 60 mph, passed uncomfortably closely. The car was partly in the shoulder, as it was in the process of passing another car by passing on the right, and it merged in front of the car with less than a foot between them, this was just before the slight uphill before the curve and the downhill by Laguna, probably about half way from Dimeo to Laguna. I had a tailwind and the radar sign at the bottom of the San Vicente Creek gulch just before Davenport said I was going 36 mph. I continued past Davenport and turned onto Swanton, and it shortly became clear and sunny. Down the back side of Swanton, a fallen tree had blocked the left lane at one point. When I got back down to the coast, it was cloudy again, and there was a definite headwind as I headed south. I turned left and headed up Bonny Doon, and it was sunny again, and I continued up Pine Flat and headed down Empire Grade. It was overcast again as I headed down by UCSC. The light by the west entrance was red as I approached, then it turned green, and I started to accelerate, but then it turned red again before I got there and had to brake hard.

3 September 2011

Solo ride

It remained cold and overcast. I headed north on Hwy 9 with a tailwind. It was sunny before I got to Felton. I took Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond and it was warm in Boulder Creek. It was 1:09 when I started up Jamison Creek. It was warm all the way up, and there were a few bug hovering around my face part of the way. I got to the top at 1:34 for an estimated time of 24:41. It was still warm and sunny on most of Empire Grade. Between Felton-Empire and Smith Grade, the air suddenly became a lot cooler. Somewhere around the upper UCSC campus, it became overcast.