I had been on a long ride on Friday,
Big Basin / Butano state parks loop, so for me, Saturday could only be a moderate ride. An evening full moon ride fit the bill perfectly. I sent this invite out:
Saturday May 25, 2013 Coe Saturday evening/night full moon ride
Hello, here's my idea; meet 6:30 - 6:45, ride at 7 until 11pm Coe Hunting Hollow front range. Say JDT » Spike Jones over to Anza / Jackson / Elderberry / Cattleduster / Grapevine / Anza.
Or maybe we ride some of the ridge fireroads (Coit, Wasno, Wagon) to get the max full moon effect?
Those who show up decide!
Let me know....
The proprietors of this site, Erik and Meí, after a long absence from Coe, made the long drive to Hunting Hollow. The same can be said for “Plim”. Eric S showed up after already road riding 100miles/10,000feet earlier in the day. Greg B came too.
7:15pm - As we formed up to leave, Roy rolled in from his
all day mtb ride. “Come on, join us.” we pleaded. He checked his Garmin and he was 900 feet short of 10,000’. Looking very tired, he ate a handful of pinenuts or something and pedaled up the Jim Donnelly Trail with us. Roy on the right:
Meí riding into the setting sun:
8:10pm – We reach the top of JDT. L to R, Eric S., Erik S., Meí, Greg, an exhausted Roy laying on the ground, and Mike, aka Plim:
What It Was Like Out There™
Having reached his 10'k goal, Roy elected to turn around and return directly to the parking lot. The rest of us descended Spike Jones/Timm trails. Great downhill! Mike’s lights on Timm:
Timm was interrupted by a fallen Oak tree, which, due to a steep side sloop, was a big pain to get around.
8:50pm – At the bottom of Spike Jones, Erik is bummed because his light broke off its handlebar mount. Closer inspection and it is just that a short mounting screw had backed out. In a minute it’s fixed. Erik was back to two lights (helmet and handlebars) again.
During this process, Erik mentioned that he wraps any extra power cable around the handlebars as a short leash in case the light falls off. Meí is a quick study and decided she would immediately do the same with her cable but when she reattached the power cable to her light, the battery protection circuit popped and the battery was useless. (It likely can be reset by plugging into the charger.) Erik lent her one of his batteries and was, just that quick, back to a single light.
Eric S and Plim split off and head back to Hunting Hollow. To be out in the moonlight, Erik, Meí, Greg, and I decide to ride up an exposed fireroad (Coit Road).
9:38pm – We hear a vehicle approaching from behind. A ranger truck. At home, here on the peninsula, we would be in trouble with the law for being out on the trails after dark but not at Coe. It’s Ranger John V. We chat for a minute about this awesome evening with the full moon.
9:45pm – Official moon rise was 9:10pm but due to the hills and ridges, we just now are seeing the moon
10:00pm – We were all trying to get photos of the bright moon:
This is my best attempt (used a small tripod):
There was a pretty good wind and the clouds were moving fast. Great atmosphere!
10:10pm – Gregg spots glow worms in the duff along Coit Road. Just like in this random YouTube video:
Mysterious Glow. (California Pink Glowworms.) June 2011. California Pink Glowworms, Microphotus Angustus, about 10mm long.
http://scienceblogs.com/myrmecos/2008/08/29/friday-beetle-blogging-the-pink-glow-worm/
Believe it or not, this squishy pink thing is an adult beetle.
Now and again, evolution produces a species that loses the complexities of the adult form. These animals simply retain a larval appearance into their adult life, later gaining only the ability to mate and have offspring independent of the other trappings of maturity. Perhaps the adult traits of large eyes, large brains, long legs, and big wings are so expensive that just skipping all that extra development allows an animal to get on that much more efficiently with the business of laying eggs.
Microphotus is a firefly. The adult male looks like a normal firefly: eyes, wings, the works. As you can see, the female here remains grub-like. True to her lineage, though, she still glows.
http://animalworld.tumblr.com/post/3826557025/pink-glowworm-microphotus-angustus-microphotus
The glowworms appear in late May and early June when the temperatures increase. The female of this species never metamorphosizes into an adult beetle. She has just ten days to attract a male to mate with. The female glow is a bright LED type green. The male does become an adult beetle and glows only very faintly.Looks like we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time!
10:34pm – We're at the crest and now it's time to turn off from the ridge-line dirt road on to a 4.5 mile downhill series of trails back to creek level. This is Meí’s first single-track night ride. I’m hoping it will be fun for her. She went slow at first but was soon tailing me using my lights to gain extra distance in visibility. I was impressed that she rode through the Grapevine rock garden without hesitation.
11:45pm – Back at Hunting Hollow, ride over.
Start at Hunting Hollow » Jim Donnelly Trail » Steer Ridge Road » Spike Jones Trail » Timm Trail » Spike Jones Trail » Coit Road » Wasno Road » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Grapevine Trail » Anza Trail » Coit Road » Coyote Creek gate » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Hunting Hollow parking. 20.56 / 3:17 / 4:33 / 3,855'
Erik’s Strava track Meí’s Strava track Gilroy:
Cordoza Ridge:
Sun and Moon Data for One Day
The following information is provided for Gilroy, Santa Clara County, California (longitude W121.6, latitude N37.0):
Saturday 25 May 2013 Pacific Daylight Time
| SUN . . . . . .. . . . . . . | |
| Begin civil twilight | 5:21 a.m. |
| Sunrise | 5:51 a.m. |
| Sun transit | 1:03 p.m. |
| Sunset | 8:16 p.m. |
| End civil twilight | 8:46 p.m. |
|
| MOON . . . . . . . . . . . | |
| Moonrise | 8:03 p.m. on preceding day |
| Moon transit | 1:14 a.m. |
| Moonset | 6:23 a.m. |
| Moonrise | 9:10 p.m. |
| Moonset | 7:25 a.m. on following day |
|
Phase of the Moon on 25 May: waning gibbous with 99% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated. Full Moon on 24 May 2013 at 9:26 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
