Big Basin

Today I had a really great day on the bicycle, riding one of my favorite routes on a beautiful day and feeling pretty good while doing it.

View Big Basin in a larger map

In the last few weeks I've regularly managed to take a long ride on Sundays, which isn't really enough to keep me in shape, but it doesn't hurt. I've been wanting to go through Boulder Creek, since that seems within my range, but today was the first time I've actually managed it.

An older Chevy on West Park Avenue

Starting at about 9:30, it was warm enough to leave the jacket at home, but just barely. I took a direct route to Boulder Creek, heading down the Los Gatos Creek Trail, then next to Highway 17 on the dirt path to the Bear Creek Road overpass. I slowly made my way up Bear Creek Road, but felt pretty good, even on the very steep upper part. Then it was a pretty quick descent of Bear Creek Road into Boulder Creek, and the usual burger at Foster's Freeze.

As I was eating I decided how I was going to get back home. I could have gone directly up Route 9, or I could have dropped down to Felton and taken Zayante Road back. But I was feeling great, there was plenty of sunshine left, and I really wanted to visit Big Basin. I've done that ride a number of times, and realistically it has too much climbing for my current condition. But what the heck.

The bike, inside a redwood

To change things up a bit, I headed up West Park Avenue, which parallels 236 as it runs toward the park. At its end I switched to 236, climbing up to about 1400 feet before descending into the park. Once there I bought a couple of iced teas, and chips. Having topped off my sugar, caffeine and salt, I started off again.

As usual, the climb out of the park was quiet, cool and gorgeous. Before I knew it I was past North Escape Road, and then China Grade, still feeling great. Silly as it seems, I think the salt helped. The caffeine probably didn't hurt.

On this ride I normally drag up Route 9 to Saratoga Gap, and while I wasn't setting any records I continued to feel good, and the miles passed quickly. I descended Route 9 very quickly, without ever being passed by a car. On the way back home, over Kennedy, the accumulated climb started to get to me, and I was glad to see the top.

Elevation profile

Today's ride was about 64 miles, with 6350 feet of climbing. The toughest kilometer was near the top of Bear Creek Road, just before it reaches Summit, where it averaged 11.5%. I felt pretty good on the ride, but now afterward I'm pretty sore; 6000+ feet of climbing is outside of my comfort zone. Still, it's nice to know I can still visit some of last year's favorite rides.

Black Road to Page Mill

On Sunday I managed to get out for a nice long ride again.

View Black Road to Page Mill in a larger map

As usual, I was very ambitious Saturday night. I was going to get up nice and early, and pass through Boulder Creek. As it turned out, I didn't sleep all that well, got up late, and decided I should cut it a little short.

The last hairpin on Black Road

I headed out the usual way, up the Los Gatos Creek Trail. At Alma Bridge Road I went around the west side of the reservoir, taking the single-track trail next to Highway 17 down to the Bear Creek Road overpass. This trail has a tendency to be either muddy in the winter and deeply rutted in the spring, but it was in pretty good shape on Sunday.

Black Road

Then it was up Black Road. Black Road is basically two distinct, pretty steep hills, connected by a couple of miles of winding along a mostly flat road. The first hill takes you among some houses, and ends near the school. I had heard there was water to be had at this school, but I wasn't sure where; on Sunday I investigated, and found the drinking fountain.

After the flat section you head up again, this time through much thicker woods as you pass through Sanborn County Park.

Upon reaching Summit I headed north, climbing up past the entrance to Castle Rock State Park at about 3100 feet, and then descended to Saratoga Gap. Originally i was planning to head back through Saratoga, but it was just such a nice day that I continued on Skyline up to Page Mill Road.

Elevation 58?

Descending Page Mill Road I overcooked a corner. I never actually left my lane, but had I been a little less attentive I might have been run over by a Ford Mustang. And if not then perhaps the car behind, which was a Ford Mustang. Followed by a Mustang, and then easily 100 more Mustangs behind them. I'm entirely willing to believe that every Mustang capable of propelling itself was on Page Mill Road on Sunday. Freaky.

I peeled off on Moody, headed for Foothill Expressway, which I took back into Cupertino. From there it was boring old surface streets all the way home.

Elevation profile.

Sunday's ride was just short of 58 miles, with 4200 feet of climbing. The toughest kilometer was on the lower part of Black Road, with an average grade of 10.9%.

