Willow Creek Loop AGAIN

Boy, I just can't get enough of this loop. I went out this afternoon and did the loop on my own. I tried to take it easy, and I was 10 minutes off of my fastest time, so that was taking it easier at least.

Back from Santa Cruz

Well, Claire and I had a week off from the shop, and spent 5 of those days camping at New Brighton State Beach just south of Santa Cruz. We managed to barely make it down there after the Hub Bus broke down on 19th Ave. in San Francisco. I don't know if you can call it a total break down since we didn't have to get towed anywhere. For some reason the Bus stalled at a light in stop and go traffic. It was very hot down there. It decided that it didn't want to start for a couple of hours, and then it ran just fine after that. Go figure.

Anyway, I went out for a couple of runs down there. Run 1 and Run 2. Since I have been having some tightness in my calves, I kept the runs shorter than usual.

We went out on an epic ride on Tuesday. It was very hot down there. Mathilda rode along in the trailer, but was no help at all on the uphills. She did help on the final descent back to the campground though. We rode up Eureka Canyon, which was nicely shaded for the most part. It was a wonderfully gentle climb with almost no traffic. At the top it was a bit more exposed, and both Claire and I were running low on water. We stopped at a fire station just before turning down San Jose Road which plummeted us back down into Capitola. We had a bit more climbing before we got back to the campground. We must have looked a bit knackered at that point, because a woman in a car actually pulled up next to us and asked if we needed water.

The other days we spent riding around Santa Cruz and sampling pizza. We still think that Pleasure Pizza has the best, and on Tuesdays they have slices of cheese pizza for only a dollar. We also tried Pizza My Heart in Capitola, but didn't like it quite as much. One of the days we rode all the way up West Cliff and checked out the surfers. We ended up with over 25 miles that day. Mathilda enjoyed all of the rides.

Sweetwater (plain and simple)

I went out this morning and did the Sweetwater loop. Since we are taking off for Santa Cruz tomorrow for a week, I thought I should do this loop so that A1 can follow it when he is house sitting. It took exactly 20 minutes for the climb, and I'm usually around 18 minutes, so I know how I stand in that department. The entire loop took 1 hour and 26 minutes which is right around my average. I had to be a little careful on the back side of Sweetwater since it is pretty beat up from the winter. I got a pretty good two wheel drift through one of the first corners when I hit some gravel. Since I still have my third crash coming up, (they come in threes), I figured I should be careful. I hit some pretty good potholes on the other side of Sweetwater, but that is what Sonoma County is all about.

Long time no blog

Well, it has been awhile. I have been getting out on only a couple of rides a week since the shop is so busy. Last Monday Claire and I rode the tandem and Eric the Fireman rode his beautiful TCR Advanced SL around the Chalkhill Loop. The weather was perfect, and except for Eric feeling a little frisky on his road bike, it was a good paced ride.

Today Eric the Fireman and A1 came out to the house for an epic ride. We were all on our cross bikes as we headed out over Green Valley and Harrison Grade into Occidental. As we headed up Bitner, Eric had some mechanical problems. We tried to fix things by making his bike into a single speed, but the roads were so steep that the chain just wouldn't stay where it was supposed to stay. We bid farewell to Eric on Willow Creek Road, and A1 and I headed on through the state park and dropped down to Duncans Mills where Claire was waiting to meet us. We then rode over Duncan Road and over Old Caz. A1 and I decided to push ourselves a bit on the climb. At one point my heart rate was 197 and his had broken the 200 barrier. On the way down Old Caz, I got a little out of control in one of the corners and went ass over teakettle. I managed to land on my head and crack my helmet as well as scratching up some other parts of my body. It was a pretty funny fall, I had passed A1 on a couple of the sharp bends, and I was going a bit faster than I should. At least this is what I realized as I over shot a corner and went into some soft dirt and rocks on the side. I remember my head hitting and then watching as the bike flew over the top of me. My main concern was that my wheels would still be straight enough that I wouldn't have to hike out of there. We were almost to the crossing of Austin Creek, and it would have been a long hike out. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and we got back to Duncans Mills feeling good. We then stopped for some Mexican food in Guerneville before heading home.