DSSF members and ALC friends converged on Davis for the Foxy’s Fall metric and century rides this year. It was dark when we parked, and I had to remind myself that it was mid-October. So while we got a later start for the century than I would have liked, all turned out find for a relatively flat (near) century (this years route was modified, and instead of being 102 miles, was down to 95.)

The first 24 miles were relatively flat, quick and and the groups got split up, a stop light or two facilitated some of the split. Eventually Gordon and I caught up with Bob McD, who was again riding on “fire” similar to day two of the Double Bay Double. If I remember correctly, RS# 1 is where the metric route splits, and we left Bob there, and he waited for the rest of the metric group to arrive there. I tried to convince him to join us on the century route, but he held true to sticking with the metric group. I later got a text from him wondering if there were any hills, on the century compared to the metric.

Lunch was at Wooden Valley School at mile 50, with a water stop in between. David’s B and S caught up with us there, and just as we were leaving, so did Nancy. It was warmer out here, and the main climb of the day, Highway 121 on the way to Moscowite Corner was next. An interesting feature on this ride, they have on-the-bike SAG on the route, in addition to the vehicles with bike racks. There was a couple on a tandem, in fact.

Rest stop 3 was at Lake Solano Park, and Gordon and Scott pointed out that this was one of the overnights on Sierra to the Sea, and the reverse climb is called Cardiac Hill. Oh joy, since I am planning to do that next year. The last 22 miles brought us along tree lined roads before the outskirts and neighborhoods on the way to the Veterans Memorial ride start. And to my pleasure, I finished my first century in 6 hours (exactly.) I enjoyed Foxy’s, it being a nice day, a great group and no headwinds! 🙂

http://app.strava.com/runs/1988846/embed/42498b01d28e85459ed4d8e3ed2d158d14200bd4

While we did not have the wonderful Indian Summer day I had hoped for to redo Chris Thomas’ Double Bay Double training ride to San Gregorio and back, we did get the weather that Karin had hoped for, a bit cloudy and coolish, but not bad at all. We were joined by a fellow ALC TRL and rider, Judy, and the three of us set off from Mountain View to meet up with Nancy Levin, at the start of Old La Honda. We missed Nancy at the bottom of OLH.

Climbing Tunitas Creek was a first for Karin, and she did great, despite my inaccurate description of the climb. In my mind, the 9 mile climb is broken into thirds with the bottom and top each being not that difficult. I’ll remember next time, it’s more like the bottom and top quarter, with the middle 4+ miles being tough. But in all fairness, I did say that the climb is doable with no steep grades. Nancy headed back to her car from Skyline, while Judy, Karin and I did our lunch stop at Roberts Market and then we continued on Chris’ planned route, which included the extra “evilness” of Elena Road. Thanks again Karin, for co-leading with me. It was a fun day, even more so because I was in the minority, nice to see a 3:1 ratio for a change. 🙂

http://app.strava.com/runs/1824661/embed/977dd98d19eeeb6215d102ebe969e1ea0cf22fbe

All nine of us arrived in Plymouth on Thursday evening for another fabulous weekend of food, riding and friends in Gold Country.

Friday’s Mt. Aukum Hill Climb proved to be a perfect day, leaving Plymough we headed up Shenadoah Road to Somerset for lunch, we then back tracked to Fairplay and then it’s the warm up rollers on Perry Gulch Road before the five mile climb up Slug Gluch Road (where I’m happy to report that I beat my time from last year by 11 minutes, thank you Strava for making that so easy to compare!) The 9.5 mile climb up Omo Ranch Road to nearly 5,000 feet is a nice climb, and from there it is more or less 25 miles of all downhill, and my favorite part is Shake Ridge Road, it is one of the prettiest stretches of roads I think I’ve done.

http://app.strava.com/runs/1646264/embed/c2c442a88d274e03a905767719fa46af87aaa2bd

