Labor day weekend. Had a great ride today with Joe King, just a quick little "stretch your legs" out to Winters and back (30 Miles). Joe was looking great decked out in Livestrong Yellow, just back from riding the Philly Livestrong challenge. That's two Livestrong centuries he has done this year, so I'm not going to give him a hard time if he does not ride with us next weekend.
Last weekend was an Epic ride. Erin and I were in Santa Cruz staying at the Davenport Roadhouse, 12 miles north. This is a totally sweet spot: awesome food, nice beach, and great bike riding. We were there for Erin's half marathon Trail Run in the Redwoods. This was a women's only race so I had an excuse to ride my bike. After two run-ins with rattlesnakes on trails in the last two weeks, I was ready to be on the road.
This was one of those days on the California coast where the fog has lifted and the sun is warm but the air is cool. It was spectacular. I was riding alone so the music was going and I didn't so much ride as I danced the whole way. It's days like this that life is about. I got out early after a great breakfast at the roadhouse. The ride was straightforward up the coast 25 miles to Pescadero. This is open country and with organic farms to the east, nothing but ocean to the west. I was headed for the bottom of what I call the Half Moon Bay San Ggregorio loop (see below). Ten miles before Pescadero, I turned up a side road to Gazos Creek.
These are rolling hills which seem like they wouldn't be too hard but a few of them are really steep. You also have to watch out for the motorcycles; they think this road is fun too. Unfortunately the testosterone and the horsepower is more abundant than riding skill. We've seen more motorcycle accidents than we care to remember... the pavement always wins. Admittedly we bicyclists may have the same lack of brains and surging testosterone; fortunately, we lack the horsepower.
I stopped in the Loma Mar store, which sits at the bottom of the big climb (this is a good place to reflect under the redwoods before heading up). It does not seem like it should be a bad climb, but it is. It is one of those climbs that seems to never end. It reminds me of this song Erin's daughter Adrienne sings, appropriately called "The Song That Never Ends" (trust me it doesn't). Anytime I ride this, about 3/4 of the way up, I feel like I'm just around the corner from the end. I'm really only about half way up. For encouragement, there is a sign along the way (below). Not sure how to interpret that. The steepest part is at the top, gotta love that.
Normally, we would go over the top and down to La Honda. On this particular day, I turned around at the top a sailed down. From the top of the mountain all the way down to the coast I flew. By that time, the wind had picked up (just as I had planned) and was howling headed south. I made the 25 miles from pescadero to Davenport in just over an hour, crediting my speed and strength to my awesome conditioning. Nothing like a 25mph tailwind to make you feel like you are on top of the world. I was.
