Category Archives: Web Rides

Detailed ride descriptions for website

Caltrain+BART+Bike = Mt Diablo, 80 miles, 6400ft of climbing= great ride, but oh my has the Dumbarton bike path deteriorated!

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An odd ride, eh? Starts and ends in different places. Ah, the things you can pull off if you’re not tied down to a car!

We’ve got some decent transit in the bay area, so why not use it? Not really fast transit; you have to go to France for that. But you can put together a good East Bay ride by riding to your nearest CalTrain, connect to BART at the Millbrae Station, and arrive in Walnut Creek ready to go! We left the house at 8:17am, just enough time to pick up coffee and breakfast at Starbucks before catching the 8:41am train, which connects to the 9:21am BART, which arrives in Walnut Creek at 10:30am. Could you drive there faster? Sure. About 1 hour 10 minutes; 1 hour 30 including the stop for Starbucks, so maybe 45 minutes faster by car. But then you’ve got a car that you have to get back to, limiting your riding choices. If you do an out (by transit) and back (by bike), you can effectively increase your radius from 50 miles to 75 or more! Which is obviously what we did.

It was pretty nice out there; close to hot, but not quite. The climb up Mt. Diablo was between 73 & 80 degrees and was surprisingly easy. We stopped once on the way up to help a guy with a flat (new bike and he wasn’t too familiar with it, plus he was using the tubeless road clinchers, something I don’t think is quite ready for prime time). Tried to save a snake but unfortunately got to watch a car drive right over it. Lots of road stain from previously run-over snakes & tarantulas, much more than I’ve seen elsewhere. The road surface is fantastic, far better than Mt. Hamilton.

Interesting thing about the top of Mt. Diablo today. It was just exactly the right temperature to make you a bit too comfortable. You felt like you could sit down and read a book for a couple hours, chat with people, whatever. Seemed like a nice place to hang out. That’s not usually what goes on on a bike ride!

The ride back down was uneventful but slow (slow mostly because the park has radar-enforced speed limits of 15 to 25 miles per hour), after which came an unexciting cruise through Blackhawk and the backside of Dublin. I’d been concerned there might not be many places to eat on this ride, and maybe 15 years ago that would have been true, but things are pretty built up now and it was no problem finding a Subway near Camino Tassajara & Blackhawk Road.

Palomares Canyon was as challenging as ever, and also the finale as far as anything really fun on the ride. After that it was city roads with traffic through Fremont, which was actually a whole lot better than what followed- the Dumbarton Bridge lead in, the bridge itself, and the Bayfront bike path on the other side. Talk about crumbling infrastructure! The road leading up to the bridge is both grainy and choppy, and the bridge? Yikes, unbelievable amount of glass and other tire-biting debris, so much that I had to boot my tire midspan after I noticed an irregularity when I ran my (gloved) hand over it, making sure I hadn’t picked up glass.

And the other side? If this is what I go to DC to lobby for, I’ve got to change my thinking. They’d recently cut down the grasses and weeds along the path, and not bothered to sweep it. Crud everywhere. And the part where you have to cross the street at the former Sun Microsystems location (now Facebook)? Glass so bad in the bike section that you have to lift your bike over it. And when you get to Marsh Road and have to use the push button to get across, just try and find where they hid it in the shrubs! In my opinion, the Dumbarton Bridge bike path is a disaster, something not suitable for road bikes unless you’re willing to risk destruction of expensive high-quality tires.

Darned good 70 mile ride starting in Woodside!

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It’s hard coming up with something new & fun after living and riding here since… well, pretty much since the dinosaur (I started doing longer bike rides around 1967). But today I think I put together a pretty nice one. As with all my rides, they start at the center of the Universe, that being Canada Road & Olive Hill, just north of Woodside. Why? Because it’s a couple miles from where I live and is the start/finish of the Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride.

You can view the ride on BikeRouteToaster here, and also download it from that site directly to your Garmin computer!

In a nutshell, this ride starts in Woodside, goes over Old LaHonda to the coast, then south on Highway 1 to Gazos Creek, north on Gazos Creek to Pescadero, Stage Road to San Gregorio and then Highway 1, and then Tunitas/Kings to get back to Woodside.

We started late (as usual), Kevin had one of his all-too-common seizures on Old LaHonda (again, as usual, although we were hoping that keeping his heart rate below 170 would keep that from happening), had a light headwind going out to the coast (as usual), and a pretty nice run south to Gazos Creek, where we ate at the Gazos Creek Grill (highly recommended!) before returning.

