For 5 years, I rode from San Jose to Santa Barbara every Memorial Day weekend with a group of about 45 friends. Last year I went to the Giro instead, and didn't get my mojo back together for the trip this year. But I did manage to get up and ride from San Jose to Morgan Hill with them this morning. A good way to shake off the cobwebs from Tuesday, and a lot of perspective upon seeing a photo of David Ritter's post surgery stitches from his gnarly crash last week.
We rode down Camden/Almaden/McKean/Uvas, I returned via Oak Glen and back through Uvas. Nice riding but crazy wind. I rode with the front group a while and was doing ok but someone dropped a HR monitor and I got gapped going around him, just as the pace lifted. I closed the gap once, but the last 2 riders got gapped and I couldn't get around them due to a car passing. I don't have a 2nd gap close in my right now with that sort of crew. The "no car" photo is from Oak Glen Road, a very nice road around Uvas Resevoir.
I had to get a photo of a realtor I saw on Sycamore Road. There were a few things about the scene that amused me. A realtor driving a Prius? Realtors are very image conscious about their cars - I know from experience. So now the Prius is "accepted" amongst the realtors - at least in the Bay Area. Anyway, he was posting a "Price Reduced" sign on the for sale sign. This is in Morgan Hill, a bedroom community for the Silicon Valley, and out on Sycamore you can get all sorts of land for "cheap" but must suffer a hellish commute on 101/85 to get to work. Prices are being reduced in MH just like our friends out in CC County? Gas Prices? Prius driving realtor? I just found it an interesting juxtaposition. And you thought this blog was going to be about bike racing.
I certainly realized everything was back to normal when I approached a section that was narrowed to one lane while PG&E trimmed back some trees. I looked back and saw an SUV. I signaled my intention to take the lane and the driver signalled their intention to not allow this by hitting the accelerator. I backed off and flipped her the bird. Yes - things are back to normal, post incident.
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4 comments:
I used to live in and around SB (six years of that in town 50 miles away called Lompoc).
I was not into biking more than a few miles at a time back then, which in restrospect, was a missed opportunity.
Your pictures remind me that I miss Central Coast scenery.
On the SJ/SB ride, what route do you take?
Definitely a missed opportunity, the riding down there is sublime.
The SJ/SB ride alternates between two routes, inland and coastal. This year was inland, going down to Gilroy, through Hollister, Cienega Rd, 25, Bitterwater King City Road on day 1. Day 2 is from King City to San Simeon, via Jolon, Interlake, Nacimiento, Chimney Rock, Adelaida, Vineyard, 46, and the infamous Santa Rosa Creek Road (1/4 mile at 20% grade) through Cambria to San Simeon.
The coastal route diverges in Gilroy by going over Hecker Pass, through Castroville, Elkhorn Slough, 68, Laraules Grade (steep!) and Carmel Valley Rd to Carmel. Day 2 is Highway 1 all the way to San Simeon, scenic but hard work.
Both routes share days 3 and 4. Day 3 is Highway 1 from San Simeon to Cayucos, Los Osos Rd to San Luis Obispo. Day 4 Follows 1 through Pismo, Strawberry Grade on to Guadalupe. Follow 1 over Harris Grade (nice!) to Lompoc. From Lompoc is a long slog of a climb on 1 to Gaviota, then 101 to Santa Barbara (yuck).
Between Gaviota and SB (or Goleta) you can get off the 101 at least between El Capitan & Refugio beaches, since there's a bike path between them, but I guess that's only about 3 miles out of 20.
I suppose there's a few other possible routes. The SB mountains have their "Camino El Cielo", kinda like Skyline (and getting up there would be just a big a challenge, but they're pretty devoid of traffic).
I'm just talking out my rear here--haven't done anything really hard core, yet at least.
My high-end Palo Alto-based realtor now drives a Subaru...
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