Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge
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Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge
I am looking forward to the Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge on Saturday. It should be a lot of tough climbing in a pretty area. It was fun last year. But I would just as soon skip the section near the end that takes one along the beach (Cliff Dr, etc) It was congested with cars, tourists, etc. Is there a good way to safely avoid that and still get the essence of the ride?
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Didn't avoid it, saw lots of bikini's, worth putting up with the congestion.

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"Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin, it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring."
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Wasn't me.
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"Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin, it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring."
S. J. Perelman
"Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin, it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring."
S. J. Perelman
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Ended up doing the whole thing. It was a wonderful event. Great weather. Great views. Very well supported. And plenty of double digit climbing. But I didn't get to see too many bikinis lest I miss the 5pm cutoff for the after ride meal.
I was talking to one of the support people who was saying that the bulk of the comments are that the event isn't hard enough and they are considering adding another 1500 ft of climbing for next year. That would probably make it too hard for me.
The time trial times are already posted on the website along with a bunch of photos.
I was talking to one of the support people who was saying that the bulk of the comments are that the event isn't hard enough and they are considering adding another 1500 ft of climbing for next year. That would probably make it too hard for me.
The time trial times are already posted on the website along with a bunch of photos.
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While I found this ride well-supported in general, what was up with the lunch stop? We got there at 12:15, and they were already out of sandwich meat. Lunch sucked, but the post-ride burrito was pretty nice!
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"Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin, it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring."
S. J. Perelman
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S. J. Perelman
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I didn't even know you were doing this ride. Lunch was sweet! Red Potatoes were my choice along with the butter pickles. Those burritos were totally massive! We ended up doing the 100k.
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Yeah - I had potatoes for lunch too. Had to, that's all that was left besides some stale PBJ sandwiches, cookies, and other assorted snacks.
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"Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin, it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring."
S. J. Perelman
"Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin, it’s the triumphant twang of a bedspring."
S. J. Perelman
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After having a clueless blonde in a 350 Z tell us that she felt like "running us cyclists off the road because we were so rude to be slowing her down on HER road"... and then having to endure the suffer-fest that is Jameson Creek; having only potatoes and cookies for lunch choices made us a little cranky. But we got over it.
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Hey Marko
Was she being serious? I was at the stop with you, the first resident was nice (I think she thought we were a bit nuts) and then the blonde came up behind her. I took off after her comment about running us over. Anyway I did the 100k and thought it was incredible; the climbs were rewarded with two of the longest downhills - a blast. I was so freaked by Jamison all week, but it really wasn't so bad, I rode it and stayed upright. Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery - most of the ride is in the redwoods. Not a lot of traffic. The first part of Santa Cruz was nice, but the downtown bit was a little messy. A massive burrito at the end! Maybe the 100 mile next year.
Was she being serious? I was at the stop with you, the first resident was nice (I think she thought we were a bit nuts) and then the blonde came up behind her. I took off after her comment about running us over. Anyway I did the 100k and thought it was incredible; the climbs were rewarded with two of the longest downhills - a blast. I was so freaked by Jamison all week, but it really wasn't so bad, I rode it and stayed upright. Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery - most of the ride is in the redwoods. Not a lot of traffic. The first part of Santa Cruz was nice, but the downtown bit was a little messy. A massive burrito at the end! Maybe the 100 mile next year.
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When asked if she was planning to run someone into the ditch, she said she didn't mean us, because we were "nice" and not in the middle of the road. All we were really trying to do was talk her down off the ledge and let her know that the "inconvenient cyclists" in her way were real people. I guess BBM's charm and devilish good looks saved us all from her wrath.

We DID inform the next course volunteer we saw at the Bear Creek intersection that if she actually was involved in some accident, we'd be happy to testify to her premeditation and help put her away.
Anyway I did the 100k and thought it was incredible; the climbs were rewarded with two of the longest downhills - a blast. I was so freaked by Jamison all week, but it really wasn't so bad, I rode it and stayed upright. Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery - most of the ride is in the redwoods. Not a lot of traffic. The first part of Santa Cruz was nice, but the downtown bit was a little messy. A massive burrito at the end! Maybe the 100 mile next year.
And yes, I've decided that a massive burrito and Marianne's ice cream is the perfect recovery meal!
