Tag Archives: ride

Fallen trees, downed motorcycles, flat tires… wow, what a great ride!

The last “long” Sunday to ride, with daylight saving time ending soon… would have been nice to head to the Sierras for a last shot at Sonora Pass, but that wasn’t in the cards (too long a drive after a typically-busy Saturday at the shop). That meant one (last?) Santa Cruz loop, what’s become “the usual” 115-mile ride.

But this ride was a bit more “eventful” than most, starting with a treek that had fallen across Pescadero road within a minute or two prior to our arrival (we were the first ones on the scene, along with a couple of motorcyclists on the other side), plus two flat tires (both Kevin’s) (that’s Kevin my son, not the pilot), plus a downed motorcycle (descending 84, just a corner ahead of us).

Nobody was getting through on Pescadero Road this morning!

Very nice day; a bit cool in the morning (needed leg warmers but jacket not required) and passed quite a few costumed cyclists on Old LaHonda. Winds were, thankfully, “normal” which meant tailwinds on the coast to Santa Cruz. Fog burned off completely by the time we got to Davenport, our usual lunch stop, and from there temps were generally in the mid-70s. Can’t get much better than that!

16.2 mph average speed, a substantial improvement from the 13.8s or so that Kevin used to post for longer rides. Also noteworthy was a lack of either seizures or double vision, two too-frequent issues arising from his epilepsy. I’m looking forward to a day when a lack of seizures isn’t noteworthy.

 

A good long climb and you’ll feel better

The lower parts of Highway 9 are not entirely without charm

It sounded a bit odd as I said it, and yet it made complete sense. Kevin and I were at mile 65 or so of our 114-mile round trip to Santa Cruz, on the least-fun part through the San Lorenzo Valley, battling lots of traffic, a not-very-wide road and little junk climbs that just wear you down. Basically, a ride without rhythm. Once you get a few miles past Boulder Creek you finally get to the good stuff, the long climb up Highway 9, first to Waterman Gap and then on to Skyline. About 10 miles of relatively-serious climbing and dramatically less traffic than the valley floor.

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