Bigger June Ride

This week, Nimue has a 9am-5pm recreation camp through the city of Sunnyvale recreation department every day, so needless to say, I had to take the opportunity one of the long free days to take a long adventure ride, despite the big ride near Downieville less than a week ago.

Cyclists take note: this one inspires jealousy!

Anna's 101.6 mile 10200 ft Climbing Loop of Coastal Excellence from Home



5:15 am Can't sleep; get up and pack Nim's lunch and my bike bag, eat breakfast.

5:45 am Chad graciously stumbles out and makes coffee.

6:00 am Pump up tires and start rolling.

6:15 am Note delightful lack of traffic at this hour.

6:45 am Chase little brown birdie running up Moody Road.

7:00 am Note warm sunny weather even at this hour -- no jacket needed.

7:15 am Note large number of cyclists who must be riding Page Mill before work.

7:30 am Sure this is the earliest I've ever made it up to Skyline. Mmmm cherries.

7:45 am Enjoy roll down Alpine Road.

8:15 am Shiver a bit among the chilly patch of big Redwoods near Pescadero Road; start climbing again to warm up.

9:30 am Accidentally eat all of tuna sandwich at junction with Cloverdale Road instead of saving some for later.

10:00 am Note vulture picking flesh off of deer ribcage on side of road.

10:15 am Glad all of sandwich was consumed earlier, as calories help battle with unexpected headwind along the coast.

10:30 am Hate wind; at least it's not rainy. Enjoy coastal views.

10:45 am Big Snake.

11:30 am Bakery in Davenport. Mmmm chocolate muffin. Top up water bottles.

11:45 am Ahhh, no more headwind. Climb Bonny Doon Road.

12:30 pm Mmmm.... yogurt and strawberries.

1:00 pm Gorgeous maze of skinny sunny rural roads with no traffic.

1:15 pm Tricky steep descent down Jamison Creek Rd. Pass road crew "fixing" potholes by filling them up with so much goo as to create lumps as tall as the original potholes were deep.

1:45 pm Eschew easy route up 236 and go up China Grade instead. Revel in the fact that legs still feel strong on the steep curves. Admire big trees. Sweat.

2:15 pm Rejoin 236. Enjoy more big trees. Oops, unexpected descent. Guess route is five lumps instead of four. Big trees.

2:30 pm Slurp a caffeinated Gu. Climb climb climb up 9. Seems almost flat after earlier steeper slopes.

3:15 pm Zoom down 9.

4:00 pm Home. Eat. Shower. Eat. Pick up Nim and go shopping to replace old bathing suit as promised. Eat.



I'm eagerly waiting to see what comprises Chad's retaliation ride this weekend... (any ride of this magnitude inspires an appropriate response!)