Santa Cruz and Mountain Charlie Road

Well, it's been a while. Since taking a new job in September I've been very busy during the week, which meant that all non-work stuff had to shift to the weekend. It's been hard time finding time for longer rides, but today I had the whole day free. And I took advantage of it.

View Santa Cruz and Mountain Charlie Road in a larger map

I got started relatively early, leaving the house at 8:30 in the morning. It was foggy and cool. The mountains south of my house were completely hidden.

Today's ride would be a very familiar route, but one that I hadn't ridden in about 10 months; a ride last May was similar. In fact, the only new part of today's ride was accidental. But more on that in a minute.

Fog covers El Sombroso; taken from
Kennedy Road.

I went through Los Gatos and took Alma Bridge Road around the Lexington Reservoir, as usual. There were a number of joggers on the road, and they all seem to have decided that running on the wrong side of the road is appropriate. It's not, it's just arrogant, a level of arrogance previously associated only with... well, cyclists, to be honest. In this case it was especially annoying because I almost ran into a group of joggers with a baby stroller, coming around a blind turn. One of the joggers had the temerity to assure me that she was on the "right" side of the road, which wasn't correct in any sense of the word.

As I headed up Old Santa Cruz Highway it still hadn't really got warm. It was still overcast and damp, but I wasn't riding through fog. I was feeling a little cold, but it was still early.

After passing the Summit Store I plunged down into Capitola. The Soquel/San Jose Road was paved last year, and it was dry and traffic was light. There wasn't a lot to slow me down, and without really trying I hit 38 miles per hour. When I noticed that I did start trying, hoping to hit 40 mph by getting my nose down by my stem, pulling my knees and elbows in, and otherwise looking ridiculous as possible. I only slowed down. Maybe that was the grade moderating, or maybe I have absurdly poor descending skills. More research is necessary.

View from Capitola. There are surfers in there,
somewhere.

Capitola was quiet as I passed through. I was happy to be there again after so long, but it was all the same. I stopped at the usual spot and took a few shots of surfers. The surfers are easily visible in person, but with my camera phone they appear as individual pixels, if anything.

I rolled up to Betty Burger right at noon, and had a tasty but huge burger. I really have to find a more appropriate place to eat lunch in Santa Cruz, or at least find something more appropriate on their menu. Or maybe just not eat the whole thing.

The train bridge over the San Lorenzo,
looking East.

My over-full belly and I rode across the bridge and then up along the San Lorenzo river until the trail ends just short of Route 1. At this point one has the option of heading to Scotts Valley by taking Graham Hill Road, paralleling Highway 17 on Plymouth, or taking Branciforte Drive and cutting over on one of a couple of routes. It seemed like I had taken Graham Hill pretty frequently, so I opted for Branciforte Drive, which I imagined was the prettiest option.

A little way up the road I peeled off onto Glen Canyon Road, which I thought I surely must have done before. But I hadn't; I was probably thinking of Granite Creek Road, which peels off toward Scotts Valley much later.

Glen Canyon Road is perfect. It's pretty, it climbs toward Scotts Valley with a gentle, even grade, and it enters Scotts Valley at Mount Hermon Road so you can connect up to Bean Creek Road. Granite Creek Road is also great, but it enters Scotts Valley farther north, at the junction of Scotts Valley Drive and Glenwood. Nothing wrong with that, but I like Bean Creek Road. In any case, Glen Canyon Road was today's discovery; I'm always the last to know.

One of the ramps on Mountain Charlie Road.

By this time the legs were getting a little wobbly; this was already my longest ride in quite a while. Even after the steep last bit of Bean Creek Road, I started up Mountain Charlie Road with good energy, but once the steep ramps started appearing at about 1200 feet, I was dreading each of them.

The last half of the Mountain Charlie climb was just about surviving, which I suppose I did. That was followed by the long descent toward Los Gatos, one last climb across Kennedy, and home.

Today's ride was about 68 miles, with 5300 feet of climbing. The most difficult kilometer was the last section of Bean Creek Road, which seems horrible but only registered at 7.8%.

Elevation profile

I was happy to be able to fit in my metric century, and to confirm that my range still includes Santa Cruz, barely. Realistically, if I'm going to maintain any shape, I'm going to have to get in additional miles by riding to work a few times a week. We'll see how that turns out.