Not too many cyclists out on the coast side today, but those we did see were often on bikes we sold, and that always makes me feel good! But what really made me feel good was getting up Tunitas even faster than last week, despite, or perhaps because of, a bee or yellow jacket that stung me on the neck at the base of the climb. Kevin and I stopped for less than a minute to make sure there was no stinger to be removed, after which I flew up the hill with legs that felt stronger than they have in years. Maybe it was actually a radioactive spider that bit me, like Peter Parker (Spiderman)? More likely it was a desire to get back before any nasty swelling might set in. But whatever it was, Kevin hung on pretty well, and the 48:44 time was his best so far. More soon.

This page might be a bit messy right now as I’m trying some new things. Within a day or two it should be cleaned up. –Mike–

Woodside/Santa Cruz loop with Swanton Road addition

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It’s really tough to top the big ride we did in France- the Glandon/Croix de Fer/Telegraphe/Galibier loop. Probably impossible. Not even sure I’d want to! But it would seem terribly insignificant to just do a loop out to the coast, so today Kevin (my son, not the pilot) and I did the Woodside/Old LaHonda/Pescadero/Santa Cruz/Highway 9/Skyline loop, something we’ve done a number of times, and added in the Swanton Road detour for a scenic diversion from a few miles of Highway 1 (which is so busy at this time of year that the noise from cars does a lot to break you away from the pleasant experience cycling should be).


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113 miles, about 9200ft of climbing, moderate pace (15.1mph average) broken up by a flat tire Kevin got on Highway 9 on the return. Along the way Kevin got his best-time yet up Old LaHonda (21:38), which he thinks his new Madone is largely responsible for, as well as shaving a minute off his usual time up Haskins.

Unfortunately, the usual tailwind on the coast wasn’t there, so that part of the ride was a bit of a grind. I was also try out a route that would bypass maybe a mile of the most-congested part of Highway One through Santa Cruz via King Street; it literally was so jammed that it was unsafe to try and make the left-hand turn required to get there. Since this was one of those things that looked good on a map but I didn’t really know how it was going to turn out, we didn’t go to any heroic efforts to try.

Ride details: 108 miles as shown on the map (starting from the Park & Ride on Woodside Road just west of 280).
Climbs- Old LaHonda 3.34 miles 1287ft, Haskins (Pescadero Road) 1.65 miles 601ft, Highway 9 east of Boulder Creek (when the “real” climb finally starts) 7.6 miles 1800ft. In addition there’s a couple thousand feet of small & rolling climbs.

It was interesting to feel, at the 100 mile mark, like I could just keep on going, maybe tackle one more big climb without feeling like I’d pushed the limit. Sad to think that, in a couple months, such capabilities will be just a memory. –Mike–

The Back Side of Water (A fantastic climb up D219 opposite Alpe d’Huez)

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“Ladies & gentlemen, I give you the back side of water!” Does that bring back any memories? It should. I can’t imagine that many people haven’t ridden the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, and been on the back side of the waterfall where you get that ridiculously-corny endlessly-repeated line. Having been to Disneyland too many times (mainly care of two too-spoiled kids who think it’s some sort of right to visit Disneyland on an almost-yearly basis), that line came immediately to mind riding up the D219 road opposite Alpe d’Huez a week ago last Friday (July 22, 2011).

Wow. It seems longer ago than that. But what a great day. It had its issues; getting a flat tire on the descent, and having the tube installed then go bad as well, but for me, getting to ride a road that I’d seen from across the valley (on top of Alpe d’Huez) for so many years, well, it was one of the highest things on my “bucket list.” That probably explains why it wasn’t quite the same for my son, for whom it was just another road, perhaps interesting, but somewhat a distraction from the day’s main event (climbing Alpe d’Huez itself).

Also making this interesting is Kevin’s epilepsy; at any point on a hard climb he could possibly have a seizure that might cause him to lose control and fall over. Because of that it was important for me to be riding to the outside, keeping Kevin riding up next to the mountain and as far away from the sheer cliff (protected only by those low bricks) as possible. If Kevin did have a seizure, he knew that I was going to end up literally pushing him down into the ground; this was not the place to risk him wobbling across the road. Fortunately, I didn’t have to put that plan into effect.

