26 November 2011

Saturday harbor ride

It sunny and slightly chilly when I started out. Some of the roads were wet. There was a headwind on San Andreas, so the pack wasn't too fast. Leading up to Sunset, the pack accelerated, and I couldn't, so I started slipping back. After Sunset, I kept slipping back and then was off the back, and had to face the headwind. I was still able to see the tail end of the pack making the turn onto Beach, so I wasn't that far behind. On Beach, I joined with a few other riders to get back to the pack. There was decent sized group on Casserly, but a big bunch turned left instead of continuing on Mt Madonna, so I was at the tail end of a group of 6 at the bottom of the steep part, and promptly fell behind with one other, as the other 4 raced ahead. A lot of Hazel Dell and Browns Valley was wet. From Corralitos, I headed over Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, Trout Gulch, and then Soquel back. It was turning into a relatively warm day.

19 November 2011

Solo ride

It was partly sunny, and partly overcast, and chilly. Most of the roads were still wet from the previous day's rain, particularly in the shade. I headed up Hwy 1, then up Bonny Doon and Pine Flat. Then, it was a chilly return down Empire Grade.

5 November 2011

Solo ride

It was cold and overcast when I started. I started earlier than I otherwise would have because it was supposed to rain in the afternoon, and it did not rain during my ride. I headed up Hwy 9, Glen Arbor, and Hwy 9 to Boulder Creek, then up Hwy 236. I started up Jamison Creek at 11:13. There was some traffic, though no motorcycles, including at least one truck carrying mountain bikes up and down the mountain. It was 11:37 when I got to the top, and 11:38 just after I turned left onto Empire Grade. My estimated time for the climb was 24:56. After the effort of the climb, it got cold on the descent of Empire Grade.