Soda Springs and Weaver Road

Another four-day weekend, and the last bike ride of 2012. Yesterday I enjoyed a ride up Soda Springs Road.

View Soda Springs and Weaver in a larger map

If there's a bright side to being out of shape, it's that I have the chance to revisit a bunch of rides that were inconveniently close when my range was longer. When I was heading to Santa Cruz, I couldn't spend time and energy exploring the Summit Road area, or on one-way climbs like Soda Springs Road. But now those rides are back in the picture.

After last week's flats, I got a couple of patch kits, new tires and a fresh supply of tubes. But I hadn't done anything with them, so there was some light maintenance to do before today's ride. I fixed the holy tube, but decided to leave the same tires on, partly because they still seemed pretty healthy, and partly because I was too lazy.

A vineyard along Soda Springs Road

All that's just to explain why I didn't get out until 11. Once on the road I headed to Los Gatos, hoping that a couple of rainless days would have dried out the trail. As it turns out, the trail was in great shape. There were puddles, but the steep ramp was in great shape, offering excellent traction. I wound my way around the reservoir, and started up Soda Springs Road.

I had underestimated the cold. It was fine as I was headed up, but I knew from experience that descending Soda Springs Road is especially cold. At least it wasn't raining.

Like last week, my heart rate was out of control, but I kept an eye on it, and managed to climb the whole way up without distress. I couldn't remember the elevation at the top -- was it 2400 feet? I seemed to remember that, after the intersection with Weaver Road, it was another 500 feet of relatively steep climbing, so maybe I would hit that intersection around 1900 or 2000 feet.

Soda Springs Road

The top of Soda Springs

My memory's not so good, apparently. Weaver road is at just about 2400 feet, and the top is close to 3100 feet. That last bit was unexpected. I was really pushing it, keeping the heart rate about 10 bpm higher than I normally would, and was really eager to see the "500 feet" sign. Finally it came, and I celebrated with a Clif bar.

The last time I came up here, long ago, the gate happened to be open. I was wondering what I would do if that happened again. The interesting road is dirt, and I was on my road bike, so I probably would have turned around here anyway.

Also on that last trip, I stopped and talked to a resident who mentioned that you could see San Francisco from up here. On the way down I visited Weaver Road, and on this crisp and clear day you could indeed see all the way up the bay.

Looking up the bay from Weaver Road.
San Franciso and Mount Diablo were clearly visible at the time,
but barely discernible in this photo.

Weaver Road

Weaver Road offers very pretty views, from San Francisco on the one side to the Pacific on the other. It's another one-way trip, since it dead-ends at a house after it rounds the ridge. When I first rode here, the maps mischievously suggested that you could get to the Aldercroft Heights area from here, but now they're more realistic.

I descended back down to the reservoir, at one point passing by two trucks that were trying to get past each other on this one-lane road. One of them was pulling a trailer; the other was backing up, looking for some shoulder room.

At one point I was thinking about riding up Aldercroft Heights, in particular looking for a trail that's supposed to link that road to the Old Santa Cruz Highway, via Call of the Wild Road. But with my late start and slow riding, it was getting a little late in the day. So I contented myself with circling the reservoir, then heading home the way I came.

Elevation profile

It was another relatively short day at 38 miles, but with about 4800 feet of climbing, somehow. The most difficult kilometer was in the middle of Soda Springs Road, where it averaged 9.2%. It was nice to see these views again, but ultimately I'm hoping to extend my range beyond them.

Redwood Gulch

After a spring and summer dominated by cycling, my fall was quiet. Far too quiet. With a newly-packed, reality-oriented schedule, I hadn't found time to take a nice long ride in a couple of months. Or even a nice short ride, for that matter.

So it was that on Christmas Eve, given a nice long weekend and a one-day respite from the rain, I climbed back on my bike.

View Redwood Gulch in a larger map

Despite two months of Brownian dispersion, I managed to find all my clothes and gear and water bottles and whatnot. I decided that the recent rain, especially the very heavy rain of the day before, precluded the Los Gatos Creek Trail, so if I wanted to head into the Santa Cruz Mountains (and I did), I needed to head toward Saratoga. Recently a neighbor told me about his favorite cycling route, which took him out that way. I was familiar with the whole thing except Redwood Gulch, which I've never ridden. Today would be that day.