Saturday’s ride took all nine of us south from Plymouth to Sutter Creek, with several of those “wake-up” climbs, just to get you going before you are ready. After coffee and a regroup at Thomi’s Coffee & Eatery, it’s another beautiful stretch of road to Volcano, and our lunch stop. Leaving Volcano, the next climb of the day is up Rams Horn Grade, only 800 feet in 2+ miles, and then we head back to Sutter Creek on the lower section of Shake Ridge Road (from yesterday’s route.) From Sutter Creek, we head west towards Ion, and then the ride ends with another lovely stretch of road on Old Sacramento Road back to Plymouth.

http://app.strava.com/runs/1659153/embed/92f6896b271efadfc30f99f7d70017932d70141f

This all started because I wanted to find an alternative route to the west coast of the Peninsula (Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio) without having to go through Skyline and Hwy 92. I had heard about this old road, predating Highway 1 and nicknamed “Planet of the Apes” (its real name: San Pedro Mountain Road) because of the erie feeling you are supposed to get riding it, like you were in a post-holocaust world.

I tried a couple of years ago, but I chickened out a bit after Pacifica and ended up riding Hwy 1 at Devil’s Slide. Oh my. If there was a road hostile to cyclists, that was it. No shoulders, one lane of heavy traffic with drivers just coming out of the freeway part of Hwy 1, on a climb.

So this time, I decide to try it again. I posted the ride the day before, starting from my place. Needless to say, I was not expecting company. So imagine my surprise when I saw no other than Thomas showing up at 10am sharp in front of my garage.

Off we go, the first miles completely uneventful, until we reached the start of the trail. Tony had warned me, but I still felt a bit hesitant when I saw it: it really look like a dirt road with no apparent (even old) pavement. It got better: most of the time, we got to ride on some very old pavement, but pavement nonetheless. The whole road goes over the aforementioned Pedro Mountain, so it climbs for 2 miles. We had to ride so slow anyway, because of the road conditions, that it didn’t feel much of a climb. As a matter of fact, the descent was much more unpleasant, especially since that side of the road was in worse condition. And the weather was not cooperating: we were going through a heavy fog, indistinguishable from a drizzle, and the pavement/dirt was becoming very wet. At one point, my iPhone jumped off my handlebar bag, without me noticing it. Without Thomas, I wouldn’t have realized it before a couple of miles, and it would have been a nightmare trying to find it. Thomas, I owe you big time…

But we finally made it to Hwy 1 and that oh-so-smooth ride to Half Moon Bay, where we enjoyed a nice albeit late lunch. Originally, I had planned to ride back through Tunitas Creek Rd (I know, I know…) but it was so late that we would not have made it on the other side of Skyline before dark. Notwithstanding the fact that it would have probably killed Thomas.

So we had no choice but taking Hwy 92, which I had never ridden eastbound. Well, I probably never will, if I can avoid it. The traffic is awful, and the shoulders inexistent or worse, treacherous. Worse than westbound. But we made it and finish the ride in a light rain towards Millbrae BART station.

I am glad I did this Planet of the Apes, but it’s clearly not a road bike option. On the other hand, with a mountain bike, it’s a peace of cake. Oh, and about this “post end of the world” feeling, I was frankly a bit disappointed: it is just a trail.

Here is the complete route and some photos.

Up at 6am, I checked the weather forecast, hoping that the radar image would show the rain still heading in a south to north east direction as it was when I went to bed shortly after 9 last night.

Hmm, nope now it’s moving in a more west to east with a slight north track to it. Still too dark to see the Ham cam. The forecasts varied between 10-50% chance of rain or shower for San Jose for most of the day.

Two riders had already cancelled, both for non-weather related reasons. So at 6:30 I sent a cancellation email to the other riders.

At about 9am, I checked the Ham Cams, foggy or misty at the top without a doubt, so hopefully it was a good call.

Perhaps a Mt. Hamiton in the Spring ride for 2011!