A Clockwise Circumnavigation of the Santa Cruz Mountains

Bill Bushnell — Saturday, August 21, 1993

At 3:30 I drag myself out of bed to the frantic jingle of Rukeyser’s Wall Street Week being rebroadcast on the local public radio station KQED-fm. After going through my daily exercises, dressing, eating my usual very large breakfast, and performing other necessary tasks, I set off in the dark at 5:23.

Today I get to test the first version of my Very Bright Headlight, which is an el-cheapo Cateye modified to accept a 10-watt bulb. With the 6V/8Ah lead-acid battery I carry, I should get just over 4 hours of light from it.

I head south on Middlefield Rd. through Palo Alto and Mountain View, and continue south on Central Expressway. I am surprised by the number of “work-nerds” either driving to work or parked in company parking lots along the way. (I suppose some would call me a “bike-nerd”!) When I turn right on De La Cruz Blvd. shortly after 6:00a, I shut off the headlight. The roads are quiet at this hour as I pass down Coleman, through downtown San Jose and onto Monterey Highway.

I stop briefly at a gas station and ask to use the restroom. The attendant tells me there is none. I ride on. A short while later I pass a nice, thick, ivy-covered fence in front of a GE building. Suddenly my bladder sends a STOP OR ELSE! signal to my brain, and I obediently pull inside the fence and water the ivy.

After less than a minute off the bike I continue south on Monterey Hwy. The traffic lights are annoying. It seems there’s just enough traffic on the cross-streets to keep the lights red, forcing me to slow down or stop at every light. Soon I pass beyond the developed parts of San Jose, through Coyote, and into the region between San Jose and Morgan Hill. The sun has just risen over the eastern hills, and the air, while still cool, begins to warm.

On a long, straight stretch of highway a few miles north of Morgan Hill I am unable to avoid a sharp something-or-other (probably a piece of glass), and with a Thunk-Fiss sound my rear tire goes flat. The timing isn’t bad. I need a short break, so I work slowly, savoring the change of activity.

Twenty minutes later, I am rolling south again. I reach Morgan Hill at about 8:00. South of Morgan Hill I stop briefly to take a picture of two large hot-air balloons cruising over the valley before I stop again in Gilroy in front of the “Wrong Way” church (corner of Hecker Pass Rd. and Monterey Hwy) for a snack at 8:41.

I plan to meet Jude Katsch and Jennifer Zheng at the Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz at noon. I am ahead of schedule, so I decide not to ride over Hecker Pass according to the original plan, but to continue south to CA-129 thus truly riding around the south end of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

A street fair is just getting underway in the business district of Gilroy, so I walk my bike past all the booths for about 6 blocks before getting underway. When I reach US-101, I find that bicycles are prohibited for about 3/4 mile from Monterey Hwy to Mesa. This doesn’t make sense as the shoulder is wide and there are no exits in between. The Krebs map shows US-101 as bike legal over this stretch but only in the northbound direction, as I find out later after reading the fine print. Since it’s too early in the morning to be a bad boy I continue on Bolsa to Bloomfield and CA-25 before entering US-101 for the ride south to CA-129.

Riding on the freeway isn’t as scary as many bicyclists think. An advantage is that it’s very fast, especially if truck traffic is heavy. The faster freeway traffic creates a slight breeze in the direction of traffic travel, making it easy to cruise at 25 mph. The downside is that the shoulder can be dirty, and the ride can be noisy. By being attentive to road conditions one can avoid debris, and by wearing earplugs one can enjoy a quieter ride. Earplugs reduce the overall noise level, especially wind noise, and greatly reduce psychological fatigue on long rides. I am not convinced that wearing earplugs makes riding less safe under noisy conditions.

Soon I reach the CA-129 turnoff. I continue toward Watsonville along the Pajaro River. CA-129 in San Benito County has a nice, wide shoulder, but the road narrows after passing into Santa Cruz County. I am lucky there are not too many trucks on the road today, yet I receive one long, hard honk from a truck that has plenty of room to pass, but who’s driver seems intent on making a point. I don’t recommend this route for bicycles because several long stretches of narrow, shoulderless road make passing difficult.

At 10:00 I leave the canyon and pass through fields of strawberries and other goodies east of Watsonville. At about this time I receive another urgent signal. Would the farm hands mind if I used one of their portapotties? At 10:15 I reach downtown Watsonville and take a short break at a gas station.

