15 January 2011

Saturday harbor ride

It was cool and damp, and the roads were damp. On San Andreas, the pace was not very hard at first, but got harder after Buena Vista. At Sunset, the pack slowed, then accelerated, and I couldn't match the acceleration, so I fell off the back. The pack hung tantalizingly about 50 ft ahead of me for about 15-20 seconds, then accelerated away. There was a little wind, too. A small group of 10 went up Mt Madonna and Hazel Dell, and I fell off the back on that climb too. On the ride back home, it was sunny and nice.

8 January 2011

Solo ride

It was cold and overcast. I headed up Hwy 9, where it was sunny, but still cold. I took the Glen Arbor to Ben Lomond, and headed up Hwy 236 from Boulder Creek. I started up Jamison Creek at 12:31. The road was wet at the bottom. It became overcast for part of the climb, but it was sunny at the top. I got to the top at 12:57, and headed down Empire Grade. It was sunny, but still cold through Bonny Doon. There was sand on parts of the road, a thick layer at some places, and parts of the road were wet. It became overcast as I went by UCSC.

11 December 2010

Solo ride

It had been 4 weeks since I last really rode, due to holiday travel and rain, so I wasn't feeling in very good shape. The roads were mostly wet, though drying out where there was sun. I headed up Hwy 9 and Glen Arbor to Boulder Creek, then turned left at Hwy 236. I started up Jamison Creek at 12:38, and figured that I probably could get to the top at around 1:05, but not really any faster than that. About a mile in, before the serious climbing, there were flares on the road, with a police car blocking the right half of the road. There were some branches down. The policeman said it was okay to go through, so I continued. I got to the top just before 1:05, so my initial guess turned out to be pretty good. I headed back on Empire Grade, where there were a number of cars and trucks with trees strapped on top of them.