Slept in until about 9 or so. Got up started eating, cleaned up the bikes, then did the pre-ride preparation. Took a bit to decide where to ride. Finally, decided to ride to the top of Bonney Doon and back. By the time we were packed up and ready we managed to roll out of the driveway just before 1 PM.
The route was La Honda, Pescadero Road, Cloverdale, Highway 1, Bonney Doon, Empire Grade, Jamison Creek, Highway 236, Highway 9, Skyline, Alpine, Pescadero, La Honda.
The start went well with the usual warm up on Haskins, we then did a detour on Wurr road which is a nice spin through the Redwoods and a small farming community. The usual mixture of multi-million dollar mansions and low budget white trash abodes. I liked it.
Back on Pescadero we made good time. This seems to be a popular route for couples. Also spy'd Mikes Redwood Climbing wall sporting the 200' TR.
We passed our desired turn and ended up in Pescadero. It took me a bit to get directions but soon we were headed back in the direction we had just come for a mile then the turn onto Cloverdale Road. This is a very peaceful alternate to Hwy 1 in getting South. It had been many years, over 20 perhaps, since I last rode this. One amusing part was seeing the Orange Honda Fit that had 10 Lamborghini's behind it. Mudworm thought they must really be hating that Fit. I figured it was the pace car.
Left turn on Hwy 1. The weather was perfect for this section of the ride, we were able to watch the Kite Boarders, and the waves. The Pacific was looking very friendly this day. We also had a very nice tail wind on this section that kept the pace up. On one occasion we watch one pour fella, going in the opposite direction, pushing his bike into the wind.
It took longer than I had expected to get to the Bonney Doon turn off. Turns out this is much closer to Santa Cruz than I expected. This road fairly quickly turns into about a 7 % grade, not real steep but steep enough get your attention. Was not to long before Mudworm got tired of riding behind me and took off up the hill. I tried to stay with her but it just was not there. She decided to play nice and stop and the winery and hang out and chat with the locals while I caught up. The rest of the ride to Empire grade is fairly casual. We did the race to the stop sign for the KOM points. I won, so I had to put my hands up in the air and pumped my chest. At this point I almost blacked out, but hey I got the KOM.
From there Empire Grade is rolling ups and downs until the mandatory turn on Jamison creek. The whole time down I was thinking we really need to come back here and ride up this thing. At the bottom I waited for Mudworm when a guy in a Sun Microsystem riding jersey came up. He was staring at his map so I asked him which way to San Jose. He shrugged, well, nothing gained nothing lost. He mentioned something of turning at the Fire station, that is when it dawned on me. Hey this is the intersection of 236 and Jamison Creek, we rode up this last year. We started at the Fire Station.
About this time I noticed the bus stop sign had a small map so I went over and looked at that. I could see that turning right would take us to Boulder Creek and Hwy 9. This guy kept saying something about a left. I knew we drove here last year from the right. Off we went. The Sun guy lead the way stopped at the next bus stop sign to give another look at the map. I stopped and Mudworm rolled by. We discussed the map at which point it became obvious that it is possible to get to Hwy 9 by going left. I looked, Mudworm was gone. I let him know that I had to catch the Mighty Mudworm and let her know that Hwy 9 can be had by going the other direction. Catch her I did, in Boulder Creek about 100' from Hwy 9.
So turning left on Hwy 9 we rode up to Skyline. This climb is almost always seems longer than it is, being about 6 miles long, after 3 miles or so we pass the Hwy 236 sign. Hwy 9 is not real steep but it is continuous and after a long day it can wear you down. At the Pedestrian crossing sign I had to whoop. About 500 feet later riding past the trail crossing I remembered this is not the top. There is a bit to go, just cannot remember how much. By this time I was getting hungry. I popped another gel and that helped. At the stop sign for Hwy 9 I gave a true whoop. Mudworm looked at me and said, "9 miles to Alpine, it's all downhill from here".
Well after a bit of climbing we got the Fire Station and stopped and got some water. Then finished the rolling hills to the top of Alpine and the drop down to Pescadero Road. I stopped to put on my wind breaker since the Sun was getting low. This top section of Alpine is almost always an incredible view and this day did not disappoint. Mudworm rode on, and I was soon in pursuit. Was surprised that I did not catch her until near the bottom. She has definitely gotten faster going downhill.
The last few miles were casual. We rolled into the driveway with plenty of light to spare. Even had time to clean the bikes a bit. But, first thing was food and recovery drink and then a shower.
Was a good day.
Here's to sweat in your eye.
