Northern California - HMB -> Santa Cruz Century 04/18

The weather, on Saturday, is gonna be gorgeous so a few of us are planning to ride from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz and back.

For some this'll be our century for the month of April. For others this'll be a great way to HTFU and get back-into the Gladiator lifestyle...

Planned start at the fire station, at the end of Main street, in HMB. Roll-out at 8:30ish

IN
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mellum76
Ygduf
SesameCrunch
???

If you're a real Gladiator you can do this century and then turn-around and do Primavera the next day. Hmm... :D

And if you're a ninja you can do this ride and DMD at the same time.

Man, I'd love to but I'm working SAG at the Primavera and probably can't get a hall pass for two whole days.
How fast do you think this ride will be? 5 hours (good 20mph pace)?

Man, I'd love to but I'm working SAG at the Primavera and probably can't get a hall pass for two whole days.
How fast do you think this ride will be? 5 hours (good 20mph pace)?

It depends Henry. :p

Alan's on the ride so that means we'll probably be hammering on the way down.

We also wanted to get some climbing-in so that'll slow the avg speed down a bit.

Maybe you can ride with us and skip the hills, to shorten the route, if you'd like?

That would be such a good ride. I'm taking a pass this weekend, though; I have a little run thing up in the City on Saturday. Please take lots of pictures.

Man, I'd love to but I'm working SAG at the Primavera and probably can't get a hall pass for two whole days.
How fast do you think this ride will be? 5 hours (good 20mph pace)?

I don't think 5 hours is realistic for me, at this time.

You could always go part way, and turn around when time required it?

I don't think 5 hours is realistic for me, at this time.


5 hours is not possible with the wind on the way back....
It usually takes me around 6 hours going solo.

I'm undecided on this. Depends how hard I want to work the day before Primavera. I might just go part way and come back either at Pescadero, or Pigeon Point.

Hope your wind is not as strong as it was today!

I did this little loop: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Pescadero-Cloverdale-1-loop

I checked Weather Underground afterwards, NW winds were 35 mph with over 40 mph gusts. Guess there was a bit leftover from yesterday.

Would love to do this but I'm doing the Primavera. I'll just to this route on the 26th.
Have fun. I hope its not as windy as the last couple of days.

Can't make this one, have to get back early on Saturday. I'll probably just do a shorter east side ride, maybe Quimby + Sierra.

I'm undecided on this. Depends how hard I want to work the day before Primavera. I might just go part way and come back either at Pescadero, or Pigeon Point.

Ron, you should come. I'm incapable of holding a pace that would be too hard for you to do Primavera the next day!

The weather sure looks good for tomorrow!!!

The weather sure looks good for tomorrow!!!

It does. Remind me to apply some sunscreen. I still have a burn on my left arm from last weekend.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6DQj7sK5vY8/Seq9EhO0ATI/AAAAAAAABSQ/Q_bIlGLhj7E/Picture%203.png

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3899710

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So we set out from HMB and headed to Santa Cruz, with a turnoff to head up Tunitas and down Skyline & 84.

It was foggy and cold along the coast, but beautiful going up Tunitas. Skyline was skyline, 84 west was fun. We were swallowed up by the Alto Velo B-ride peloton. It was fun to participate in the paceline, but after a snippy comment by of them I quit rotating and just wheel-sucked all the way to San Gregorio. Average speed with the group was right around 25mph. I've never been in a group that big; it was a kick.

We continued south on Stage Rd. All new roads to me, and when we were out of the fog it was near-perfect weather as I've seen.

We spent about an hour at lunch in Pescadero and enjoyed some sandwhiches sitting in the grassy outdoor area for the general store barbeque. With the sun and grass, it was probably a little bit too comfortable; getting going after that took a bit.

We kept to the side roads until we spilled out onto Hwy 1. We headed south for another 7 or 8 miles before turning around to head back. The traffic and wind were out in full force along the beach, so we turned in and retraced our side roads back to Pescadero.