Alpe d’Huez, on its own, is a fine ride, but not really enough for a full day. Spend the extra 1.5-2hrs and climb up to Villard Notre Dame, have a coke (or two) and enjoy the view before heading back into the valley and up the main attraction on the other side (Alpe d’Huez). Park somewhere near the huge Supermarket (same place the ride starts on the Googlemap at the bottom of this page), where you can load up on inexpensive food & drink & various other supplies. This puts you just a kilometer out of the center of town, and, literally, right at the very base of Alpe d’Huez.

For a detailed description of what it’s like, see the photos below. Words really can’t describe D219. Just make sure you’ve got sturdy tires, spare tubes and a working pump, because the rocks that fall onto the road are incredibly sharp. Out of maybe 10 other cyclists we saw on D219, two got flats. Er, three. I got one myself.

Specifics: Elevation at base- 2400ft.
Elevation at Villard Notre Dame- 5050ft (Alpe d’Huez is just under 6000ft)
Climbing time- 1hr 9min (with a couple stops to enjoy the view)
Climbing distance- 5.0 miles
Grade- 6-10% with a few short steeper pitches but worth the effort
Road surface- Generally good but watch for small rocks as they’re very sharp
Food & water- Available in town at the start and at the top at the cafe

If you do both D219 and Alpe d’Huez on the same day, total mileage will be a very unimpressive 32, but climbing comes in at 6200ft. We’re talking quality miles here with incredible views.

  • Just found another ride report for D219 from some guys we saw on the climb that day! Even a reference to us as “yanks.” And a mention of my flat even.
  • Steephill.tv has an excellent ride & video report of D219
  • Another link to a ride up D219 here.
  • Info from the Bike Bourg d’Oisons site here.
  • More references to it as part of a ride here.
  • The last paragraph of this review on lights refers to one of the D219 tunnels as being “hors categorie.”
  • A search page of photos taken in the vicinity


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First pre-France test of Bike Fridays

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It was meant to be a longer ride, but that wasn’t the fault of our Bike Fridays. The plan was initially Woodside, Old LaHonda, Pescadero, loop down to Gazos Creek and back to Pescadero, north on Stage and back via Tunitas. Due to the warm weather we decided to drop the Gazos Creek section, but more pruning was soon to come.

Since we were on our Bike Fridays and not our lighter-weight and more-responsive Trek carbon bikes, I knew we’d be climbing Old LaHonda a bit slower than Kevin’s recent and rapidly-improving times, but the presence of large numbers of rabbits (cyclists ahead of us) and the fear of being passed by dogs (cyclists behind) was propelling Kevin strongly; so strongly in fact that, at the half-way point, he was slightly ahead of his best time ever (23:24). But literally within 20 feet of the top he had one of his more-significant seizures, causing great concern among the many cyclists who traditionally assemble at the top of the climb. I let them know he’d be fine in just a couple of minutes, but it’s got to be an odd thing for someone not familiar with epilepsy to see a cyclist struggle to get off his bike and then stagger around a bit before collapsing to the ground. Me? Old stuff. I know he’ll be fine shortly, and just make sure he gets laid gently on the ground (although today I couldn’t get to him in time).

Kevin sitting in the window at the San Gregorio General Store, talking with Dario (friend & customer)

Riders approaching Highway 1 on Stage Road, just north of San Gregorio

Within a couple of minutes he was mostly fine, but had lost his desire to keep going. I knew this was temporary so we moved on, but by the time we got to La Honda I decided we’d alter the ride a bit more and drop the Pescadero loop in favor of a slightly-shorter Los Lobitos addition. Given a bit more time (and, ironically, a bit of climbing), Kevin would have been fine with the original plan, and in fact by San Gregorio he was feeling very good.

Heading north on Highway 1

Kevin on the easy part of Los Lobitos; looking across the ravine you can see the hard part.

We fueled up with a Coke and Clif Bar and then set out to tame Stage Road, Los Lobitos and Tunitas Creek. While it had been getting quite toasty on the bay side of the mountain (and in the picture showing riders climbing Stage Road, you can see it’s rather heat-hazy up on Skyline in the distance), it was a very comfortable mid-70s on the coast. Dario, a customer we came across at San Gregorio General Store, rode with us as far as Los Lobitos and then continued on to Half Moon Bay (where he’d be eating lunch before turning back and doing Higgins Purissima and then Tunitas). Los Lobitos is one of those roads that starts out deceptively-easy and fun, and then turns into a pretty nasty, steep climb that winds around and eventually connects with Tunitas a few miles in from the coast.

