Saturday Ride in California
I still decided to go to California this past weekend for some riding despite the cancellation of the races that I had planned on doing. I picked up my rental bike when I arrived on Friday afternoon from Silicon Valley Cycling Center. The bike was a Look 585 with full Dura Ace and Ksyrium ES wheels. I suppose it would have to do. :)
Saturday I did the Woodside/Pascardero/San Gregorio/Tunitas Creek Coast Loop with Hans who is a friend of Velogirl. The ride started out in the town of Woodside which was not far from my hotel in San Mateo. Within a few miles of rolling roads we were at the foot of the first large climb of the day which was to the top of Old La Honda Road. The climb started at 400 feet in elevation when we turned right onto Old La Honda Road and ended at 1675 feet in elevation at the top of Old La Honda Road 3.4 miles later. I found my rhythm on the climb right at my LT and was able to climb it surprisingly well.
We descended for a bit and then stopped at the La Honda Fire Station and Store to refill our bottles. We then descended some more until we hit a short 1 mile climb of 600 feet in elevation on Pescadero Road. We rolled into Pescadero and refilled our bottles at the Pescadero Country Store. We then headed onto Stage Road and hit three small climbs in succession. The first two were about 300 vertical feet and the third was 400 vertical feet. We then rolled into San Gregorio and stopped for yet another bottle refill. We then hit Highway 1 on the coast and headed toward what would be the hardest climb of the day on Tunitas Creek Road.
The Tunitas Creek climb is 9 miles in length and began at an elevation of 65 feet and ended at an elevation of 2067 feet. The climb started off gradual, but there are 3 miles in the middle that are steep where most of the elevation was gained. Those 3 miles were a nut buster for sure, but I was able to get into a rhythm and plug away. The top 3 or 4 miles are gradual enough that you can climb relatively fast, but you still know you are climbing none the less. I felt great at the top and was happy with my climbing performance for the day.
The ride ended with a super fast decent down King's Mountain Road and back into Woodside. With a few small detours and getting lost once we ended up with 58 miles in the saddle and according to my calculations about 6500 feet of climbing. Hans was a great guide and hope that I can get out and ride with him again in the near future.
Hans in full climbing mode.
The Pescadero Country Store.
One of the sights on the Route 1 portion of the ride.
Tunitas Creek Road - Chris was here.
The top of the Tunitas Creek climb.
A view on the decent of King's Mountain Road. I am told that the tower like building in the upper right is on the Stanford University Campus.
Saturday I did the Woodside/Pascardero/San Gregorio/Tunitas Creek Coast Loop with Hans who is a friend of Velogirl. The ride started out in the town of Woodside which was not far from my hotel in San Mateo. Within a few miles of rolling roads we were at the foot of the first large climb of the day which was to the top of Old La Honda Road. The climb started at 400 feet in elevation when we turned right onto Old La Honda Road and ended at 1675 feet in elevation at the top of Old La Honda Road 3.4 miles later. I found my rhythm on the climb right at my LT and was able to climb it surprisingly well.
We descended for a bit and then stopped at the La Honda Fire Station and Store to refill our bottles. We then descended some more until we hit a short 1 mile climb of 600 feet in elevation on Pescadero Road. We rolled into Pescadero and refilled our bottles at the Pescadero Country Store. We then headed onto Stage Road and hit three small climbs in succession. The first two were about 300 vertical feet and the third was 400 vertical feet. We then rolled into San Gregorio and stopped for yet another bottle refill. We then hit Highway 1 on the coast and headed toward what would be the hardest climb of the day on Tunitas Creek Road.
The Tunitas Creek climb is 9 miles in length and began at an elevation of 65 feet and ended at an elevation of 2067 feet. The climb started off gradual, but there are 3 miles in the middle that are steep where most of the elevation was gained. Those 3 miles were a nut buster for sure, but I was able to get into a rhythm and plug away. The top 3 or 4 miles are gradual enough that you can climb relatively fast, but you still know you are climbing none the less. I felt great at the top and was happy with my climbing performance for the day.
