I arrived at the Palo Alto VA at about 6 and by coincidence, parked 2 cars
down from my riding friend Deb! I went and checked in, talked to Deb for a
few, then her friend Tracy arrived and they headed out while I waited for
Kristin and her friend Jan to arrive. The Western Wheelers had coffee and
bagels with spreads, so I helped myself to those, and before too long,
Kristing and Jan arrived and after introductions we rolled out at around 7:00.
It was cold, in the low-50s, when we headed out. I was wearing a jersey, arm
warmers, vest, and windbreaker, which felt just about right. We went north on
Arastradero, Alpine, Portola, Whiskey Hill, and Canada Rd, all of which I know
like the back of my hand, as I train there frequently. We rode pretty fast
along Canada. Jan is a super strong (super-strong, adj: anyone who is
faster than me :-) rider and easily left us in the dust when he poured on the
gas. After a brief jog on Hwy 92, we continued north on Skyline. The clouds
hung low over the Santa Cruz mountains - it wasn't going to be very warm at
the coast! We passed an AIDS ride rest stop (the first day of the AIDS ride
is also June 2,
which is why I didn't ride the Sequoia last year) that was
getting set up at Crystal Springs. Jan decided to ride on ahead - we wouldn't
see him for a good long while. Kristin and I continued climbing Skyline,
crossed Hwy 280, and went north through Burlingame. A couple turns
later, and a climb up a rather steep, but very short, wall, and we pulled into
rest stop #1 at Cuernavaca Park (25mi). This was possibly the narrowest rest
stop ever :) They had bagels, muffins, bread,
hot chocolate, and lots of other good food. I had ½ a PB&J, a bit of
bagel, and a huge muffin, used the facilities, then Kristin and I rolled on
out.
The route continued north along side streets, then the San Andreas Bike Path.
This path was rather crowded with pedestrians and other cyclists, so the going
was a tad slow. Before too long, we re-joined Skyline and headed to the coast
on Sharp Park. It was a fast, fun descent to Pacifica and Hwy 1. The 15mi
ride south on Hwy 1 was just goregous, especially along Devil's Slide (which
regularly wipes out the road), with the mountains looming to our left, and the
Pacific crashing on our right. A little ways north of Half Moon Bay, I joined
a nice fast-moving paceline. We motored all the way to Half Moon Bay at
around 26mph - wheee! :) We soon rode into Half Moon Bay and rest stop #2
(48mi). This rest stop was very well-stocked, and I munched and took pictures
while I waited for Kristin to arrive. Before long, she did, and we were soon
on our way.
After going through downtown Half Moon Bay we turned on Higgins-Purissima Rd.
I'd never been on this before, and have I ever been missing out! This is a
gorgeous little road, very light traffic (it doesn't really go anywhere) and
excellent scenery. Its a good climb too :) We caught Deb & Tracy on the
climb up Purissima Creek Rd. and rode together to the top where my front tire
flatted (I've been getting an awful lot of flats this season!). Kristin
waited with me while I changed the tire (a rather large piece of glass was
embedded in the tire), then we descended Purissima Creek to Verde Rd. then
Lobitos Creek Rd. Lobitos Creek is another road I knew about, but had never
ridden, and it, too, is really, really lovely! After a little while, we
turned onto Tunitas Creek (familiar territory for me) and continued climbing.
Tunitas is a lovely, long climb through the redwoods, and Kristin & I
took it easy and enjoyed the scenery. About 90 minutes later, we were nearly
at the top and turned on Starr Hill Rd. en route to the Swett Rd. wall. There
was a very friendly dog at the bottom of Swett, and I stopped to pet it and
let Kristin catch up. The wall is quite steep, but also quite short, and in
short order we were at the Kings Mountain School rest stop (69mi). Deb &
Tracy were here, as was Jan. I ate a sandwich, yummy fat-free potato salad,
and some tasty orzo. Deb seemed to know almost everyone, and introduced me to
Mike, owner of Chain Reaction
Bicycles (a great bike shop!). There was an AIDS ride rider at this stop
who somehow got on our route. The poor guy went waaaaay off the AIDS ride
course and got a heck of a lot more climbing than he was supposed to! Kristin
was sleepy, so her and Jan decided to just go down King's Mtn. Rd. and call it
a day.
I set out south on Skyline by myself, keeping a pretty fast pace, as I wanted
to catch Deb & Tracy. It was foggy and gorgeous on Skyline, with mist
dripping from the tree branches. I quickly started the descent of Hwy 84
West, and whaddya know - there were Deb & Tracy. We continued west on 84
for a ways, then saw a sign saying that if it was after 2:00, we should turn
on Pescadero Rd. and not go all the way to San Gregorio. It was 2:20, and I
didn't really want to cut the ride short, but Deb & Tracy did, so I joined
them. Just as well, it would turn out, because the minute I started climbing
Pescadero, my left knee started really hurting! Arrgh! From Pescadero Rd. we
headed east on Alpine Rd. I'd never been on this portion of Alpine, and it
was just lovely! The fog was still upon us as I painfully made my way
upwards. There was a water stop at Portola Park Rd., and I stopped to take
some ibuprofen.
Alpine continued climbing for what seemed like an eternity -
the knee pain wasn't helping, that's for sure! We broke through the fog, and
enjoyed some of the only sunny cycling of the ride. Finally, we got to
Skyline, and descended Page Mill Rd. This is a super-fun fast, technical
descent! The route sheet said to turn on Altamont, but that was only to make
the ride an even 200k, and since we weren't going to be doing 200k anyways, we
opted to just continue down Page Mill to Arastradero.
A few Palo Alto
backroads later, and we pulled into the VA Hospital and the ride finish. I
had some more orzo and potato salad, we hung around for a few, then I headed
home.
I probably would have had the time to do the whole 200km route, but with my knee hurting the way it was, I doubt I'd have been able to finish, so I'm glad we cut it short! With "only" 102mi and 9200' of climbing, it was still a difficult ride! The support was first-rate, and the weather, though cool mostly, was nice.
Ride Stats:
| Distance: | 101.9mi |
| Total Time: | 9h 30m |
| On-bike Time: | 7h 43m |
| Average Speed: | 13.1mph |
| Average Speed (including stops): |
10.7mph |
| Maximum Speed: | 41.5mph |
| Total Climbing: | ~9200 ft |
| Difficulty: | 4 |
| Support: | 5 |
| Food: | 5 |
| Route: | 4 |
| Overall: | 4.5 |
| Last modified
08 February, 2011 MST
Copyright © 2009 Adam R. Paul |
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