Stevens Canyon Road, next to Stevens Creek

As I rode over Kennedy Road toward Los Gatos, I got an idea of what the rest of the day would be like. First of all, I had lost any fitness I ever had, but that was no surprise. Second, the roads had mounds of leaves and twigs, left behind by the flowing water of the past few days. Slowly going up was fine, but on fast descents the twigs and slimy leaves could be tricky.

On the Saratoga/Los Gatos Road I got a flat in my rear tire. No obvious cause, but there was a hole in the tire. I think water on the road makes flats more common, possibly by lubricating an object that would otherwise have stuck in the rubber. No problem; I always have an extra tube, so the replacement was easy.

I passed through Saratoga and started up the lower part of Congress Springs Road, enjoying the sunshine and the relatively light traffic. I took Pierce, feeling pretty good while climbing up to the Mountain Winery entrance. After descending to Mt. Eden Road I remembered that there's a steep little hill in the middle of that road, but I managed to get up there with little drama. Still, this ride had some pretty steep sections, considering my weak legs.

At Stevens Canyon Road I took the left turn, following the heavy Stevens Creek and enjoying its roaring. Stevens Canyon Road climbs very gently to meet Redwood Gulch at about 800 feet. I took the left on Redwood Gulch, and began a very slow climb up a very steep road.

Redwood Gulch Road

Being so out of shape I managed to let my heart rate get out of control, and had to stop to catch my breath. It was then I noticed that my front tire was now going flat. Since I had already used my one spare tube, I was going to have to patch this one, which is rare for me. So rare, in fact, that my glue had completely dried up. I was going to have to nurse this back, at least into cell phone range. I could have turned around right there, but that would put me near Stevens Creek Reservoir, where there might not be coverage. So I decided to head up to Highway 9, at the bottom of which was Saratoga.

I pumped up the tire and headed up. The road wasn't quite as steep at this point, and in any case I wasn't putting much weight on the front tire. It lasted pretty well. I stopped to put air in a couple more times (nothing to do with my heart rate on the steep hill, I'm sure). I topped the tire off again when I reached Highway 9 at 1550 feet of elevation, then descended into Saratoga. At this point the tire seemed to be holding up pretty well, so I decided I could make it home, only pumping air into it every 10 minutes or so.

Elevation profile

In that way I made it back home, after a ride of 33 miles with about 3000 feet of climbing. It was a short ride, but with some steep stuff that left my poor legs aching. The most difficult kilometer was the upper part of Redwood Gulch, which seemed quite steep but only registered a 10.8% grade. Compared to the rides of the summer it wasn't much, but it was something, and I even managed to cover some new ground. A very enjoyable morning.

Summit Sideroads

On Sunday I spent some time exploring an area I normally buzz right through.

View Sideroads off Summit in a larger map

In what appears to be a developing bad habit, I didn't manage to get out on Saturday, and my time was constrained on Sunday. I've been meaning to take a real bruiser of a ride, but I wouldn't have time on Sunday, either for the ride itself or the inevitable recovery. I don't remember how I came up with the idea of exploring around Summit Road, but I was immediately excited about it. I used to ride around that area a bit, but once I got enough range to ride to Santa Cruz, the Summit area became just a place to pass through. Sunday, I decided, I would turn that on its head, and just poke around until I was beat.

The day started off deep in fog, but I got going in the late afternoon when it was just clearing. I took the usual route. On the steep ramp near the dam I had to walk up almost the whole thing, annoyingly.

The bridge at Wrights Station

When I got up to Summit I headed east, then took a left on Morrill Road, heading for Wrights Station. I've been down this way before, but it was a long time ago, and I had forgotten how beautiful it this road is. Morrill runs into the deep woods, then when you head down Wrights Station Road it gets deeper into the woods and even more isolated and quiet.

At the bottom of the road you find the Los Gatos Creek. The bridge across the creek is the only reminder that there used to be a little town here. The buildings are all gone without a trace.

Wrights Station in 1902

As you can see from the old photo, the current bridge (which corresponds to the bridge on the left, in the photo) basically points at the tunnel entrance. These days there's a fence along the bend in the road, and once beyond that you can climb down to the tunnel entrance.

The path runs along a ridge, because the area next to the hill, on the right side of the old photo, has long since collapsed and washed down the creek.

