spingineer

Here's my ride report.

There was a flurry of messages sent the night before the ride, only because the Park and Ride lot didn't really have an address, and looking up mapquest or google maps was just confusing. Gave everyone explicit step by step instructions, and everyone made it to the start (at least the ones who could make it).

There were a few no shows. ME, Asia, both had prior commitments, which made it difficult to complete the ride, and be able to meet those commitments. ME, Asia, you were both missed. Wished you could have made it on the ride.

One rider, who was not with our group, went and then came back. The main route on Arastradero was closed, and would not allow bicyclists even to get through. So immediately, we had to come up with an alternate route. We went down Page Mill, then over to Foothill, then up Alpine, adding another 5 miles to the trip.

We met SesameCrunch at the Texaco gas station on the route (on Portola and Alpine). We then proceeded to climb Old La Honda. It was great! The sun was just starting to break through, so it was time to take off the jackets, but I still left arm warmers on. Took a few pictures on the way up ... those will be upcoming later.

Most of us continued on the longer route, while a few went on the shorter route. Tracy (tprevost), Wayne (VMC), Brian (briank), and Alan (Sesamecrunch) went on the shorter, more direct route. The 7 or 8 faster riders went on ahead on Pescadero, while a few of us (me included), just tried to get into a rhythm, since we didn't have any draft to work off of. The wind wasn't too much of a factor, so that allowed me to maintain a fairly steady cadence.

We got to the Pescadero Bakery, and had some pastries, and just some light food. We didn't want to carry too much with us, as we would have to carry it up the 3 evil sisters on Stage Rd. The climate was overcast, but it wasn't too foggy. By the time we reached the peak on the second evil sister on Stage Rd, we could see the ocean, but since it was overcast, there was a whole lot to see.

We finally met up with the others who took the short route at San Gregorio General Store. They were waiting about an hour, so as you can tell, they were itching to go.

We continued on, finished the third evil sister, then climbed up Tunitas. It was just gorgeous riding through, passing through a redwood forest. 2/3rd the way to the top, the terrain started to level off a bit, and I got my second wind. I then shifted to my middle chain ring, and stayed there till reaching the top.

We then descended King's Mountain, and it was nice! Fast downhill, with some swithbacks and hairpin turns, but banked at enough of an angle that speed wasn't too much of an issue. By the time we got to the bottom, and regrouped by Tripp Rd, we could see all smiles on everyone's faces ... no wonder, we had dropped 2,000 feet in a very short horizontal distance.

We went back and tried to go through Arastradero, which was closed to us in the morning. We were able to go through. The problem was a downed power line, and we were able to squeeze our way through the road. This meant we had the whole road to ourselves (at least for a little while). From there it was back to the cars.

There were a few of noteables on this ride. First, special accolade to Brian (briank). He did the whole ride on a hybrid bike, with noticeably fatter tires, compact double, and on tennis shoes. Brian gets the silver chalace, the rider of the day award. To climb OLH and Tunitas on that, it is an accomplishment. Second, congrats to my co-worker John. He too did the ride on tennis shoes, plus a big fred-like bag mounted on top of his handlebars. You want to see Fred-ness ... he started the ride with a sweatshirt. Third, Andy ... wow, what a character. He did the entire ride on a fixie.

The long ride:
Distance: 68.44
Ride Time: 5:38
Altitude Gain: 6822 feet

Don't have the short ride stats. Perhaps VMC will be able to upload that.