1 April 2007

Flamingo ride and my stupid move

Getting dropped on Hwy 1 It was cloudy by the coast in the morning. There were six of us at the start of the ride. Two riders joined on the way to Felton, and one left at Felton, turning right at Graham Hill. By that time, it was sunny. The seven of us continued to the first break by Redwood Elementary. At Saratoga Toll Rd, we broke up into two groups. I tried staying with the group in front, and managed to hang with them until the Hwy 236 intersection, when I dropped back. Soon, the group of three disappeared ahead, while the other group of three remained together a few hundred yards behind me. We then regrouped at the fire station.

After the fire station, the one guy who joined us on Hwy 9 headed back, so it was the original six of us the rest of the way. We were also joined at the fire station by a couple in a white Miata who were on the race team, I think, and they took pictures of the ride along Skyline and down Alpine, and also joined us at Pescadero.

There were signs on Alpine warning of gravel. I descended cautiously, falling to the back. At one left turn, I saw the guy ahead of me slow with his left root out of his pedal in a cloud of dust. As I took the turn, I saw the Independent Fabrications bike was down. Apparently, there was suddenly a lot of gravel at that turn, and the first guy through managed to make the turn by hitting the dirt berm on the outside of the lane, but the second guy, following the first guy's line went down. Fortunately, noone was hurt. After that, we descended fairly slowly for a while, so I stayed close to the back of the group. The Miata came by for a few passes after that on the descent of Alpine. After most of the twisty parts, the pace picked up again, but we managed to make it to Pescadero Rd as a group.

On the climb up Haskins, the two fast guys went ahead. The remaining four also split up later, with one guy reaching the top a hundred yards ahead of me, and the other two maybe a hundred yards behind me. After the part of the descent in the sun with the sharp switchbacks, the four of us joined up again. We passed the flamingo house, where I saw that only two flamingos remained. A little after that, we caught up to the two fast guys, who must have been taking it easy. After that, we were joined by another strong rider who rode with us all the way to Pescadero, where it was cloudy again.

We got lunch at Arcangeli's. I got a sandwich and a coke. After lunch, instead of Cloverdale and Gazos Creek, we took Bean Hollow to Hwy 1. I think it got sunny by the time we got to Hwy 1. We also had a tailwind. I was working really hard just to stay with the group, but I managed to stay with them by Waddell. The climb out of Waddell, though, was just too much for me, and I started falling back as we went by the northern Swanton intersection. I took a picture as I was getting dropped. After that, I was by myself. I could see the group ahead of me for a while though. On the climb after the bridge over Scott Creek, I saw the group a few hundred yards ahead of me, but on the flats after that, they were gone, and that would be the last I saw of them.

Approaching Davenport, I would perform my stupid move. I was moving pretty fast with the tailwind, so, at the railway tracks, on an idiotic impulse, I tried to jump over the tracks without getting perpendicular. Of course, at that angle, there was no way I'd be able to clear the tracks. I jumped and got both wheels off the ground. Then I landed. Then I fell. The next thing I remember, I was on my back, on the shoulder of the road. My bike was about three feet from me, on the right side of the car lane. I tried to get up, but couldn't move my legs.


X-ray of my leg a month later Some people stopped and got me covered up, called for help, and moved my bike off the road. Eventually, emergency people arrived, cut off my clothes, and got me moved. Getting moved was the most painful part. Some minutes later, a helicopter arrived, though I never saw any of it except the ceiling, and took me to the hospital at Stanford. In the emergency room, they took X-rays and put my right leg in traction. My right femur was broken a couple inches below my hip. After some evaluation and stuff, I was moved one last painful time to a gurney, and got wheeled to an operating room, and got put under by the anesthesiologist.

So, it will be a while before I'll be able to ride, or even walk, again. The ride is in my GPS, but it will also be a while before I'll be able to get that data into this post. It will aso be a while before I get pictures into this post.

24 March 2007

Solo ride

Holy City Rd It was cloudy, and the roads were damp all morning, so I took my time getting ready. When I finally got on the bike, it was still cloudy and damp. It turned out to be cloudy all day, except for three places. I took pictures at two of those places.

I had a route in mind that would include climbs that I hadn't done in a while. I last climbed Soquel-San Jose in April 2006. I last rode up through Redwood Estates in October 2006. I last rode Quail Hollow in May 2006, and last rode it from west to east in May 2005. I last climbed Felton-Empire in December 2006. I last rode Smith Grade in December 2006.

I started out heading through downtown, where I stopped at lots of red lights. At Water and Market, the light turned red just as I approached. A pickup truck was next to me, and it hesitated an instant, then, after the light had been red for a second or two, blew through it. I stopped, though. A minute later, on the little climb on Water up to Branciforte, a cop car passed by, but it was way too late to have seen the pickup. I continued on Branciforte, Goss, then turned right onto Branciforte, finally getting out of the city. I headed up Branciforte and Mountain View. As a climb, Mountain View ended before I knew it. I only climb Mountain View occasionally, while I descend it more often, usually in less than 2 minutes, so it's pretty short. I headed down Laurel Glen, and then headed up Soquel-San Jose.