The Wrights Station tunnel entrance

Looking out from the Wrights Station tunnel

After poking around the tunnel for a bit, it was time to climb back to Summit. This climb turns out to be about 1.5 miles long, and averages a stout 7.9%. Not too bad, and worth the visit.

Morrell Cut-off

Morrill Road takes you to Summit Road, at which point you can cross the street to Morrell Road. I'm reasonably sure they're both named after the same family, who spelled their name Morrell. The sign says Morrell Road, but most places call this Morrell Cut-off, apparently built by Hiram Morrell to route dusty Santa Cruz Turnpike traffic away from his vineyards.

The cut-off involves a few hundred feet of climbing, so in the past I've always avoided it. It's a skinny little road, not exactly smooth, but just as pretty as you might expect. And the climb's nothing to worry about; again, I should take this road more often in the future.

The remains of Laurel

Morell Cut-off climbs to the Soquel Road. I took that south to Redwood Lodge Road, and then took that down to Laurel, another ghost town on this ride. Laurel was briefly a town, but now it's just a couple of houses at the intersection of Redwood Lodge and Schulties Roads.

Somewhere around here are two more tunnel entrances, but they're inconvenient. One is pretty obvious, but it's inconveniently behind a house. The other one, actually the southern end of the Wrights Station tunnel, is supposedly approachable but I've never managed to find it. It's down here somewhere, but I didn't see it from the road. According to this runner's account, you can find it by descending into the area on Summit Canyon Road, from Summit Road. I might try that next.

The only other time I've been here was just over a year ago, and Schulties Road was undergoing major construction. Looks like that's done now.

Schulties Road, October 2012

Same area of Schulties Road, September 2011

Excellent work. Schulties climbs gently up to Old Santa Cruz Highway, which I took southward toward Highway 17, once again enjoying the 80 year-old concrete highway in virtual solitude. After that it was back home the same old way.

Elevation profile

Sunday's ride was 50 miles, with 4700 feet of climbing. The Summit area has lots of odd little historical sights, still within reach. Lots of fun to explore; I'm glad I got the chance to do that again.

Kennedy Trail

Yesterday I took the mountain bike out for a ride up the Kennedy Trail, and over El Sombroso.

View Kennedy Trail in a larger map

I didn't have time for a long ride, and it has been a long time since I visited these trails. Plus, I had a score to settle.

I got out at about 9:30, and trudged up to the base of the climb. I was thinking back to one of my first rides in the area, when I rode to the top of Kennedy Road... and then back home. Back then, that was plenty. This time, the same route just took me to the start of the real ride.

Midway up Kennedy Trail

The Kennedy Trail is very steep, and sufficiently broken-up and dusty that it's impossible to stand up and ride without spinning the back wheel. You just have to sit there and grind. I felt pretty good, but was still going very slowly. I was happy to stop at the mid-way tree for a rest.

After the midway point, there's a steep climb followed by a long flat section. After that, this ride for me is a series of ramps I can't seem to climb. The tread on my ancient tires is pretty good for riding on the street, but doesn't have enough bite for some of these hills. Plus, I think my geometry is off. And I'm pretty weak, to cap it off. Given all of that, I spent a good portion of the ride walking up hills.

Looking north from the Kennedy Trail

When I got to the top of El Sombroso, I went up the side trail to the highest point on the ride. At this point, I had to confront some demons. The last time I descended El Sombroso on the Wood Road toward Hicks, I fell three times in the loose shale. As you might expect, that shook my confidence in my meager descending skills. So this time, I prepared. I lowered my seat, and made sure I was wearing a couple of layers of clothes to combat road rash.

Wood Road

I think my earlier problem was that I had to use too much front brake, which caused the front tire to dig into the soft surface. This time my rear brake was working correctly, so I didn't have to rely on the front to keep me from hurtling off the cliff. Plus, it looks like they've graded the road since my last trip here, because it certainly didn't seem as rocky. Nonetheless, I descended gingerly, and stopped a few times to plan my line. I arrived at the bottom of the steep part without incident.

At the end of the trail I crossed Hicks Road into Quicksilver park, basically continuing on the Wood Road toward the mercury furnaces it once fed. I rode up to English Town, then descended on the Mine Hill Trail, which previously I've only ever descended. After that it was home on the Alamitos Trail.

Elevation profile

A short ride yesterday, just short of 30 miles. I'm glad I managed to slay, or at least wound, my descending demons. I'll have to try this again a few more times to get comfortable.