21 February 2009

Saturday harbor ride

It was overcast and not too cold. The sun glowed through the clouds at first. The group went a lot slower than usual through East Cliff and Capitola. On San Andreas, the pace was enough to somewhat string out the pack a few times, but I was never over my limit. It seemed like only a few riders turned right at Watsonville to go to San Juan. Probably because rain was forecast for the afternoon.

Going up 152, a small group disappeared ahead, while the main group was happy at a more social pace. I stayed with the group up Mt Madonna and the initial part of Hazel Dell, until the group split up on the climb. On the descent, a couple of riders went by, but I couldn't hang on. Later, I latched onto a group of 3 that came by into Corralitos.

Then I took Hames, Day Valley, Valencia, Trout Gulch, and Soquel back home. There was probably a slight tailwind. I felt pretty good on the final little climb up High St, and it didn't rain.

16 February 2009

Watching the Tour of California, Stage 2

Chalk on the road It was raining pretty hard at 8, but it lightened to occasional showers after 9, so I headed up the coast, then up Bonny Doon Rd to Smith Grade. At the lower parts of the climb, there were a few spectators already setting up. There were tents set up on the curves just after the bridge. Cars lined the road on the straight climb leading up to Smith. I continued up to Smith, then headed back down a little to watch. It was 10:30 when I arrived. It was cold and wet, with occasional showers. The first racer, Barredo, went by a bit after 1pm, with the lead group close behind.

At 1:30, I headed out on Smith. Leading up to the intersection with Empire Grade, there was a line of cars, most of which had passed me on Smith, waiting for the road to be reopened. I watched the trailing riders zip by with the small group of spectators there.


Racer on the climb After the broom wagon went by, I headed back home. There were still spectators by the side of the road, but there were also a lot of cars going by me. In Santa Cruz, the sun was out.

7 February 2009

Alba

It was sunny, but there were dark clouds around. It was cool and damp, and the roads were still damp from the rain over the last couple of days, particularly in the shade. Since there was a chance of showers, I went on a short ride to lessen the chances of getting caught in the rain, and headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond, then up Alba in 37 minutes, demonstrating that I'm not in good shape, and then back down Empire Grade.