The "other side" of Los Lobitos, seen in the prior photo

By this time Kevin was back to his old self again, riding strongly on the steepest sections and taking advantage of his superior lungs. Hearing Dad’s lungs noisily trying to snag spare oxygen seems to make him climb even faster. That’s OK, I still have more power in my legs; I just have to use them wisely, knowing that a sustained effort is going to put me into oxygen debt that I won’t quickly recover from.

Los Lobitos was the one piece of road we saw no other cyclists on. Actually, we did come across one cyclists, riding in the opposite direction, but no rabbits, no dogs.

Kevin riding up Tunitas Creek, clearly working it hard

Tunitas Creek? Same as it ever was. Steep, creek still running (surprisingly strongly), and today, so many cyclists on it you’d think there was an organized ride going on. Kevin kept a strong pace the whole way up the hill, clearly enjoying the fact that his current level of fitness allows him to pass so many others on the climbs these days. We did adopt a mellower pace on the flatter section up on top.

If we’d known how hot it was going to get as we descended back into Woodside, we might have spent more time on the coast! By the time we got home we felt like we’d had a far tougher ride than the 46 miles indicated, but the ride’s main mission, proving that the Bike Fridays were ready to tackle France in less than two weeks, was accomplished. The time I spent Saturday getting it set up identically to my Madone paid off very well. Now if I could just fix Kevin’s epilepsy as easily as I can deal with bike problems. –Mike–

 

Hardest 73-mile ride ever? Bohlman/On Orbit/Black Road can do that!

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With the Tour de France trip just over two weeks away, it was time to throw something at Kevin (and me!) designed to test the limits, and this ride did. Not just because it had some tough climbs, but also because it never lets you develop a rhythm. You’re never feeling like you’re ready for what comes next.

91 degrees in Saratoga. A warm day for climbing!

Climbing Bohlman/On Orbit

We started out rolling through the foothills, from Redwood City through Woodside, Portola Valley, and eventually Los Altos, where we stopped for lunch and took care of a couple of computer issues in our Los Altos store. It was hoped that eating something a good half hour away from the first real climb would be a better choice than grabbing a bite at the base (in Saratoga). I’m certain that was a wise choice, but it doesn’t really matter how you prepare for Bohlman/On Orbit… it’s a leg-breaker. 1600ft of elevation gain in just 2.7 miles. Kings Mountain climbs the same amount in 4.34 miles. A couple of spots where it exceeds 20%. And it’s exposed, with temps reaching up to 90 degrees today. Ouch. But while we had to make one unscheduled stop on the way up (Kevin had another seizure, a common thing for him during intense climbs), we reached the top in good spirits, ready to take on the dirt road that bridges between Bohlman and Montevino.

The End is Near!

The dirt road that bridges Bohlman to Montevino

That dirt road is actually pretty nice, with visibility extending all the way to Monterey Bay. What’s not so nice is the descent on Montevino that comes at the end, a a road the drops quickly toward Lexington Reservoir and requires full brakes almost the entire way down. It is not fun! So you hit the bottom a bit fatigued and get a brief break from either descending or climbing of… about 1000ft or so. And then you make the right turn onto Black Road and it’s up, up, up and more up. We had a planned stop at the school, but a mile or so

Kevin cleaning up and cooling off

before that we had to stop for a rare flat tire (Kevin’s) before finally making it to the school. The big attraction to the school is water. Water to make Cytomax, water to pour over your head and whatever else feels like it could benefit. I also used the opportunity to send an email to Eric, one of our regular Tuesday/Thursday-morning riders who lives in the area, asking if he could leave a couple of ice-cold cokes by the roadside for us. It was a humorous suggestion, but it wasn’t long after we got going again that we actually saw Eric driving past in a car, offering us water and energy gel (we were OK at that point). Did he get my email or was it coincidence? I’ll find out soon!

At least once you’re past the school you’re not out in the open anymore, and the temps dropped from the mid-80s to lower-70s pretty quickly. You’ve still got some pretty steep sections, but not hopelessly-so, and there’s the promise of arriving up on top (Skyline) soon.

Mtn Dew never tasted so good!