The ride ended with a super fast decent down King's Mountain Road and back into Woodside. With a few small detours and getting lost once we ended up with 58 miles in the saddle and according to my calculations about 6500 feet of climbing. Hans was a great guide and hope that I can get out and ride with him again in the near future.
Hans in full climbing mode.
The Pescadero Country Store.
One of the sights on the Route 1 portion of the ride.
Tunitas Creek Road - Chris was here.
The top of the Tunitas Creek climb.
A view on the decent of King's Mountain Road. I am told that the tower like building in the upper right is on the Stanford University Campus.
posted by Chris at 6:50 PM
17 Comments:
Looks like you got some bragging rights for climbing 9 miles! Beats out my 5 mile climb at the Penn State Road Race!
Looks beautiful in California with some good riding areas, but when the hell are you coming to Pennsylvania? Didn't you say you got family here?
Thanks for the advice about criterium racing, I always thought the riders are getting faster, not slower. That always psyched me out but hopefully my next criterium I can keep up this time knowing that! Take it easy!
That looks fantastic, Chris. What a great ride... I have to convince Sandra to make the trip over one day.
How was riding that Look?
You're making me miss home, just a little bit. I was born at Stanford hospital and spent the first 20 years o' life in that general area!
Sounds like you had a fantastic ride!
Not a bad recommendation, eh? Wish I could have joined you two for what is one of my favorite loops. Unfortunately you were a year late for the 'flamingo house', a house on Pescadero Creek that used to have hundreds of plastic pink flamingos around their property; the new owners removed all but a couple. BTW, the tower in the picture is 'Hoover Tower' on the Stanford campus.
Sounds like a great ride; wish I could have been there to feed you guys bottles from the team car! :^)
Nice that you could still get out there and ride despite the cancelled races. Looks like you hooked up with Lauren for a ride too. Wish I could have joined you!
P.S. Did you remember to take your pedals off the bike when you returned it? :^)
dude ... that kit ... jeebus.
aha! the kit! now i see what you guys were talking about.
that's fabulous! i wish you would have saved that for sunday's ride.
it was fun hanging out with you! you're super, subtly, silly - my favorite kind of humor.
i put some pics up on flickr. just go over to my blog and you'll see them on the left side.
"Chris was here."
SNORT!
BTW, you've been tagged.
That looks like an amazing place to ride. I'm sorry that you had to ride such a beater. ;-)
yup, that's stanford. and just beyond that you can see the hangars @ moffet field.
it was great to meet you and spend some good quality (beer-drinking) time together.
Looks like a really nice ride and BTW, thanks for showing us the 'left overs' not the action!!
Glad you're having fun!
tell me you didn't spill your beer in that "chris was here" pic....
Zach - I have family in Western PA. I will let you know next time I make it up there.
AMRCyclist - You should bring Sandra to Cali for one of the all female races next year. The Look was a solid piece of hardware. Stiff and fast. I really didn't want to give it back.
Mallie - I didn't know you were from that area. You should go do some riding out there.
Rick - it was a great suggestion. If I get out there again next year we will have to ride it together.
Oldman - I didn't need to take my pedals. This joint asks you what seat and pedals you want on the bike when you arrive. I also gave them my measurements and they had the bike set up perfectly for me. I just had to clip in.
Bryan - only I can pull it off.
Lauren - I checked out your pics. That was a fun day. It was good to put a personality to your picture.
Eclectchick - I will get to my tag duties in the next week. I am supposed to answer the questions answered on your blog?
Jahowie - I learn to make due :)
Velogirl - it was great hanging out with you too. Next time hopefully we can drink more beer.
Lily - just marking my turf.
Blue - I don't spill beer brutha.
whew.... i'm glad to hear that! :)
Yup - that's the drill. No rush on the tagging, of course :-) If you're stymied for something to blog about . . .
shoulda written "Chris was here". That would have shown some serious skill! I'm glad you at least got out for a couple rides even though there was no racing. Hope to see you again next year!
Yeah... what a crappy rental! That's dangerous renting something that nice. I would be back in the market for a new bike sooner than I should be. Great ride!
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