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2003 Sequoia Double-Metric Century
(Sunday, June 1 in Palo Alto, CA)
See also my photo album from this
ride.
I woke up at 5, had a cup of coffee, then drove over the Dumbarton Bridge to
Palo Alto, arriving at right around 6:00. I had wanted to do the pre-ride
checkin the previous day, but couldn't get to Los Altos in time. I sure wish
I had, though, as it took a little while at
checkin to figure out why my name
wasn't on the list. We finally determined that it had been put in under my
first name rather than my last (ahh, the joys of having three first names).
After I finished registering, I saw my ride buddy Brenda from last year's Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge and said hi
before setting out. I hit the road at 6:32.
It was cool-ish, but pleasant at the start, so I set out wearing just a light
windbreaker and knee warmers, figuring it would only get warmer as the day
progressed (how right I was!). Brenda caught up to me and we rode north
together along very familiar roads (Arastradero, Alpine, Portola,
Cañada, Skyline). Brenda had a good deal going today - she was out
cycling the lovely peninsula hills while her husband was resurfacing their
deck! There was a inline skate
race on Cañada Rd. - I was glad we were
going the opposite direction. Brenda and I caught up on what all rides we'd
been doing. It turned out we both did the Davis Double
this year, but never crossed paths. She had a fast ride there - 12.5hrs
including stops! I stopped at the top of Skyline to remove my windbreaker,
then we zig-zagged our way through suburbian Hillsborough and up a short, but
steep wall to rest stop #1 at Cuernavaca Park (25mi). I didn't stop here, as
I didn't need anything and wanted to minimize downtime (at least before
hitting the big hills later in the ride!), but Brenda did, and that was the
last I'd see of her.
After a bit more zig-zagging on side roads, a brief stint on the San
Andreas Bike Path (which was unusually uncrowded this morning!), and a few
more miles north on Skyline, it was a left onto Sharp Park and a blazing
descent into Pacifica. This is a fun downhill, with wide, sweeping corners
and great visibility - no need for brakes at all! It was uncharacteristically
clear in Pacifica (Not-kindly also known as "Pathetica" for all of the fog it
usually has). Montara Mountain,
where Sarah & I had hiked just a week
earlier, was to our left, and the ocean to our right - not bad terrain for
cycling! Riders were fairly scattered here, and I rode mostly alone south
over a hill, through the tiny beach town of Montara, and along Devil's Slide
(infamous for washing out in nearly every major storm), where I stopped to
take a couple pictures. Continuing south I hopped on the tail of a fast
tandem with one solo rider behind it, devouring the miles greedily until I
decided that nice as the draft was, it was too much work to hang on
(especially with the vast majority of the climbing yet to come!). As I pulled
into the second rest stop at Half Moon Bay High School (48mi), I saw my friend
Deb leaving, but didn't recognize her until she was out of earshot. I hoped I
would catch up to her later. At the rest stop, I mixed up another pair of
bottles of Sustained Energy spiked with Hammer Gel, used the facilities,
stretched, and headed back out before too long.
I rode south through downtown Half Moon Bay, past the recently-burned-out
general store (Alas! It was a very cool little store!), and onto
Higgins-Purissima Rd. I'd been here a couple months ago on an ill-fated
training ride where I wasn't nearly as recovered from a bout with the flu as I
thought I was, and was looking forward to exacting my revenge on the hills (or
at least enjoying riding on them!). Higgins-Purissima and Purissima Creek
roads both are rural and extremely lightly travelled (a good thing, as they're
only 1.5 lanes wide!). They're also quite scenic, and I enjoyed the climb up
Higgins-Purissima, with long views down a valley back towards the
coast behind me. After passing Purissima Creek Regional Park, it was a nice
rolling descent back to the coast, then north on Verde to the beginning of the
real climbing. The 100mi and 200k courses split, with the 100mi'ers
continuing south along the coast to Pescadero, while us less-sane 200k'ers
went inland again to spend some quality time (several hours) with the coastal
hills. Lobitos Creek starts with a lovely little climb through eucalyptus and a gentle descent and
then climbs at first kindly, then rather steeply before dropping down through
a thick redwood forest to meet up with Tunitas Creek Road, a gorgeous, but challenging climb back
up to Skyline. Soon after starting on Tunitas, I caught Deb and Tracy. We
talked briefly, but neither of them seemed to be feeling very well, so I
continued on ahead at my own pace. I met Ramona, a cheery rider, also from
Fremont, and wound up riding with her the rest of the ride. She was good
company, and we talked as we climbed, which always makes the time pass more
quickly. We stopped briefly near the top of the climb to transfer some water
from my plentiful hydrapack into her empty bottles, then continued onwards,
turning onto Starr Hill and grunting up the Swett Rd. wall (short, but
steeeep), then arriving at rest stop #3at the King's Mountain School (69mi).
I stretched, mixed up more Sustained Energy, and then got in the surprisingly
long water line. This could have been arranged more efficiently, since there
was just one line for 2 jugs of gatorade and one of water. To my dismay, when
I got to the water dispenser, I found foul-tasting water. I soon saw the
culprit as a staffer topped off the jug with a garden hose - yuk! Even
copious amounts of Sustained Energy and Hammer Gel could not defeat the icky
hose-taste. Previous ride reports for this ride have mentioned this problem
as well. It would be very nice if the Western Wheelers could address it.
Ramona wisely found a drinking fountain and filled up her bottles from that.