You hit Skyline at about 2400ft; Kevin thought that was pretty much it for climbing, but not quite, you’ve still got another 700ft to go. We got there, but it would be lying to say it was easy. It was pretty much survival mode at this point, with the thought of an ice cold coke from Mr. Mustard at Saratoga Gap (Skyline & 9) keeping us going. Unfortunately, our delays caused us to arrive after Mr. Mustard had left, but it’s only a short distance further on to the Saratoga Summit Fire Station with its own coke machine, dispensing Mtn Dews for just $1 each. That plus a Honey Stinger Waffle were all we needed to refuel and motivate us appropriately for the mostly-downhill run on Skyline to Sky Londa and then home.

73 miles, about 7500ft of climbing, temps as high as 91. This felt like a much tougher ride than either of our recent 100+ mile trips to Santa Cruz! Are we ready for France? Almost. Not yet, but almost. –Mike–

10,283ft, 105.6 miles, 90 degrees… not epic, but toughest ride so far this year

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With just over three weeks to go before heading to the French Alps, there’s no time to waste on “nice” or “fun” rides. Every ride counts, as Kevin (my son) and I prepare for at least one epic ride over there, the 100 mile Glandon/Galibier loop. Still, today’s ride ended up being less nice (although not really less fun) than planned, because this was our first ride in “normal” late-Spring early-Summer weather. Up until now, it’s been rare to see temps above the mid-60s for most of our outings, so it was a bit of a rude awakening to see what 90 degrees on open climbs would do to us.

The route was similar to the classic Woodside/Santa Cruz run, where you head over Old LaHonda, Haskins Grade to Pescadero, Gazos Creek to Highway One and then South to Santa Cruz and back via Highway 9 and Skyline. Except that instead of heading into Santa Cruz we rode up Bonny Doon Road to Empire Grade, then down Jamison Creek, up China Grade and then connected to Highway 9 at Waterman Gap.

Despite an issue with some pain in his right leg, Kevin got his best time yet up Old LaHonda (23:23), but the run south on Gazos Creek and Highway One was a bit slower than normal. Looks like something’s a bit tight and he might have to do a bit of pre-exercise stretching in the future (a foreign concept to me; I’ve never done any formal stretching ever, preferring to work out my kinks on the bike… this is not a recommendation for others!).

Lunch at Davenport’s Whaler Cafe was a bit more eventful than usual, as a couple of hungry cyclists (us) ordered more food than we had money for (they take only cash there). $34 worth, and we had $27. I didn’t think about the expense of the imported (from Mexico) Cokes, made with real sugar. The guy said no problem, bring $7 back next time since he’d seen us before. So we paid what we could, knowing that we were now flat broke on “real” money, which would mean no “Mr. Mustard” stop on Skyline… not a good thing! Thankfully Kevin had noticed an ATM machine, and got $20 cash to make good on our debt with a few dollars in reserve.

I should mention we weren’t the only people with Chain Reaction connections at the Whaler Cafe; inside was a guy with his son who’d recently purchased a Trek Madone from us and outside were several more “Dads” out on a one-way Mountain View to Santa Cruz ride on their Chain Reaction bikes.

The bottom of Bonny Doon is so peaceful, pleasant even. And someone has written on the road, “Good 4 You.”

From there it was the long hot run up Bonny Doon, a far tougher climb up from the coast than Tunitas, particularly when combined with Empire Grade. Why the Tour of California rated Bonny Doon a Cat-3 and Tunitas a Cat-2 escapes me; Tunitas is a shaded, cooler climb with a gnarly middle section but a very easy lead-in and finish. Bonny Doon, on the other hand, is torture on a hot day, a rude awakening as you escape from the cool coastal fog into hot dry air. Not hot really; never above 90, but compared to what we’ve had lately, that was plenty warm enough.

 

Bonny Doon shows its true colors very quickly, and very nastily. On a hot day, this is one tough climb!

The other issue with incorporating Bonny Doon into your “Santa Cruz” run is that there are no services between the coast and Skyline, because you’re bypassing civilization (the various towns along the lower flanks of Highway 9). So you’re just out there on your own, in some ways miles from nowhere, on a road that just isn’t very friendly when you’re not at the top of your game. On the other hand, it’s nice to do something different, and the views along Empire Grade are pretty amazing, plus you get to experience the Jamison Creek descent (which is so steep you can’t even approach white-knuckle speeds) and the fun climb up China Grade.

