21 April 2012

Solo ride

It was sunny and very warm, even kind of hot at times. The path from High to Coral was finally repaved and reopened a week earlier. I headed up Hwy 9 through Felton, and took Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond, and back to Hwy 9 to Boulder Creek where I took a left onto Hwy 236. I started up Jamison Creek at 12:17. I saw 3 separate cyclists descending as I headed up the lower part, which was a lot more than I usually see. Between the 1.42 marker and the 1.33 marker, there were two more descending cyclists who slowed because of a flat and a 3rd cyclist stopped just opposite of the 1.33 marker, apparently the one with the flat. On the upper part of the climb, the heat was starting to get bothersome. Fortunately, almost all of the road was in the shade. I got to the top at 12:42, for an estimated time of 25:21. On Empire Grade, there were clouds of bugs, so I kept getting bugs in my face and mouth for the first few miles of Empire Grade. And, as usual, my first sight of the light at the UCSC west entrance was green, turning to yellow and red before I arrived, and I had to stop and wait for the light to change.