See, this is what bikes are all about
 

Three days ago, riding back from the LBS after purchasing my first set of clipless pedals and shoes (Shimano M540 and MA80, respectively), I see a little girl on a Razor scooter with flipped 3-speed bars. This has nothing to do with the following, but I thought it was pretty rad.

Fast forward to today. I put my clipless pedals on my fix (they were on my dad's hybrid to get used to the in and out thing on a freewheelin' bike) and head up to the same LBS to meet my friend for a ride (also on a fix). I decided, after flatting about 9 miles from home and 2 from the nearest bike shop, to buy a CO2 inflator to just carry in my mess bag. I also got a new tube, because I had a coupon. Oh, and some socks to go with the shoes (I felt so un-hip in my white sport socks). Well, I walked out $20 poorer, but whatever. We'll have a good ride to somewhere.

We ended up heading over to Mission St. as planned (2ish miles from the shop) and just kept going. Mission turns into Highway 1 North, and we kept going. We saw the mileage sign, and hey: it's only 9 miles to Davenport. Wanna do it? Sure. Turns out, that 9 miles is very rolling hilly. Lots of spinning. And lots of fun. We turn out for a water break, and my friend with his clips and straps reaches over to loosen a strap, and just eats it. I laughed, he laughed. We drank, got settled, and took off.

Riding up the last hill, and we see the first signs of a "city." Nothing more than an inn that's being remodeled. And that's when it happens. "Pssssssssh." ****in' ****. I get off the bike, and find two holes in my rear tire. We walk the rest of the way up, get settled in someone's driveway, and I pull out my 15 mm wrench, tire irons, patch kit, tube, and...CO2 inflator! I don't wanna find the source of two semi-slow leaks, so I just throw the new tube in. I also was able to tear the price tags off of my newly acquired bike acoutrements to boot the tire. We get all set and ride the rest of the way (kind of) into Davenport.

Find a mini-mart, grab a Red Bull and some snackage, and sit on some rocks just hanging out. We take off towards downtown Santa Cruz and end up taking the scenic route (West Cliff Drive). Gorgeous day on the ocean, and the perfect place for a ride. We stop off at the taco bar for some post-ride burritos (meat!) and then hit up the co-op. I finally re-adjusted my barely spinning (oops) Surly hub, my friend puts in a new BB (after cross-threading an adjustable cup and snapping another into four pieces), and meet up with a friend who's stripping his newly acquired Raleigh frame to prep for painting (SS project).

What a day...

Hey, I'm currently living in Davis, but I'm from Santa Cruz, and I go down there fairly often to visit family. It'd be cool to have people to ride with while I'm down there, if you'd be interested.

And I should add that anyone in the Santa Cruz area looking for a good time, this trip to Davenport will become a weekly gig. Probably Mondays or Tuesdays. PM me if interested.

man, i miss that place. you know that #10 on the self titled sublime album is all about the surf spots on west cliff drive yes? apparently brad went to ucsc for a year or two.

one spring break, back in my geared days, some friends and i rode from napa, down through sf, down the coast highway back to santa cruz. amazing, and relatively safe, compared to the highways around dc.

which taco place? i was always partial to moreno's.

also, if you're looking for a challenge, the ride up graham hill road to felton is well worth the trip. i have no idea when i'm gonna make it back out there, but if it's soon, i'll hit you up. cheers.

Las Palmas. The best $3 burrito EVER. Yeah, Graham Hill has been in the news lately because there was talk of "adding bike lanes" to make for a safer ride to Felton. Of course, all this was going to do is widen the road so that cars could go faster. The newest proposal is a rail and trail along the Roaring Camp line. Sweet!

If they do that as fast as they did the highway 1 widening (which honestly, more people cared about), construction should start in roughly November, 2013.

ooh morenos. get yer burrito crispy. hell yeah. that davenport ride sounds fun. ill have to join you when i get back to santa cruz in september

Rad. I hope to keep the ride going for a while, although by September it'll probably become a weekend thing (damn you, high school). I'm working on a spokecard...

Forgot to mention: they're widening the ****ing highway. If you're interested in helping to put an end to this and help out with various other kick-ass projects (including a bike shop class at my high school), check out www.peoplepowersc.org.