I stretched for a little while and saw Deb and Tracy pull in as I was getting
ready to leave. They definitely weren't feeling well, and Deb said she was
just going to go home (lucky her lives on nearby Skyline!). Ramona and I
headed out after a little bit. We rode south on Skyline then west on Highway
84 back towards the coast for the 3rd and last time. The top portion of 84 is
an okay descent, but not steep enough to build up a great deal of speed.
After going through the mountain hamlet of La Honda, the road continues as a
very gradual downhill out to the coast. There was a headwind, naturally,
brisker than the usual 84-west-headwind, and I was glad to have someone to
trade pulls with. This last stretch on Highway 84 often seems interminable,
and I was definitely starting to tire by the time we neared San Gregorio. We
stopped at the quaint San Gregorio store (which is basically the entire town)
for a few so I could stretch and take some aspirin (were weren't the only
riders with that idea - there were a half dozen or so from our ride here as
well, along with the usual complement of cyclists out for a training ride.
After reluctantly getting back on my bike, we headed south on Stage Rd.
towards the comparatively-large town of Pescadero. I'd never ridden this
direction on Stage before, and it proved a pleasant and non-difficult ride
over two small'ish hills. We rode past Machine Gun Man (a huge steel skeleton
holding a large machine gun in someone's front yard), down the tree-lined
road, and into Pescadero, then turned east for the last time and started
up Pescadero Rd. towards the last rest stop. It was a much easier climb than
I was expecting, which was just fine by me! I talked to a nice rider (John?)
from Marin who was wearing a Death Valley Double jersey - he'd never ridden in
this area before and was really enjoying it. No doubt this would be a truly
impressive course for one not familiar with the area! He said he was tired of
cycling the same roads in Marin, which struck me as odd since Marin is pretty
near cycling nirvana, but then again we do tend to shun the familiar. Before
too long, we turned off on a very narrow spur road to the Huckleberry Flat
picnic area (103mi).
This was a nice stop, situated
in a redwood forest, and there were cheerful volunteers all around. I made a
turkey and bread sandwich to get some solid food, and had a glass of cool
lemonade. It was pretty warm at this point, and ice would have been a welcome
addition to the beverages (as would V8 and some sort of carbonated,
caffeinated soda). As I was stretching, I saw Mike J., proprietor of the
excellent Chain Reaction Bicycles.
I talked to him for a few, then Ramona and I headed back out on our way.
There were only two climbs left, Haskins Hill, which I hadn't ridden, but
had heard ill spoken of, and west Alpine, which I've spoken ill of ever since
last year's Sequoia Century ;-) Haskins Hill
wasn't too terribly steep, but it was definitely too exposed and warm
especially towards the top. I found myself wishing that I had normal water in
one of my bottles so I could pour some on myself (its a bit difficult to pour
water on oneself from a Camelbak whilst riding!). After cresting Haskins
Hill, we enjoyed a too-short descent, then turned off on Alpine Rd. The
westmost part of Alpine Rd. is a gentle shaded climb through the redwoods and
along a bubbly creek, reminiscent of Tunitas Creek, but easier. Then it gets
steeper, the trees go away, and the true suffering begins. We eventually
arrived at a water stop at the intersection of Portola Park and Alpine. Ice
would again have been much appreciated, but just having a friendly staffer
with some munchies and water sufficed nicely. I filled one bottle with water
to pour on myself, and after some idle chitchat, we reluctantly resumed our
slog towards Skyline Rd. It was only 2.5mi and didn't take toooo long, but it
sure felt warm, and I sure was tired. Ramona & I had pretty much stopped
talking by now, just concentrating on dragging our sorry selves to the top of
the climb. We eventually got to the top and enjoyed a 1 mile gradual descent
to Skyline Rd., ecstatic to be done with all (well almost all) of the
climbing! We started down Page Mill Rd., always a fun descent. At least this
time I remembered that there are two small'ish climbs at the top of Page Mill
before the plunge begins in earnest. On the longer of the climbs, I talked to
a nice fellow in a California Triple
Crown jersey about various double centuries we've done, and then the
proper descent began - yeah! I really enjoy riding down Page Mill - its
mostly well-surfaced, lightly trafficed, and doesn't have too many surprise
turns. We turned onto Altamont for some zig-zagging through Los Altos Hills
(presumably just to bring the mileage to exactly 200km, as its more direct to
descend all the way down Page Mill), finally arriving back at the
start at
6:10 (10 minutes after the official course closure, but fortunately nobody
seemed to care). We checked in, got patches and ice cream, then parted ways,
perhaps to meet again on the Death Ride. There wasn't any appealing food at
the end, but perhaps that's because we were so late arriving. All I wanted
was the cold part of an ice cream bar anyways!
This was a pretty good ride, although nearly all of it is quite familiar to
me. If it wasn't so long, I wouldn't bother paying for it, but its nice to
have support (and company!) on a hilly 200k ride. The food and such were
okay, but unremarkable. For a ride of this difficulty, I would really like
the luxury bike foods (V8, caffeine, ice, etc.). Still all in all a pretty
ride, and definitely challenging!
Related links:
Ride Stats:
| Distance: |
127.0mi |
| Total Time: |
11h 33m |
| On-bike Time: |
9h 41m |
| Average Speed: |
13.0mph |
Average Speed
(including stops): |
10.9mph |
| Maximum Speed: |
45.0mph |
| Total Climbing: |
10,000 ft |
| |
| Rating (out of 10): |
| Difficulty: |
8.5 - definitely hard! |
| Support: |
6.5 |
| Food: |
5.5 - gross hose water and no ice :( |
| Route: |
7 - very familiar, but pretty |
| Overall: |
7 |