27 March 2010

Solo ride

It was comfortably cool when I started out, warming up as time went on. I headed up Glen Canyon to Scotts Valley, then headed up Bean Creek and Mountain Charlie over the summit and down Old Santa Cruz Hwy to Holy City. Then, I went up the super-steep climbs through Redwood Estates, starting with Holy City Rd, then crossing under Hwy 17, and up Madrone, Broadway, Laverne, maybe some other roads, and Bayview back to Summit Rd. I headed back towards Hwy 17, intersecting my previous path at Mountain Charlie, continuing along Summit, then heading down Soquel-San Jose. There was a headwind on the descent. At Casalegno's, I turned right and headed up and over Laurel Glen and down Mountain View, then headed back on Branciforte.

20 March 2010

Saturday harbor ride

It was clear and cold early in the morning, but it would get warmer. The last few months, it had been either much colder or raining, so I hadn't been riding until later, if at all. It was the start of spring, and the first Saturday of daylight savings time. There was good sized group. On San Andreas, I was on a strung out line trailing the pack a few times, but managed to catch back on each time. From Sunset Beach on, I was sitting in the pack. At one point between Manresa and Buena Vista, a white truck was blasting its horn continuously for 20-30 seconds.

There was a pretty big group of at least 20 heading up 152 and Casserly, and the riders up front pushed the pace a bit. On Casserly, a cop car going the opposite direction had its megaphone on with the cop telling the pack to ride single-file. The pace continued to be relatively hard on Mt Madonna, with riders dropping off way before the steep part, and I was a few hundred yards behind the lead group at the start of the steep part. I caught a couple of riders who dropped off the lead group by Hazel Dell, but then they stopped, so I continued solo up Hazel Dell, and down Browns Valley, when I caught up to another rider, and we traded pulls into Corralitos.

It had warmed up to a very nice day, and I headed back over Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, and Soquel.

13 March 2010

Solo ride

I headed up Hwy 1 for a short ride. There was a tailwind at first, but it became a headwind north of Dimeo. Then I headed up Bonny Doon and Pine Flat. The roads were still wet from the rain yesterday. I then headed back down Empire Grade. There was a tailwind on the descent below the UCSC west entrance.

6 March 2010

Solo ride

It was partly cloudy, cool, but not cold. The forecast for a chance of rain overnight did not materialize, so the roads were dry despite having rained most of the week. There was a breeze from the north. I headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Boulder Creek, then turned left at Hwy 236. I started up Jamison Creek at 12:34. It looked like the last visible remnants of the skunk tail were finally gone from the 1.33 sign. I got to the top at 1:00, then headed down Empire Grade. There was a bus at the stop at Pine Flat and Empire Grade. The bus caught up and passed me somewhere between Felton-Empire and Smith Grade. I caught up to the bus on a couple of the twisty parts of the road, including the section just before Smith Grade, and had to deal with the debris kicked up behind the bus in my face. The little ascents before and after Smith Grade, and the relatively wide and straight road until the 8%-14% grade sign meant I wasn't catching up to the bus again.