Santa Cruz

Bill Bushnell — July 3, 1993

Seven of us (Charlotte and Mike, Liz Benishin, Gardner Cohen, Jude Katsch, Jennifer Zheng, and I) start from Gunn High School at 7:20. At the first informal regroup at Stevens Creek Reservoir, Charlotte and Mike quit the ride because Charlotte’s bottom bracket is failing. They both promise to ride on Sunday the entire route as printed on the map.

The rest of us continue up Redwood Gulch and CA-9 to Saratoga Gap. Liz Benishin arrives long before the rest of us, and at the top we meet up with Hildy Licht and Rich Feldman. After resting at the top for a while, Rich discovers that his rear tire is losing air. Since we are all leaving to head south on CA-9, he decides to pump it up and to replace the tube at the next regroup in Boulder Creek.

The descent to Boulder Creek on CA-9 is never too fast (except on one decreasing-radius hairpin turn) and is always fun, especially in the cool morning air. At the bottom of the downgrade (the first crossing of the San Lorenzo River), I catch up with Jennifer and Hildy and ride with them for a while. A few miles down the road, I absolutely have to stop and water the plants.

“That’s not fair!”, Hildy says as she rides by.

“Nonsense! You could do it, too.”, I say in response.

“But I get poison oak if I do that!”, Hildy retorts as she rides out of earshot.

When we get to Boulder Creek, we regroup at the Shell station at the corner of CA-236 and CA-9. After eating a snack, we continue down to the grocery store on the other side of the street and refill our bottles with “Wholly Water” before the difficult climb up Alba Rd.

Liz, Jude, Jennifer, Gardner and Hildy ride on ahead while Rich replaces his tube and tanks up on Wholly Water.

The 2000-foot climb at an average 9% grade up Alba is difficult, but not as difficult as it was the last time I came this way. Last time, the temperature was in the 90’s F, but this time, the thermometer is in the low-70’s. We all make it to the top with times varying from 38 minutes to about 1 hour. I am not ashamed to admit that I climbed most of the way in my granny gear (28:22) and (28:26).

At this point Hildy decides to cut out the planned tour of Bonny Doon by stopping by her parents’ house near the top of Felton-Empire Grade. Rich decides to join her. They both plan to meet up with us at Smith Grade and Empire Grade about 50 minutes later.

We ride south on Empire Grade, turn right at Pine Flat Rd. and continue down to the Bonny Doon School (rest stop on this year’s Sequoia Century) for water. After getting water and spending too long eating and talking :-), we return a short way up Pine Flat to Bonny Doon Rd. and turn left. The upper part of Bonny Doon Rd. forms three sides of a rectangle. After a short climb, the road drops gradually and straight past vineyards and other fields. I register a maximum speed of 41 mph without pedaling, enough to get me over the short rise after the road bends south again. After taking care on the sharp 90-degree corners at the south end of the rectangle, we continue to the right.

Just before Bonny Doon Rd. plunges 1200 feet down to the coast (another fun descent), we turn left on Smith Grade Rd. Smith Grade Rd. is one of those roads that no one seems to know about. Even Jobst Brandt told me last year he had never ridden it.

Smith Grade begins innocently enough, but soon it plunges steeply into a narrow, densely-forested canyon. Some of the curves at the bottom are quite challenging when taken at speed. For better or worse, I find myself behind Liz, and while Liz climbs with the ease of a feather in the breeze, she descends cautiously. Passing would be rude and unsafe, so I enjoy the descent as best I can without breathing too hard down her neck.

At the bottom of the downgrade, the road climbs for about 350 feet before beginning another gradual descent past apple orchards and forests. The final climb to Empire Grade is the steepest, but it’s fairly short. We are 5 minutes late at the rendezvous, due, no doubt, to our taking an extended water stop at the Bonny Doon School.

We turn right on Empire Grade and continue south into Santa Cruz. The road climbs gradually at first then levels off, passing through mixed forests and meadows. The shoulders are wide. We pass the top of Chinquapin Rd., the access to the upper UCSC Campus. Taking Chinquapin is a fun way to descend into Santa Cruz. One can also drop into Felton via Marshall Rd. and Upper Scenic Drive. Perhaps future rides can explore these possibilities.

After passing the Waldorf School, Empire Grade begins a precipitous plunge into Cave Gulch. It is here that Rich and I achieve our maximum speeds of the day: 43.5 mph. Shortly after emerging from the redwoods into the meadow overlooking Monterey Bay, we turn left at the West Entrance of the UCSC Campus and climb a couple hundred feet up the hill to the Performing Arts Center. We continue through the parking lot and onto the bike path.

The UCSC bike path is another fun descent. We gather at the top of the path for a group picture before zipping down the hill. The bike path has been improved since I was a student here; the sharp curve at the bottom has been separated from opposite traffic, and the radius has been increased. Even so, because the path is narrow, handling the left-hand turn at speed is challenging. I manage 39.5 mph at the bottom of the turn.

We continue down Bay Street, turn left on King, and right on Laurent St. and head for the Saturn Cafe for a leisurely lunch. Liz orders a milkshake, but since we’re not at a fast-food pavillion, she doesn’t quite earn a Frank award.

After lunch we head east on Mission St., turn right at Walnut, and continue on Lincoln to Pacific Ave. After touring what’s left of the Pacific Garden Mall, which still has not been restored fully since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, we cross the San Lorenzo River on Water Street, and turn left on Market Street. We continue on Market until it becomes North Branciforte Rd.