My original plan was to take Freedom Blvd. to Aptos and continue into Santa Cruz on Soquel Drive. But I am still ahead of schedule, so I take West Beach Rd. to San Andreas Rd. and then ride north, passing by Sunset Beach. At the corner of West Beach and San Andreas Rd. I’ve ridden 73.3 miles with 610 feet of climbing.

The ride so far has been sunny, but a shallow, dense layer of fog hangs to the west. As I ride north on San Andreas, I pass alternately from very dense fog to bright, cool sunshine. Shortly before I reach CA-1, I turn left on Bonita, right on Freedom Blvd., and left on Soquel Drive and begin the long tedious ride up “lollypop lane” (too many stopsigns, and always on downhills, it seems!).

In Santa Cruz I bear right on Water St., pass through downtown, and stop for a picture in front of Holy Cross Church whose steeple has recently been re-erected since the 1989 earthquake. A few minutes later I continue on Mission St. and reach the Saturn Cafe at 12:04. Distance: 92.3, Climbing: 1390 feet.

As I lock my bike, Jude and Jennifer arrive. Jude is helping Jennifer buy one of the last 17” Trek 520’s at a bike shop in Santa Cruz. The two of them are planning a heroic tour of the Sierras over Labor Day weekend. But today they arrive by car. Too bad neither of them could ride today, as they would have enjoyed a ride like this, and I would have liked the company, especially for the ride up the coast.

We relax for over 2 hours while Jude and Jennifer dine and while I stuff my face.

“You sure like to take long lunches.”, Jude says.

“Yeah. If I don’t I get side-stitches soon after starting up again. I have to take time to let my food digest.”, I say.

“I’ve never had side stitches.”, Jude says.

At 14:15 we leave. After saying goodbye to Jude and Jennifer, I begin the ride north on CA-1. Traffic out of Santa Cruz is heavy, but soon I pass Western Drive, the last traffic light, and traffic becomes lighter.

Unfortunately, I am riding north on the coast on a sunny day. This means I suffer terrible headwinds. Several other groups of cyclists pass the other way including a couple of recumbents. They all look happy to have the wind at their backs, while I curse and struggle at a measly 10-12 mph into the wind.

It is here that I reach the low point of the ride. Most of the long rides I have done this summer have been about 100-120 miles, and my body is telling me that it’s time to get off the saddle and rest. It is with some effort and knowing that I don’t have much of a choice that I find the fortitude to press on. The earplugs really help keep me relaxed in the busy traffic and noisy headwind.

I had thought I might be lucky today because when it’s foggy at the coast, the wind is much weaker and blows lightly from the west-southwest. If it’s clear the wind blows harder from the northwest. I know for sure if I had done this loop in the other direction, I’d have horrible, hot headwinds to battle in the Santa Clara Valley no matter what the fog conditions were like at the coast. Which is worse: hot, dry headwinds, or cool, damp headwinds?

As I pass Dimeo Lane I feel the beginnings of a side-stitch. I hate it when this happens, and it’s worse now that I have to pedal into the wind. Additionally, I begin to feel the urgent need to make a parabola. Unfortunately, only low shrubbery grows near the highway. My side-stitches become so intense and my need so urgent that I finally stop at the nearest bush that comes up to navel height and perform the task while passing motorists do double-takes as they cruise by.

As I pass Bonny Doon Rd., I enter fog, and almost immediately the wind blows less fiercely. I continue passing alternately from fog to sunshine and from a light breath of foggy air to a stiff headwind.

I stop at Ano Nuevo State Park to eat and to top off my water supply before pressing on. I manage to keep moving past Gazos Creek Rd., Pigeon Point, and Bean Hollow Beach until I get to Pescadero Beach when another call of nature refuses to go unanswered. I know one thing’s for sure: I won’t dehydrate today!

The ride from Pescadero Beach to San Gregorio Beach seems to take no time at all. I continue north up the long hill past San Gregorio without stopping. The descent to Tunitas Creek is fast and very foggy. Visibility is only about 50 feet in places. It’s a good thing I turned on my rear Vistalight. One good thing though: No more headwinds. If anything I now have a slight tailwind.

I continue past Tunitas Creek, but at Verde Rd. nature urgently calls again, and I stop to make another parabola. The ride into Half Moon Bay passes uneventfully. Just past CA-92, I pull off into a shopping center and stop at a Subway sandwich shop and order two foot-long veggies and cheese sandwiches. Distance so far: 141.1, climbing: 3500 feet, time: 18:18.

At 19:00 I decide to press on. My original plan saw me riding home over CA-92, but I’ve got energy and battery life for the headlamp to make today’s ride a true circumnavigation of the Santa Cruz Mountains. So I continue north on CA-1.

I stop briefly at Montara State Beach to take a picture of Devil’s Slide and again on a particularly narrow section of roadway to take a picture just as the orange orb of the sun falls below the horizon. The fog seems to have disappeared; the coast is clear.

Along Devil’s Slide the roadway is very narrow, but fortunately there is little traffic. As I descend the backside of the hill toward Pacifica, I take the lane as I need the maneuvering room. A guy in an old white Toyota seems to miscalculate my speed (~40 mph), and impatiently passes across a double yellow to pass. He takes a while to perform this maneuver, barely making it back onto the right side of the road in the face of oncoming traffic. He pops me the bird in his rearview mirror. I notice he’s got a mountain bike half hanging out the trunk. I am frustrated when I am treated rudely by impatient motorists who are obviously cyclists at some time in their lives. I reach the bottom of the hill just behind him; his dangerous pass doesn’t save him any time. What a jerk.

I continue north on CA-1 climbing over two or three small hills before reaching Sharp Park Rd. Again the highway department has not seen fit to allow bicycles to ride the very short section of freeway south of Sharp Park Rd. Since I can see the Sharp Park exit about 0.3 miles ahead, I would ride this despite the sign forbidding me if police cars weren’t swarming like wasps at the cross street before.

I turn left crossing 4 lanes of busy traffic and ride Francisco to the Sharp Park Rd. overcrossing. Again I manage to get in the way of motorists who are on time-critical missions.

The ride up Sharp Park Rd. is difficult, especially since I’m tired, yet I manage the climb in my middle ring (46:30). Halfway up Sharp Park Rd., I turn on my headlight. Time: 20:20

Soon I reach Skyline Blvd. I turn right and begin the long ride south and home. The temperature is much warmer than it was on the coast, so I stop to remove my longsleeve shirt and leg warmers.

Just before Skyline Blvd. merges with I-280, I turn right onto the bike path. The last time I was here it was illegal to ride a bike on I-280 from Skyline to Larkspur. I would prefer to ride the shoulder of the freeway rather than take a bike path, but since it is dark I figure it will be clear of pedestrians and skaters.

I stop at the Chevron station at Hillcrest Ave. to call home before continuing (legally) onto the shoulder of I-280 and riding south. I get off at Trousdale and continue south to CA-92. Then I continue on Canada Rd. Canada Rd. is peaceful; I enjoy the sight of a meteorite streaking across the sky over Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir.

I realize that I won’t get to 200 miles for the day unless I add some additional miles close to home. So, in my compulsive way, I detour through Woodside on Mountain Home Rd. to Portola Rd. I note with some relief that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Bicyclist Harassment Patrol has packed up for the day. No deputies lie in wait like fat old spiders, though of the 20 or 30 cars I see altogether in Woodside and Portola Valley, two of them are patrol cars.

Riding through the dark roads of Woodside and Portola Valley is fun at night. There is very little traffic, and almost all passing cars dim their high beams. A couple flash their high beams at me. Maybe I’ve got the lamp aimed too high.

I continue to Alpine Rd. and then turn left. At Arastradero I turn right and continue to Purissima where I turn right. At Elena I turn right again and ride through Los Altos Hills to Foothill College and down the hill to Foothill Expressway. Then I turn left and continue north to Sand Hill Rd. and then right and head directly home.

When I get home it is 23:55, my headlamp battery is almost fully discharged (5.72 volts under load), and I am very tired. On the ride I ate 7 sunflower nut-butter and jam sandwiches, 1/2-lb of fig bars, 1 cup of pasta w/sauce, large bowl of split-pea soup, one large salad, two foot-long Subway sandwiches, and two small soft drinks. I am still eating more food than usual.

My rear-end isn’t accustomed to sitting in the saddle for so long. For about a day and a half after the ride I suffered a disconcerting numbness in a certain organ and several sore muscles. I probably could have ridden 170-175 miles without suffering too much, but the last 25 was difficult. This was my first double century, and even though I took a long time for this relatively flat ride, I take some satisfaction that I rode it without aero-bars and without drafting anyone.

Ride stats:

distance: 201.5 miles

climbing: 6670 feet

total time: 18:32

riding time: 13:00

average Speed: 15.5 mph

maximum speed: 41.5 mph

index: 228

irp: 12

mirp: 18

climbing density: 33

climbing ratio: 0.0063

An article on indexing can be found here.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

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