I woke up to my alarm going off at 4:45 AM in a hotel in Santa Cruz and rather quickly started to get ready. Eric, a fellow SFR member who drove down with me, and I were checked out and in the car by 5:30 which put us right on schedule. We got food then hit the start at the Santa Cruz Light House. There was a decent crowd and after checking in I found one other familiar face, Joel, who I met last month while climbing Tunitas Creek. Joel was on his carbon Parlee built Tournesol just as he was on Tunitas Creek. I really need to go to Joel's to check out the rest of his bike collection which includes bikes by Peter Weigle, Richard Sachs and several other very notable builders. Anyway after a short speech at 6:55 we were off and rolling at exactly 7 AM.
Eric and I rode the first few miles out of the city and then out to mile 12 with the front group which had broken off another group moving at a slightly slower pace a few miles prior. After watching my heart rate go into the 190s on two short climbs I knew there was no way I could hang for any considerable distance at the speed so I told Eric I had to slow down and he thankfully agreed. As luck would have it Tim, who would become my savior, also decided that hanging wasn't his best interest so we formed a triplet for that grew but never shrank for the rest of the day. Tim is a much more experienced distance rider than Eric or I as he has completed 2 PBPs as well as numerous other 200k+ distance rides. We didn't do much chatting for the first 20 miles up HWY 1 as we were all finding our rhythm and I was suffering some pretty severe leg pain that had no relation to effort, cadence or anything that I could determine. My legs just fucking hurt, which they continued to do until mile 75 or 80. Once we turned off HWY 1 and headed inland to Pescadero on Cloverdale road we began to chat with Tim telling us about PBP and other rides he had done. The area is just beautiful, rolling amber hills mixed with forests and small quiet roads. I haven't ridden anything better, ever. We arrived at the first control in Pescadero at 8:58 which was damn good time in my eyes. Sadly there was no garlic artichoke bread to be had so I settled for a bottle of water to refill the two I had downed. I ate a poptart and a fig newton or two while refilling my bottles. I always had 1 bottle of water and 1 bottle of water/NUUN for the ride and it seemed to work well for me. The stop at the control was a long one as there was an extended bathroom break but we were back on the road in about 20 minutes headed onto Stage Road.
The route form Pescadero took us up and down and up and down and up Stage Road back to HWY 1 then it was a straight shot to Moss Beach for the turn around. We made good time through the climbs on Stage but my legs continued to bother me pretty considerably. Once we were out on HWY 1 the chatting stopped again as we took turns riding into a light (by north on HWY 1 standards) to moderate headwind. Tim did the majority of pulling as he was capable of holding a higher pace than Eric or I and he was happy to do so. The ride on that stretch is pretty, well, unremarkable. It's pretty but heavy traffic and the headwind make it kind of blah. We reached Moss Beach just before 11 AM and saw a couple riding their Sycip fixed gears who stayed just ahead of us the entire day. They had completed one full Super Randonneur series so far this year (200, 300, 400 and 600k) on their fixed gear bikes and I believe they planned to ride Furance Creek 508 fixed. They are fucking crazy. I picked up a companion at the Moss Beach Control and he helped push me along the rest of the day.
After waiting for 3-4 minutes for traffic to clear enough for me to make it across HWY 1 to start heading south Eric and I got rolling as Tim told us to head on so he could get a up of coffee, we all knew he would catch us in short order. We were about the 7th and 8th riders out of the control at that point. I had just started to find a rhythm when I heard the sound of a big puncture in my tire and pulled over. Something had put a big hole in my tire but didn't lodge itself in. While changing the tire I saw people headed to Moss Beach for the turn around and 3 or 4 people who had made the control passed us on their way south. Tim arrived just as I was pumping up the tire and we were off again. I always hit a low spot from mile 60-75 then pick back up, regardless of what I eat, drink or pray to and yesterday was no exception. The return route was the same down Hwy 1 onto Stage Road but instead of going back to Pescadero we turn and head up HWY 84 to La Honda. The entire time I struggled while Time pulled along effortlessly and never batted an eye, the bastard. The ride up 84 is always nice as there are vast expanses of farm land and the area really appeals to me. Once you are through the farm lands you start to ride into the redwood forests the area is known for and before long we were at La Honda.
After an extended stop in La Honda for real food we were on our way to the days of the biggest climb and then directly back to Santa Cruz. We turned onto Pescadero road and then started up Haskins Hill. Haskins Hill is 1.5 miles of very manageable grade followed by roughly 10 miles of descent. It is well worth the effort going up as cruising down at 25-35 mph is very easy for the next stretch. While going up Haskins I slowed to chat with Joel for awhile and let Eric and Tim roll off. It was a good change of pace but I had to push on the descent to catch them, which wasn't terribly hard as my legs finally came online and I was able to push at my normal efforts without pain. We passed the outskirts of Pescadero on a side road then we turned on Cloverdale to back track to the end. Cloverdale was great heading back as there was a good side/tail wind and there are some decent rollers to stretch the legs on. Just before the turn to HWY 1 I suggested a bathroom break so we could roll the last 30 or so miles without stopping and no one objected. While we were readying ourselves Deb and Dave, both friends of Tim, rolled by and our group grew to 5 for the remainder. Tim took up pulling duties as usual at the front and we were off on HWY 1 for the run into Santa Cruz. Given a solid tail wind we managed to maintain over 20mph the entire way with speeds hitting 45 on some downhills. At mile 100 2 things happen which caused me to pull to the back of the group and struggle considerably. First, an injury with my shoulder began to bother me tremendously. A fractured vertebrae and slipped discs a number of years ago causes a pinched nerve that can be really really painful at times and yesterday was no exception, a solid 6-7/10 while trying to ride in a paceline at 25 was just shitty. Then, somehow, my chamois shifted and started bunching badly causing some terrible ass pain. I wasn't a happy camper and was ready to pull off before I decided to just go mile by mile as I knew I would only be able to hold 15-18mph on my own once I dropped off. It was that way that I ticked off the next 20 miles until the pain subsided. I'm annoyed I couldn't enjoy the beautiful ride as I was constantly shifting on the bike and focused on the pain and not losing Deb's wheel but I made it through. Tim initiated a town line sprint for Santa Cruz which I almost took from about 6 bike lengths back but I didn't have enough notice. He also deserved it as he had set the pace for the majority of the day.
We checked in at Bill and Lois's house for the final control, drank a chocolate milk and sat enjoying ourselves. While we were there several more riders, including Joel, rolled in and fun was had.
I'm really glad I pushed through the many low points of the ride to finish as the ride was far more difficult from many perspectives than I expected it to be. I have some things to work on over the next few months before I tackle some longer rides.
Santa Cruz Lighthouse
Turning onto HWY 1 for the first time
Tim and Eric
HWY 1
House on Stage Road
My brevet companion
Pescadero
The return on HWY 1
Dirty legs
