Northern California - Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge who is in?

EVENT:The Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge

DATE: Saturday, 26 July 2008

START: 6:30 - 8:30 AM

This is my favorite century. I have ridden it many times and enjoyed every one. The scenery is awesome, the climbs are tough and it has some incredible descents. The food at the rest stops is really good and the staff very friendly. This is not a ride to do if you are not in good shape or you don’t like climbing. It also has some pretty poor pavement and dangerous down hills to catch out the unwary.
Exquisite suffering is provided by the evil Jamison Creek and the never ending East Zayante . Pretty much the whole course is either going up or going down.

http://www.santacruzcycling.org/scmc/

The Century Challenge: Ride some of the most scenic and challenging roads in the Western US
while gaining over 11,000 feet in elevation (110+ feet per mile).
We start out with a Cat 2 climb on the famous Mt. Charley Road (roadbed was laid out in 1851)
and moving on to other roads like Jamison Creek and E. Zayante.
Number of Category 1 climbs = 1; Cat 2 = 3; Cat 4 = 4.
Finishers surely have earned major bragging rights.

I'm in. Wanted to do it last year but couldn't. With all the training and climbing for Deathride, I figure use it or lose it. And I don't want to lose it.

Looking forward to the suffer fest.

BR

Despite the $10 price hike after the 12th, I'm gonna wait to see how I feel after the DR :) Or maybe I can register that night ;)

So Mt. Charlie is a Cat 2 climb? Good to know. Wondering what a beyond category climb is like. Any local hills that fall under that category? TofC rated Sierra Road as a Cat 1.

Ron, Hamilton is an HC climb (due to length), but, the rating system is pretty subjective. Who's to say Bohlman/OnOrbit's not an HC climb at the end of 200+ Km?

I'm in for the 100 miles. It's payback time for that pos climb known as East Zayante.

One more week.

I did the worker's ride today. The 2008 100mi course has a minor change from the 2007 course. I think the 100km course is unchanged. Instead of going straight down Pine Flat to Martin Rd, it turns at Bonny Doon Rd for a nice little loop before heading back on the other end of Pine Flat to Martin Rd. The scenery on Martin Rd will include lots of burnt trees from the Martin fire of last month.

Almost here! I have to cram in a lot of last minute rides to make up for a laggy weekend.

Are you going to race the TT up Jamison, or save it for a good ride up Zayante?

I am in for the 100 miles. Any one interested in carpooling from the Peninsula? I live in in Redwood City.

The weather was close to perfect and even starting at 6:30 a.m. there was no fog and the air remained smoke free. I was fortunate enough to ride with a couple of Club mates for the first 50 miles which was a nice change from riding solo. I didnt spot any bike forum riders.
It was an uneventful day other than getting to a few rest stops before they were ready, two bad cases of cramp and going off course near the end putting in 8 extra miles :)

Hard ride but worth the effort. I started right at 7:30am according to the computer. I brought the thin windbreaker PI jacket but never used it as it was hot from the get go climbing Mt. Charlie. The few steep spots were not bad as it was first thing in the morning with fresh legs. The River Ridge to Hutchinson road was a kick in the gut with the steep grade. Portending the future.

Jaminson Creek took me 28:25 to climb. I could have made up a lot more time in the beginning but spun a low key and saving the legs for Zayante later on. This is a must do climb, no excuses, just ride it and experience it.

On my way to Zayante I took a wrong turn and ended up going a few miles out of the way on the 100k route, blarg! Oh well, extra mileage and climbing. I was trying to follow the right arrows but must have spaced out at the intersection.

Zayante is a tough climb. There are enough steep sections and exposed areas to the hot sun to wear one down. I saw several riders dismounted and walking up. The water stop was just about to run dry but luckily I was able to fill both my bottles and continue up.

On the quick descent after the much needed rest stop a frickin' bee made it's way into the unzipped jersey and proceeded to expend it's life and venom into my side. I walked a half block back up to the people warning riders to slow down and had one remove the stinger. I went into HTFU mode the last 30 miles and ignored the pinching sensation.

After all the climbing this later section was a bit 'filler' for me. A lot of traffic and some unfriendly drivers giving riders the finger as they past. I had a fast carrot to chase on the last climb which helped the mileage to go by quicker. I had done most of the ride alone.

I did get to see Benridin and Peter but that's it as far as BF'ers.

6:57:05 ride time
Av speed 14
Max speed 43.5
Av cadence 74
Max cadence 110
Av HR 150
Max HR 213 (HRM must have whacked out)
KCals: 4951

I worked the 2nd rest stop, then ride the remainder of the route after the riders had thinned out. There was a LWB recumbent rider, everything else I saw were road bikes and a few mountain bikes or hybrids. I saw Ramon at the 2nd rest stop and at the end, but didn't recognize anyone else from here.
http://bp2.blogger.com/_tSP-m6DKhqI/SIwE0H1cVBI/AAAAAAAAANw/hDpohVSDa9c/s320/5384639797_ORIG.jpeg

On my way home, I came across a couple of riders way off course. They must have ridden all the way to Santa Cruz and were heading up Branciforte. I directed them up Glen Canyon as an easier climb to Scotts Valley than Granite Creek. I hope they got back ok.

