With the glorious non-winter weather we're enjoying, Saturday I thought I'd test my decidedly winter climbing legs in the Santa Cruz mountains. Up Hwy 9 from Saratoga to Skyline and down a very chilly descent to Boulder Creek and Felton. After a stop at Mountain Roasting for refreshments and hot coffee, I made the long slog (just over 10 increasingly steeper miles) up Zayante to Summit Road.
Just after turning onto Summit, I had to pull over to let a siren-screaming fire truck go by when I heard a familiar voice (talking a mile a minute) coming down the hill in the red & black colors of the NorCal jersey...
It was none other than LanceOldStrong who had picked up a local rider who was showing him the mountain roads. We chatted for a few minutes, had his new riding buddy snap a picture of the two of us (red was the color of the day), and then headed in our opposite directions. After a bit more climbing, I was bound for home via the "ballroom descent" of Old Santa Cruz and the dirt and gravel path along Lexington Reservoir and Los Gatos Creek.
58 miles, 5300 feet of climbing and two sore legs, but a great day to be out riding in Northern California.