Make sure your brake shoes are in good shape before descending Jamison, because you could easily lose 1/4 of their life in just one descent. If wet, it’s possible that you might not even make it to the bottom before they’re gone (but anyone descending Jamison Creek in the rain needs to have their head examined, if there’s anything left of it after attempting the descent).

Once at the bottom of Jamison Creek, you turn left on 236 and after a mile or so, right on China Grade. But before you get to China Grade, there’s a golf shop/bar on the left side of the road where you can buy a coke and fill up with water. Very friendly people; today, as we were looking for a place to park our bikes, a nice woman in motorized golf cart drove up to us and suggested we just park our bikes up on the porch. We explained we were just there to get some water, which she said no problem and pointed to the ice chest/water cooler on her cart which she nicely let us fill up from!

China Grade, while steep, is only a mile and a half long and completely shaded, so it’s actually a much more pleasant grind that anything on Bonny Doon. Unfortunately, at the top it connects back up to 236 which is in the process of being chip-sealed (oil & gravel), making a mess of our bikes and taking all the fun out of riding that section of road. Thankfully that goes on for only a couple of miles, after which you connect to Highway 9 at Waterman Gap for the 6-mile run up to Skyline. Kevin claims he doesn’t like that stretch of road, but he rides it like he owns it, attacking it pretty hard despite just recently looking like he’d be asking for a sag wagon.

 

Mr. Mustard, serving up ice-cold drinks and hot dogs, at Skyline & Highway 9 every weekend.

The question is, would Kevin be flying up Highway 9 if not for a date with Mr. Mustard? After a long grind there’s nothing quite like an ice cold coke (just $1) and/or… heaven forbid but at the time it sure tastes good… a hot dog. Yes, we had hot dogs on a bike ride, with 35 miles to go. Seems like that should be about the worst thing you could eat, but somehow, it works. I’m not suggesting you try it yourself, but when the alternative is a Clif Bar or Shot Blocks, well sure, those work, and maybe they’re even better for you, but at that point in the ride, you deserve what you want.

After that we had a brief stop at the nearby fire station to mix up some more Cytomax and then headed north on Skyline for the quick ride back home. You’re less than two hours from Redwood City at that point, even though it seems so much further. Skyline heading north is a pretty pleasant run, maybe 45 minutes from Highway 9 to 84, with just a couple of small climbs along the way. We arrived home at 6:10pm, just a bit later than planned, and about 9 hours after we’d left. Not as fast an average speed as prior rides (14mph) but definitely a lot tougher going, and definitely needed prior to France. –Mike–

74 days to go- Will Kevin be ready? Will I? Today’s run to Pescadero & Tunitas suggests yes.

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Any doubts about Kevin getting back in shape in time for France were erased today

Question was, would today be that “day off” that he couldn’t afford? My concern was that last night was Senior Prom (an event I didn’t attend back in the day because it conflicted with a bike race) and Kevin didn’t get in until 1:30am. Would I be able to roll him out of bed and onto a bike before the sun went down? Turned out not to be much trouble; Kevin woke up around 9:30 if I recall correctly, and not being terribly energetic for a while, it wasn’t until noon that we finally got out… but that’s plenty of time for what some refer to as the “coastal classic”- up Old LaHonda and down the other side, over Haskins Grade to Pescadero, north on Stage to Tunitas and back up to Skyline and down Kings to Woodside.

Lots of people on the east side of the hills today, but darned few on the coast. In fact, there was only one other cyclist at the Pescadero Bakery, a nice guy from Bonny Doon who hitched a ride into town on our wheels (which I don’t mind; if you see Kevin and I out on the road, and I’m plowing into a head wind, go ahead and grab a wheel). My guess is that most were at the Grizzly Peak Century, which is what Kevin and I would have been riding if not for Senior Prom (I did offer, when I picked him up, that we could go home, get dressed for the ride, grab our bikes and just head over… who needs sleep?).

Anyone not riding missed the best day of the year so far. Temps ran from mid-60s to low-80s, with the only downside being a persistant headwind regardless of what direction you were riding. What was a bit sad was not having many “rabbits” (cyclists ahead of you) to catch. Even on Old LaHonda, where you normally encounter a steady stream of rabbits (those you’re chasing) and dogs (those chasing you).

We didn’t charge any of the climbs flat out, but did put the hammer down once we got to the upper reaches of Tunitas, where it flattens out. That’s a real good test for how Kevin’s doing, because as he tires, he’ll often have trouble holding onto a wheel (a wheel which you need all that much more when you’re tired!), but today I was able to gradually crank up the speed and he held on. In France, that will become even-more important, as we’ll need to catch “trains” of riders speeding by if we want to get around quickly and efficiently.

Most of the “infrastructure” for the 2011 trip to the Tour de France has been handled; plane tickets, train tickets, car rental, hotels, and some route planning. What’s needed is a feeling that Kevin and I are ready for a far-more-ambitious schedule of riding than we’ve done on any of the three prior trips to the ‘Tour with Kevin; in particular, there’s a 100 mile day, a huge loop without any possibility of shortcuts, featuring the Col du Glandon and the massive Galibier. 74 days is just not that far off, and Kevin got off to a pretty bad start this year with his kidney issues, so it was a very good thing we got this ride in!

We finally pulled off the “different” ride from a few weeks ago

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A few weeks ago, Kevin (my son, not the pilot) and I were going to do something a bit different from the norm. He often complains that he wants to ride something different from the usual Pescadero/Tunitas loop, but it’s tough to get in a really challenging ride without heading toward the coast, and it’s hard to avoid Pescadero (gotta stop at the bakery) and Tunitas. That day Kevin had some issues from his various epilepsy meds, so I went out on my own and had to do a slight modification due to some flooding.

Today, no danger of flooding, and Kevin was doing fine, so we finally pulled it off, but not at the 9am starting time I was hoping for; somehow it was determined that Starbucks and Noah’s Bagels had to be procured first, and then Kevin remembers that his rear tire is flat, plus a couple other things I don’t recall, so it wasn’t until noon that we finally set out.

Lunch at the excellent Gazos Creek Cafe. And yes, they take credit cards!

The route? Woodside/Old LaHonda/Pescadero (nothing unusual yet!), the Bean Hollow to the coast and south on Highway 1 to Gazos Creek. Now we’re talking something different. Had an excellent lunch at the Gazos Creek Grill, same place I ate a few weeks ago. So far, so good, since we were heading south, with the wind at our backs!

The run north was on Gazos Creek Road, which I’d hoped would be relatively sheltered from the win, which it was. Then back through Pescadero (twice through Pescadero on one ride, without stopping at the bakery?), north on Stage, then the long grind up Highway 84 back to Woodside.

Ever get a sunburn on just one side? Easily done on Stage Road, with fog on the coast, and the afternoon sun opposite.

It’s counter-intuitive that it’s actually longer getting back via 84 than Tunitas Creek, but that’s just the way it goes. The grade’s not as steep on 84, but there’s something about, shall we say, “less defined” climbs that seems to make them harder. On Tunitas, you’ve got a climb you can sink your teeth into! On 84, you’re just putting miles under your feet as you make your way first from the coast to LaHonda (with a variety of small “junk” climbs along the way) and then a mild, exposed and often-straight climb from there to Skyline.

About 75 miles, 6600ft of climbing, so technically, not a “tough” ride (has to be 1000ft of climbing/10 miles). But it felt harder than the numbers indicate, partly because of the headwinds, partly because Kevin’s getting stronger again and has his Old LaHonda time back into the 24 minute range (he was just a bit faster than that before he had the kidney issues earlier in the year that kept him off the bike for three months).  Not much time left to get Kevin in really good shape; the trip to see the Tour de France is only a few months away, and one of the days we’ll be there will possibly feature a truly-epic 100 mile ride with over 15,000 feet of climbing. After today’s ride, I’m thinking it’s possible!

The planned ride ran into some trouble today. High-water trouble!

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I’ll tackle the high-water issue in a moment. First, the planned ride (because there’s always a plan, and the plan is generally adhered to). Kevin (my son, not the pilot) was supposed to ride with me today, and wanted to do something “different.” He was bored of doing the same loop/loops over and over again, so I devised something a bit different. Below is what I came up with-

 
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Actually, that’s the ride I actually rode, and is slightly-different from the original plan. Up Old LaHonda, down the other side to LaHonda, over Haskins Grade to Pescadero (no surprises yet!) and then, instead of heading north towards Tunitas, I added a loop out to Gazos Creek & back to San Gregorio, then 84 over the hill back to Woodside, instead of the usual Tunitas Creek.