On the climb, I started noticing my left cleat seemed loose, and it was making grinding noises when I was pushing down after pulling up. When I got to Stetson, I stopped to check it out, and the cleat was firmly attached. So the cleat must have just been grinding against the pedal. Maybe it was worn or something, which was odd. My right cleat was perfectly fine, and its the one I always unclip for stopping, so the right cleat should be the one that's worn more. Anyhow, I wound up having to suffer through the cleat grinding on all the subsequent significant climbs.

A cement mixer passed pretty closely, and I thought about AB60, a proposed law to mandate a three-foot safety zone for passing cyclists. After Miller, it was sunny and the sky was blue. I expected that it would be sunny the rest of the day, but no such luck. Once on Summit Rd, I could see clouds near ground level ahead. Again, a cement mixer passed me closely. At Old Santa Cruz Hwy, I turned right and headed down. On the descent, I passed two cyclists from the club who where climbing up. I last rode with one of them last week, and the other one in February. Further down, it became sunny again. At Holy City, I turned left and headed up the hill. Just before it got really steep, I took out my camera phone and took a picture. At the top of Holy City Rd, I continued under Hwy 17 and headed up the steep, narrow, twisting roads of Redwood Estates. By the time I got to Summit Rd, it was clouded over again.


Self-portrait It was cold and damp on Summit Rd. At one part, the road was wet from water dripping down from the trees overhead. On Bear Creek Rd, I decided to continue down to Boulder Creek, rather than following my original plan to take Skyline, then head down Hwy 9 to Boulder Creek. At Boulder Creek, I stopped for a can of coke at the gas station. After the little break, I continued to Ben Lomond, then headed up Glen Arbor and Quail Hollow, and down East Zayante and Graham Hill to Felton, where the stoplight at Hwy 9 stayed red for a long time.

I climbed Felton-Empire in a little more than 30 minutes, my second best time for that climb, then continued up Empire Grade. I turned left at Pine Flat and zipped down to Bonny Doon Rd, where it got sunny again. I took a self-portrait at the mirror on Bonny Doon Rd. Continuing down Bonny Doon Rd, it got cold and cloudy again.

At Smith Grade, I figured I'd be home in about 40 minutes. After the initial relatively flat bit, Smith Grade was a fast descent. The road was narrow, one-lane at times, with lots of blind, though not very sharp, turns. After the descent, it became somewhat rolling until the final steep climb to Empire Grade. The intersection with Empire Grade was a saddle point, so continuing on Empire Grade meant another little climb. After that, it was a fast descent back to Santa Cruz. I reached Bay and High about 35 minutes after the start of Smith Grade, so my 40 minute estimate wasn't too bad.

17 March 2007

Eureka Canyon

Cox Rd It was foggy when I started out to Jade St Park, where the club ride was to start at 9. There was a moderate turnout, and the fog was thicker as I signed in. I started out coasting slowly, but then hammered up the little climb on Monterey Ave to Park Ave to join up with a tandem and two other guys. I turned left at Trout Gulch with the tandem and one guy. The other guy continued on Soquel to Freedom, which was the shorter option. We continued on Valencia, then turned left onto Cox. I got out my camera phone and took a picture. Just after taking the picture, the road steepened and the tandem dropped back. After the summit, the other guy slowed, so I went ahead. With the pace in my hands, I hammered down Day Valley and Freedom to the stop at Pony Espresso, which was formerly 5 Mile House. The fog was so thick, my glasses got covered with water droplets.

More people were joining the ride at the stop. Riders started trickling out, and eventually I went. I took it very easy on Corralitos Rd, but kicked up the pace once I hit the bottom of Eureka Canyon and started catching groups of riders. Eventually, I settled in with three other guys, while another guy had disappeared off the front. Finally, we were out of the fog. A little before Koinonia, one of the guys and I went ahead, eventually pushing a very hard pace. We managed to catch up to the guy who went ahead earlier at about 100 yards from the top. Up in the mountains, the sky was blue and it was warm and sunny. This was the first time I climbed Eureka Canyon on my new bike, and, thanks to the motivation of the chase, I got a new best of around 41 minutes, two minutes better than my previous best.

A little later, the other two guys came riding up. Three or four groups of mountain bikers came riding by. Eventually, we decided to get going instead of waiting any longer for any of the others to show up. Looking left from Highland, I could see the fog blanketing the coast. After Spanish Ranch and Mt Bache was the fast descent to the Summit Market, where I got a sandwich and a coke. Several other groups of cyclists stopped there as well. I hung around there for a long time to let the fog on the coast burn off. I saw someone ride up on a carbon Ibis (same as my new bike) for the first time. Eventually, I headed out and joined two others for a while. However, since I was leaving them behind by simply coasting, I tried to see how far I could coast. I managed to make it through two of the little upgrades without having to pedal, and then made it to almost the 6.91 marker before finally coming to a stop and having to pedal. I coasted much of the rest of the way to Casalegno's, where I stopped and waited for the other two. After chatting with them a little, I headed up Laurel Glen, while they continued to Soquel.

I went up Laurel Glen, down Mountain View and Branciforte, and then headed home.