Took another rest stop at Pescadero where Michael decided to try the Garlic/Artichoke bread. We were surprised when Alan came out of the store with a whole, giant loaf of the stuff; still warm from the oven. It was good, but there was no way the three of us were going to finish it. Not wanting to waste any, we utilized a plastic bag and some athletic tape to secure the loaf to Alan's small-wheel. The parachute had it's intended affect, making it easier for me to keep up as we re-ascened over Stage Rd.

From Stage it was back out to do the last handful of miles back to the car on Hwy 1. We made great progress, pulling maybe 14mph against the headwind in the flats. I've not seen wind like that. Each time a car/truck would pass I'd veer 2 feet to the left into the draft, as I'd been unconsiously steering to hold a straight line with the wind.

It wasn't quite a century, but the effort was there. I was getting a little crampy along the last stretch of 1, so the car was a more welcome sight than the 100 ticking across could have been.

Avg. pace was about 14.5 for 6:12. A good effort considering the climbing and headwinds.

Thanks to Michael and Alan for a great ride on some fresh (for me) backroads.

Huh, we may have crossed paths at some point. Many of your destinations sound familiar: barbecue at the Pescadero shop (I just sat on a bench out front, I didn't go in), foggy Stage (brr!), windy 1 (and fog, of course), and scenic-as-always Tunitas.

Then again, I probably would have noticed a bright blue Dahon had I come within sight. :P

Congratulations on the near-century!

Great ride you guys sorry I missed it! and especially the garlic bread..yum!

A small group ride but fun nonetheless.

The best part? Getting swallowed-up by the Alto-Velo group while blasting down Highway 84. It's always a kick to watch Alan hang, with the best of 'em, on his little bike(s).

Thanks guys for another great day on the bike. :)

Fun ride today with a couple of great guys.

I wasn't even sure I could get on a bike the night before, having tweaked my back and hip playing tennis. After some time on the floor with foam rollers and a good night's sleep, I felt good to go.

The ride didn't turn out the way I was expecting. I was thinking it would be a sunny, warm ride down the coast in short sleeves and lots of sunscreen. Errr, guess again. It was pea-soup fog when we departed at 8:30. Couldn't see more than 100 yards. So we decided to climb out of the chilly fog, up Tunitas. Good call. Tunitas was clear and warm and gorgeous as usual. The newly paved roads were a joy to ride on.

We screamed down 84 back to San Gregorio, hitched a ride on the Alto Velo paceline, took some abuse from that snooty bunch. But what else is new? I did get a kick out of riding my 20" wheels with them. I'm sure you can imagine what they were thinking...

We managed to stay on mostly the coastside's bucolic back roads for this ride, which was good, as Hwy1 was cold, windy and full of cars. I was struggling at the end, paying the price for tennis and from being too exuberant in the first part of the ride (when will I ever learn?). Oh well, some days you got it, some days you don't.

I think we ended up with 93 miles and 6000 ft. Still a good day's ride. Great route.

Alex: Sorry we missed you. I'm going to pm you with my cell phone. You should call me when you come out this way.

The few iphone pictures I took yesterday did no justice to the scenery, so I went back out to Pescadero with my girlfriend for lunch. The pictures still don't do it justice, but they're better than nothing. :)


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Nice ride guys. I would have traded that cold Hiway 1 than the Calaveras climb which hit around 90 degrees since I started late.

I forgot to mention, I am pushing back my planned ride of this route on the 26th to May 3rd due to some Christening events on the 26th.

I forgot to mention, I am pushing back my planned ride of this route on the 26th to May 3rd due to some Christening events on the 26th.

Ooh. Count me in. I loved this ride. The 26th wasn't going to work for me, but the 3rd should. :thumb:

Chris: Did you take your g/f to Duarte's restaurant in Pescadero on Sunday?

Chris: Did you take your g/f to Duarte's restaurant in Pescadero on Sunday?

No. We had the dogs with us and just got some sandwiches to take to the beach. Some other time though!,

Ooh. Count me in. I loved this ride. The 26th wasn't going to work for me, but the 3rd should. :thumb:

I had a feeling that something is up this weekend that's why I was reluctant to open a thread for the 26th. :)
I'll post a new thread for May 3rd later this week :thumb: