7 June 2008

Solo ride

China Grade Since I was riding solo, I started later, near midday. I headed up Hwy 9 to Felton, then over to Zayante, and took Quail Hollow and Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond. Then, I went up Hwy 9 again. The James Dean mural on the Brookdale Lodge had been scraped off or painted over or was being restored or something. I continued on to Boulder Creek, then turned left at Hwy 236.

I continued to China Grade, which I hadn't climbed in almost exactly 2 years. The last time I climbed it was 10 June 2006, and it took 24 minutes. This time, I wasn't pushing too hard, but still did it in 21:29. There were bugs buzzing around, but they didn't get into my face. I kept expecting to be at the top for the last quarter mile, but it was longer than I thought. And then I was suddenly at the top, and it was shorter than I thought.

I descended to the park headquarters and took a break with a bar and got a coke from the store. There were lots of vacationers. After the break, I took it easy, heading up Hwy 236. There was a woman on a bike coasting down towards the headquarters in a ranger uniform with a guitar or something like that in a soft case on her back.

It was 2:07 when I turned right at the bottom of Jamison Creek. I had been taking it easy up to now, so I ramped up the intensity. At around 1.5, or a little before the 1.42 sign, a woman wearing pink or lavender was descending very cautiously on her bike. I guess she was going around 10mph, which was still faster than I was going. On the 1.33 sign, there was still the piece of skunk tail. There was also a little U.S. flag stuck on it. The flag did not look very new. I continued crawling up, thinking that a time around 28 minutes now would be mildly disappointing, but would have been really good a year ago, or even 6 months ago. At around 1/4 of a mile or so to the top, I saw a rider ahead of me. It's really rare for me to see another rider on Jamison when I'm riding solo. This would be the 2nd time ever, I think. The first time was some time around a year ago when some guy went by me between the 1.66 and 1.60 signs. This time, I caught up around 1/5 of a mile to the top. He said something about it being too steep for him. I wheezed out a chuckle. When I got to the top, it was 2:32, so I figured my time would be 25 and 1/2 minutes, like the last 2 times. It turned out to be 24:44, so I finally cracked 25 minutes.

I continued left on Empire Grade, recovering for the next 10 minutes or so. It was nice and warm. I almost finished the water in my bottle by the time I got home.

5 June 2008

Swanton Time Trial

I left work early to head home to get changed and head out for the time trial. It was pretty warm, but quite windy. There was a headwind on the way out, so I was slow getting out to the start, but I still got there a little before people started lining up, so I started in the first quarter, rather than at the end like last month.

It started out with a strong headwind, that was gusty at places. When the road twisted, the hills provided some shelter from the wind. When the road twisted away from the coast, a couple of times, there was a brief tailwind, but the headwind returned with a vengeance when the road twisted back. After descending into the valley, I caught sight of the guy who started a minute ahead of me. I made up a bunch of ground on him on the shallow rise. After a few more curves in the road, I went by him. After a few moments, I heard him shifting, and realized that he had latched onto my wheel. Whatever. This is a very low-key event. I just maintained my effort level, as this was an ITT. There still was a little headwind. At the bottom of the hill, I shifted into my little ring, and the guy behind me surged ahead. He soon faded and dropped way back. I saw the riders who started before me descending. Finally, I made it to the turnaround and called out my number. On the descent, I saw that the guy who started a minute behind me had overtaken the guy who started a minute before me. There were also rocks on the road in places, and I ran over one of them, around golf-ball sized, sending it skittering off. I made sure to avoid any more of them. After the descent, there were the latter riders on the outbound leg in the first third or so of the valley. The tailwind had me going pretty quickly at times, and the uneven road surface made the handling a little sketchy. Leaving the valley, the tailwind was stronger, making the climbs faster than my expectation. On the first of the last two little climbs sandwiching the hairpin right, there was a little twinge in my left calf, portending a cramp. It was so close to the end, so I kept pushing. There were more twinges in my calf over those final two minutes, but it didn't cramp. My time was 35:14, which would probably be around the top of the bottom third in the results. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't break 35 minutes. The guy who started a minute behind me probably pulled in 30-40 seconds on me, but didn't catch me. There were plenty of fast riders this time, but, for the first time, due to luck of starting order, I was never passed.

After recovering for a while, I headed back. There was a really strong tailwind, so I was flying. I had a new personal best from Bonny Doon Rd to Western of 19:27.

31 May 2008

Half Moon Bay

Tunitas Creek Rd The sky was filled with a thick layer of clouds early in the morning. At times, I could feel drizzle in the air. There was somewhat of a headwind, as the wind sock near Waddell was varying around 60 degrees, sometimes drooping to about 45 degrees, sometimes being blown up to around 80 degrees. The drizzle got more pronounced on Gazos Creek Rd, where there were patches of damp on the road.

At Pescadero, I stopped and waited to sign in and join the club ride. There was drizzle on parts of Stage, Tunitas Creek, and Lobitos Creek. It was dry on Verde, but heading inland up Purisima and back down towards the coast, there were more periods of drizzle. There was also a bit of a headwind heading into Half Moon Bay.

After a light lunch, for which I had focaccia and a scone, and during there was more drizzle, we headed back via Hwy 1. After we passed the north end of Stage Rd, we started getting passed by emergency vehicles with sirens. On the high flat between San Gregorio Creek and Pomponio Creek, the emergency vehicles were clustered in the right lane. I think I saw someone on a stretcher off the side of the road surrounded by emergency workers when directed into the oncoming lane by the traffic flaggers. At Pescadero Rd, my riding partners turned left to head back to Pescadero, and I continued straight.

There was pretty good tailwind at times. It wasn't that strong, though. The wind sock was pretty steady at around 80 degrees. The clouds also started clearing as I got further south. By Davenport, the sun was out, but it was still a bit hazy. By the time I headed up Western and back home, I was starting to get tired.