Thanksgiving Day -A Time To Ride
Thursday, 22 November, 2007, 19:30 - Cycling
Today's route evolved from an idea I had a while back. The original goal was to combine Highway 9 and Empire Grade Road into a nice round trip journey to Santa Cruz. And what better day to do this than Thanksgiving?
Backing up a bit... It was 37 degrees outside when I left home at 7:30 this morning. That may not seem cold to those of you who don't live in California, but this was the first time this season that the low temperature has been below 40. For the first few miles I was wearing a windbreaker and a fleece hat.
But back to the ride: I made my way across town to Saratoga, and started up Highway 9 at 8:20. The climb itself was pretty mellow. I was just taking it easy so I would have energy for the remaining climbs. For the climb, my time was 46:40 (five minutes slower than my fastest time). After stopping briefly at the top, I bombed down the west side of Highway 9 and down into Boulder Creek.
After making my way over to Jamison Creek Road (about 2.5 miles up Highway 236 from Boulder Creek), I began the toughest climb of the day. Fortunately, the road is only 3.1 miles long before reaching Empire Grade Road. This one took me 31 minutes, so you can tell that it is significantly tougher than Highway 9. In a few places, there is writing on the road. And at the beginning of the steepest part, the writing reads "The pain is about to begin". Gee thanks, guys! After reaching the top, I stopped for a few minutes to eat a 'trail mix bar', and started off on the long ride down Empire Grade into Santa Cruz.
Empire Grade is a fairly nice road (only a few spots have rough roads), and mostly downhill. The uphill sections seem rather annoying, given that I was expecting it to be all downhill. But I made it down in pretty good time, and thoroughly enjoyed the views of the ocean from the UCSC campus. Turning onto Bay Street and then Mission (Highway 1), I made my way north out of town almost to Davenport.
And this is where the bonus climb comes in. I have actually climbed Bonny Doon Road before. It is quite a nice 26 mile loop from Santa Cruz. But starting up it after 65+ miles is another story altogether. By this point, I was feeling a little tired, but I've never been one to throw in the towel on a decent challenge. =) I pulled it together, and made it up into Bonny Doon, and then onto Pine Flat and then Ice Cream Grade Roads. After crossing Empire Grade, I descended down Felton Empire Road (this section kind of feels like the speeder bike chase scene in Return Of The Jedi) and into Felton. From there, I turned onto Highway 9 and made my way up to Boulder Creek.
After Boulder Creek, the ascent of Highway 9 turns into a bit of drudgery.It ascends about 1900, but it takes 15 miles to get there... At the top, I celebrated a little and put the windbreaker back on for the descent down into Saratoga. Once I hit town, I had only 14 miles to go... And they went by with no problems. =)
Totals for the day: 119 miles and about 9000 feet of climbing.
Climbs:
Highway 9 (East) -6.5 miles, 2090 feet
Jamison Creek Road -3.1 miles, 1470 feet
Bonny Doon/Ice Cream Grade -7.4 miles, 2110 feet
Highway 9 (West) -7.4 miles, 1990 feet
Cheers! And Happy Thanksgiving...
Backing up a bit... It was 37 degrees outside when I left home at 7:30 this morning. That may not seem cold to those of you who don't live in California, but this was the first time this season that the low temperature has been below 40. For the first few miles I was wearing a windbreaker and a fleece hat.
But back to the ride: I made my way across town to Saratoga, and started up Highway 9 at 8:20. The climb itself was pretty mellow. I was just taking it easy so I would have energy for the remaining climbs. For the climb, my time was 46:40 (five minutes slower than my fastest time). After stopping briefly at the top, I bombed down the west side of Highway 9 and down into Boulder Creek.
After making my way over to Jamison Creek Road (about 2.5 miles up Highway 236 from Boulder Creek), I began the toughest climb of the day. Fortunately, the road is only 3.1 miles long before reaching Empire Grade Road. This one took me 31 minutes, so you can tell that it is significantly tougher than Highway 9. In a few places, there is writing on the road. And at the beginning of the steepest part, the writing reads "The pain is about to begin". Gee thanks, guys! After reaching the top, I stopped for a few minutes to eat a 'trail mix bar', and started off on the long ride down Empire Grade into Santa Cruz.
Empire Grade is a fairly nice road (only a few spots have rough roads), and mostly downhill. The uphill sections seem rather annoying, given that I was expecting it to be all downhill. But I made it down in pretty good time, and thoroughly enjoyed the views of the ocean from the UCSC campus. Turning onto Bay Street and then Mission (Highway 1), I made my way north out of town almost to Davenport.
And this is where the bonus climb comes in. I have actually climbed Bonny Doon Road before. It is quite a nice 26 mile loop from Santa Cruz. But starting up it after 65+ miles is another story altogether. By this point, I was feeling a little tired, but I've never been one to throw in the towel on a decent challenge. =) I pulled it together, and made it up into Bonny Doon, and then onto Pine Flat and then Ice Cream Grade Roads. After crossing Empire Grade, I descended down Felton Empire Road (this section kind of feels like the speeder bike chase scene in Return Of The Jedi) and into Felton. From there, I turned onto Highway 9 and made my way up to Boulder Creek.
After Boulder Creek, the ascent of Highway 9 turns into a bit of drudgery.It ascends about 1900, but it takes 15 miles to get there... At the top, I celebrated a little and put the windbreaker back on for the descent down into Saratoga. Once I hit town, I had only 14 miles to go... And they went by with no problems. =)
Totals for the day: 119 miles and about 9000 feet of climbing.
Climbs:
Highway 9 (East) -6.5 miles, 2090 feet
Jamison Creek Road -3.1 miles, 1470 feet
Bonny Doon/Ice Cream Grade -7.4 miles, 2110 feet
Highway 9 (West) -7.4 miles, 1990 feet
Cheers! And Happy Thanksgiving...
;)
posted by Mike Deitchman at
9:19 AM
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