We continue past the entrance to the “Mystery Spot” (only in Santa Cruz...) and turn left on Granite Creek Rd. At first Granite Creek Rd. climbs lazily alongside Granite Creek which lies at the bottom of a redwood-forested canyon. I ride slowly as I am still digesting lunch. Soon the road begins a steeper grade, coming out into the sun about 1/4-mile before the top. We descend the northwest side of the hill quickly, cross over CA-17, and regroup at the nearby Chevron station in Scotts Valley.

After a few minutes pass, Hildy has not arrived.

“Has anyone seen Hildy?”, I ask.

“No.”, everyone says.

“I don’t understand. She was right behind us near the top of the hill. The last time I saw her was just before we left the trees on the other side.”, I say. “I think I’ll go back and see if she’s all right.”

So, I ride back over CA-17, up the hill and down past where I last saw Hildy. I see no sign of her or her bike. After asking a few people walking by the road if they saw a “lady in pink” ride by, they all say, “No.” When I arrive back where the others are waiting, Hildy still has not arrived.

We speculate on what might have happened. She might have turned around and returned to Santa Cruz and called for a ride home, though this seems unlikely as it would be very rude of her not to tell anyone she was doing this. She might have turned on a side street, though this, too, seems unlikely. In any event, I don’t have time to search all the byways of Scotts Valley. We call her home and leave a message on her answering machine that we had lost track of her and that if she or someone else such as her husband knew of her whereabouts, she or he should call Gardner’s cellular number and let us know. (Gardner carries his cellular phone on bike rides.)

Not feeling particularly good about losing a rider, we continue up Glenwood Highway to Mountain Charlie Rd. When we get to the intersection, we find a copy of my route map stuck to the top of the street sign. So she had come this way after all! She must have passed by the gas station without seeing us and without our seeing her.

We start up Mountain Charlie Rd. Mountain Charlie Road is a paved, one-lane road that winds its way up Mountain Charlie ridge, reaching Summit Rd. next to the CA-17/Summit Rd. intersection. The road, built originally as a toll road, climbs the ridge in stair-step fashion. Knowing that Hildy climbs slowly, I attempt to catch up to her. I ask a descending cyclist if he’s seen the “lady in pink”, and he tells me she’s just ahead. I manage the climb in 24 minutes without leaving my middle ring (46:30), but the effort is in vain. When I reach the top, Hildy is nowhere.

I return down Mtn. Charlie to Riva Ridge Rd. and wait for the others. Liz has arrived, and soon everyone else arrives. Rich’s tire is going flat again, and while he tries to pump it up, the valve breaks. After replacing the tube, we start up Riva Ridge Rd. Bruce Hildenbrand recommended the nice little “wall” on this road as a dessert after climbing Mountain Charlie, so I thought I’d try the patience of the people riding with me and lead them this way. Riva Ridge Rd. climbs gradually and then drops steeply before climbing up a very steep wall. The grade must be close to 20%. I hear cursing and gnashing of gears as Jude and Gardner shift into their small chain rings. At Hutchinson Rd. we bear straight and continue to Summit Rd.

Gardner has had enough uphill. After he tells me that Hildy’s husband called to report that she is in Los Gatos and is O.K., I am unable to convince him that the remaining climb to Bayview Rd. is trivial. He wants to find the most direct way down. We part company as he turns right on Summit Rd. and descends the north side of Mountain Charlie Rd. to Old Santa Cruz Highway.

We turn left and continue northwest on Summit Rd. for about 1/2-mile to Bayview Rd. at the top of Redwood Estates. We wait for Rich and then Jennifer when both of their chains fall off their rings.

We begin the steep, narrow descent through Redwood Estates. Not many people know there’s a route through Redwood Estates that follows a very narrow, steep, paved road, passes a small grocery store, a fire station where there’s water, and crosses under CA-17 before joining Old Santa Cruz Highway. Not sure of the exact route, I “follow my nose”.

At Old Santa Cruz Highway, we turn left and continue down to the end where it joins CA-17 just uphill of the Alma Fire Station. Our next adventure is to ride the shoulder of CA-17 for about 1.5 miles down to Lexington Reservoir and exit at Alma Bridge Rd. just before the highway makes its final descent to Los Gatos. This is much easier than it sounds as this section of CA-17 has no blind corners, and a wide debris-strewn shoulder exists for most of the distance.

We turn right on Alma Bridge Rd. and then left at the access road leading down alongside the spillway of Lexington Reservoir. Partway down the unpaved trail, Jude’s rear tire flats. This time it’s a pinch flat. Parts of the trail are very rocky, and Jude must not have had his rear tire pumped up enough.

When we reach Los Gatos, we take the flat route home through Saratoga, Cupertino and Los Altos, stopping a couple of times to let Jennifer and Rich phone friends and family to let them know they’ll be late. We arrive at Gunn HS just before sunset.

Despite the breakdowns, delays, and lost sheep, this was one of the best rides I’ve ridden this year. The weather cooperated this weekend giving us temperatures between 70 and 80F the entire day. I would like to thank everyone who came for making this ride one of my best.

Ride stats:

distance: 113.0 miles

climbing: 8810 feet

total time: 13:35

riding time: 8:22

average speed: 13.5 mph

maximum speed: 43.5 mph

index: 148

irp: 11

mirp: 18

climbing density: 78

climbing ratio: 0.0148

An article on indexing can be found here.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

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