Kevin ended up not being able to ride, due to a nasty head cold, so I was out there on my own. I don’t mind riding along sometimes, but it’s unfortunate when I miss an opportunity to ride with Kevin, because after he’s been out on a bike for an hour or so, his mind clears of the fog that his epilepsy drugs create and you he becomes a lot sharper and more perceptive. That plus his riding helps keep him in shape for LaCrosse.

Cyclists heading up west-side Old LaHonda as I was heading down

While the weather was fairly nice, Old LaHonda was still wet in places and the top was very slippery, none of that being a surprise after so much rain this past month, and provided a convenient excuse for the frustrating 22 minutes, 12 seconds it took. One of those times when you keep thinking about where those 13 seconds went, because 21 minutes, 59 seconds sounds so much faster! The descent on the east side is becoming increasingly touchy as the road continues to deteriorate, plus you have to watch out for cyclists heading up, of which there were quite a few today! Then it was up over Haskins Grade to Pescadero, another source of minor frustration as I timed myself at 10 minutes, 10 seconds to the top. A lot more than the 8 minutes I used to easily climb that stretch of road, but faster than I’ve been up it recently.

No way for a bike to get to the coast from Pescadero today. Some cars weren't even brave enough to drive through this flooded section.

The run into Pescadero wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t have that small dog that runs across a huge yard to chase down cyclists. Fortunately there’s a fence between you and the dog, but I paid attention to where he comes from and it’s way, way, way at the back of a huge lot. Very impressive speed from that little guy! The next stop would normally be in Pescadero for food, but I’d decided I’d do that after returning from the southern loop down to Gazos Creek. This is when plans changed a bit; originally, I was going to ride out to the coast at Pescadero and then head south on 1, but a flooded section of the road between the town of Pescadero and the coast essentially closed the road to cyclists (not a good idea to try and ride through water that’s up to your crankset and too deep to see what you’re riding through).

Cloverdale Road between Pescadero & Gazos Creek

The easiest thing to do would have been to simply head north and do the usual Tunitas loop (again), but the plan had been to head down to Gazos Creek, and some way or other, I was going to stick to some variant of the plan. The solution was simple; ride south on Cloverdale Road instead of the impossible-to-get-to Highway 1, and then return on the coast all the way to San Gregorio, bypassing Pescadero. This worked out quite nicely, since there’s a good place to eat right where you hit Highway 1 (as seen here). It’s called the Gazos Creek Grill, and it may become our new stop on trips to Santa Cruz. Much faster service than the over-crowded Whaler Cafe in Davenport.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, a place many of us visited on a school field trip... if you're old enough to have been in school when they still had field trips.

Then it was a fast run north on Highway 1 to San Gregorio. Yes, fast, heading north. This was an unusual day with reversed wind direction, for which I was quite thankful. Yes, that means I did have a strong headwind at times on Cloverdale Road, but much better there, with its twists & small hills, than on the coast, where you can see the road stretch out in front of you for miles, and a headwind feels like something meant to punish you forever. I was in San Gregorio and heading up 84 in no time, and made it back a fair amount earlier than I expected.

Overall stats, from my house, came to 76 miles, 5900ft of climbing, and 17mph average riding speed. There’s a story to the average speed. I hadn’t paid attention to it most of the ride, finally checking it at the bottom of 84 as I approached Woodside. 16.9 miles per hour. Panic quickly set in; I’d much rather it had said 16.7 than 16.9, because there would be no possible way of bumping 16.7 up to 17 by the time I got home. But 16.9? Ouch. I just might be able to pull it off. So, instead of taking it easy the final few miles to home, I was pushing the pedals as hard as I could, trying to keep my current speed as much above 17 mph as possible, knowing that I was going to be going a fair amount slower than that on my way over Jefferson. Somehow, I did it. I managed to bump it up to 17mph, almost making up for the missed opportunities on Old LaHonda and Haskins Grade. Redemption is where you find it.

If you do this ride starting from Woodside, it’s going to be about 67 miles and 5500ft of climbing. Food & water will be available at LaHonda, Pescadero, Gazos Creek, San Gregorio and again at LaHonda. There’s also food & water at Sky Londa, but that’s only 10 mostly-downhill miles from the finish in Woodside. This ranks as a challenging ride, not something to attempt as your first 100k! –Mike–