Last year I rode this with a very strong teamate and we hammered the course. This year I rode alone and I was a bit tired and detrained from a long vacation/racing trip.

I left about 7:15 and went pretty well up the first climb. Then I eased up a bit on 236 so as to not be too tired for Jamison. In the TT I quickly caught my 30 second man and had forgotten what the guy a minute ahead looked like but I probably caught him too. But not long after hitting the steep part I heard breathing behind me. A very fit looking guy caught me, sat on my wheel for a bit, and then moved off at a pace I couldn't match. I finished in 24 minutes. I asked what the best time so far was, the timer told me 20 and shook his head. Man that's fast!

For the next hour or so I was slow, legs hurting from the TT effort and being a bit behind in my food and electrolyte consumption. The extra part around the Martin fire was cool, it was interesting to see the ferns already sprouting in the burned area. Riding Jamison as a TT makes finishing the rest of the ride that much harder.

On the last climb the guy who'd passed me in the TT caught up (I'd passed him at the water stop on Zayante) and we talked. He's only been riding for a few months! Of course I asked what sport he'd been doing before (running). Looking at the TT results that are posted, he got third. I encouraged him to race; he's got natural talent.

This year's ride had really good support. Someone even went over the whole course and marked off all the little bits of dodgy pavement. And best of all the burritos and ice cream were back at the finish! So much better than generic lasgne.

Congrats to everyone - a couple of friends did this and said they found it just as hard as the Death Ride, in a different way (steeper climbs).

JB

An absolute joy of a ride! This is now a Top Favorite. Wow!

Ended up getting a late start. I rode w/ my friends John and Paul from Auburn. Their second time, my first.

Mountain Charlie was beautiful in the morning. Nice cool temps to keep the pace relaxed. The top of the hill gets your heart rate moving, but it's a relatively small climb.

Next, over to Skyline...Another mellow climb. Stunning views. We stopped to spread some ashes of our friend Thomas, who had passed earlier this year. He did this ride last year and had stopped at one of the Redwood Groves on this climb. It was a nice quick memorial.

The first rest stop had incredible home made bread. Fantastic stuff. I saw Bostic and said hello.

A fun descent takes you down to Big Basin entrance where you do a little bit of climbing then another descent into the park itself. As we exit the park, the sun is peeking out and warming up. You can tell it might get a little hot today.

Down another descent and then we're in another valley. Is it me, or did this ride follow a creek the whole time?

A right turn brings us to Jamison Creek. There's a line for people to register for the time trial. I choose not to race up the hill for fear it blow my legs up for the rest of the ride. Local racers huff and puff past me on their way up. Tough climb. Reminded me of Welch Creek. A small rest at the top and then it's a few miles to lunch.

Lunch was the usual meats, potatoes, fruit and drinks. Lot's of good stuff. We take our time, eat, chat, cleanup and we're off again.

Down Empire Grade. I barely missed the right hand turn onto Pine Flat. John and Paul laugh at my mistake and take off. They get ahead as they tuck. In this descent, I miss the right turn onto Bonny Doon Road. So I end up riding it clockwise from the bottom in hopes of finding my friends. Unbeknown to me, they miss it completely and almost ride to the beach before realizing their mistake.

I ride solo through the fire area and up and over to Scotts Valley again. I meet up w/ my friends on Zayante before the water stop. I stop,refuel and grab some nutrient. Then sit and spin.

It's getting warm and this climb doesn't end. At the top of Zayante I think I'm finished. Nope. There is Upper Zayante. Just as fun as the original Zayante but a bit warmer. I ride "paper-boy" style crossing the road several times, riding from shade to shade trying to keep cool. I catch a rider who has bonked. I slowly squirt him down with my extra bottle of water to cool his core down. We ride together but he cracks again. He say's he's ok, so I take off. The top is almost near. I pick up the pace to rest stop.

A nice cool down and we're off to the finish. It goes by quickly. The locals must be getting annoyed by all the riders as we are buzzed by some of the hillbillies. Other than that, there was no problems. The last rest stop for one more bit of water and then it's a race to the trucks and cold IPA.

Great ride. Not as tough as the DeathRide at all.

Thank you SCCCC.

BR

I noticed the traffic was much worse this year too. We encountered some very agressive motorists on the descent after the top of Zayante. One of them nearly killed himself overtaking me near the top and then held me up all the way down.
Still a great century though