Temp forecast was 93º for Hunting Hollow (south) but just mid-80ºs for headquarters (north) so I thought a classic HH » HQ » Middle Ridge route would fit this situation—spend the cooler morning hours south on the front range and the afternoon in the north, HQ, side. Just the final quarter of the ride would be hot.
Hunting Hollow was pretty busy with the
V•O•Cal trailwork event on the Jim Donnelly Trail. Opening ceremonies:
As I unloaded, Phillip S. came over to talk for a bit. I think he was the only one I know that participated this year
8:09am - Left Hunting Hollow. Enjoyed the Anza Trail » Jackson Trail » Elderberry Spring Trail » Rock Tower Trail » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Cross Canyon Trail » Cowgirls Trail » China Hole Trail single track trails. Felt great and moved along nicely. One food break at the CrossCanyon/CoitRd intersection.
10:45am China Hole - Hey, there’s Eric S! He is doing a morning HQ » Middle Ridge loop. Cool. We ride together up to HQ. Some impromptu trailwork along the way:
11:45am Manzanita Point – we stop for lunch and water at the new water tank:
^^^ “Fantom Pro” - Eric’s bike.
When we started riding again, we didn’t get far when Eric's suspension seat post went “Pop”:
Turned out it was just that the spring retainer had unthreaded and it was a simple matter to put it back together:
At the Manzanita Point Road & Poverty Flat Road water tank, we found a group of PRA volunteers slacking :-) in the shade:
Paul L on the left (sans beard for the Summer).
We headed up Manzanita Point Road to HQ where Eric ended his ride.
12:40pm Park Headquarters - I ate a little and filled the Camelbak with water at the HQ water fountain. Now this is where my ride, as the English say, “went pair shaped”…last thing before I left, I guzzled a bunch of water from the water fountain—too much, got nauseous! Took forever to get to the beginning of the Middle Ridge Trail. I was crawling. Took a couple long breaks. Thankfully, there was a very cool marine breeze. Didn't feel good again until I had descended Middle Ridge and was down at the creek. I'm an idiot :-)
3:43pm - My bike at China Hole:
From China Hole there is still one more big climb to get to the end of the ride. This is the last quarter of the ride where I expected to be hot. Since I hadn’t been eating, I was out-of-gas but kept moving forward taking mini-breaks. I haven't got leg cramps on a ride in years, ugh, my legs started cramping. Mixed in walking with riding.
4:40pm Mahoney Meadows, finally! Hotter over here. Happily, I was able to start eating a little. I had packed these 3 baby food packs:
…and was able to get those down. Perfect for hot weather consumption.
5:30pm Heat Defeat….the sad sight of coasting down Coit Road past the Coit Horse Camp instead of enjoying the Grapevine Trail:
Mr Henry Coe won today!
Almost back to the lot, I stop and briefly chat with Brian W heading out for a night ride. He raced off to try and catch the sunset from a higher vantage point:
Here is Brian’s
sunset photo6:20pm Hunting Hollow – a semi-cold 7Up hits the spot. Roy’s car is parked next to mine, he is still out on
a grueling Jackrabbit Lake ride with
Brett and
Marco.
Start at Hunting Hollow » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Coyote Creek entrance » Coit Road » Anza Trail » Jackson Trail » Elderberry Spring Trail » Rock Tower Trail » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Cross Canyon Trail » Coit Road » Mahoney Meadows Road » Cowgirls Trail » Mahoney Meadows Road » China Hole Trail » China Hole » China Hole Trail » No name connector to Manzanita Point campgrounds » Manzanita Point » Manzanita Point Road » Park HQ for water » Manzanita Point Road » Flat Frog Trail » Hobbs Road » Middle Ridge Trail » Poverty Flats Road » Creekside Trail » China Hole » China Hole Trail » Mahoney Meadows Road » Coit Road » Coyote Creek gate » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Hunting Hollow parking. 35.46/6:08/10:10/5,689’
Gilroy:
Cordoza Ridge:
