Santa Cruz Zig Zag

Bill Bushnell — Sunday, July 24, 1994

Starting from my place near the Cultural Center in Palo Alto, CA at 7:40 we headed south on Middlefield Rd. While we continued south on San Antonio Rd. and Foothill Expressway we found ourselves delayed by nearly every traffic signal. After stopping at the picnic area just past Montebello Rd. we continued up Stevens Canyon and Redwood Gulch to Saratoga Gap, pausing briefly at the summit to discuss the route.

“So, where are we going now?”, asked Pete.

“We’ll continue down Highway 9 and then straight onto Highway 236, then turn left on China Grade Rd. instead of descending into Big Basin.”, I replied.

We all were anxious to climb Jamison Creek Rd.

So, off we went. At the turn-off to CA-236 6.1 miles from Saratoga Gap, I continued straight at the saddle point on the ridge onto CA-236 and coasted up to the nearest turnout out of sight of the junction to wait for the others. A few seconds later Ron came along, but Stella and Pete did not appear. So, Ron and I coasted back to the saddle point and waited at the junction.

“Do you think they flatted or had other trouble?”, I ask Ron.

“I don’t know.”, Ron answered.

“Well, we’ve been here for ten minutes. Let’s give them another ten. If they don’t appear by then, let’s assume they missed the turn and continued down to Boulder Creek. They know we’re climbing Jamison Creek Rd., so if we don’t find them in Boulder Creek, we’ll probably find them at the bottom of Jamison Creek Rd. If something else happened, which is unlikely, we’ll have to assume they can take care of themselves.”, I said.

Ten minutes passed and no Stella and no Pete. So down CA-9 we rode. On the flat several miles from the bottom of the grade into Boulder Creek, I drafted Ron. I had forgotten how much fun it is to draft behind someone who is my size. Ron and I are both tall (6’4” and 6’5”).

When we got to Boulder Creek we rode down the main street as far as Karan’s Deli, but we didn’t see Stella or Pete. Well, either they didn’t make it down this far or they’ve continued on to Jamison Creek Rd. We stopped briefly next to Johnny’s Market and ate a snack before starting up CA-236.

When we got to the bottom of Jamison Creek Rd., Stella and Pete were waiting. We filled up our water tanks at the new fire station at the corner before starting up the hill. Jamison Creek Rd. begins disarmingly enough, but 1.3 miles up, the road makes a turn to the left and begins a relentless climb at 12.5% average grade for the next 1.7 miles. We all managed the climb in 25 to 30 minutes.

While we rested at the top, an “army” of teenage boys clad in green T-shirts and green jeans marched by silently and grimly in two long files on either side of Empire Grade. From where were they marching?

“They must be heading to the CYA (California Youth Authority) camp at the top of Ben Lomond Mountain.”, I said.

A few minutes later we rode between the two files just before we reached the top of the mountain.

Most of us continued to Pine Flat Rd., but I stopped to rescue a young fledgling that was sitting in shock on the roadway. I had seen it out of the corner of my eye as my wheels narrowly missed it a few seconds earlier. It didn’t move as I bent to pick it up, but as I grasped and pulled it off the roadway, I could feel it clasping the irregularities in the asphalt, resisting my pull. It let out a protesting squawk as I broke its grip. I was going to move it off the roadway and then determine if it was injured. I was also thinking of how I was going to transport this bird home to the Wildlife Rescue shelter in Palo Alto and whether or not that would be a good idea, but before I could set it down, it flew out of my hand and landed in a nearby bush. It seemed O.K., so I continued on, feeling that I had probably saved this bird from certain death had an automobile happened along.

We turned right on Pine Flat and right again on Bonny Doon Rd. When we got to the Bonny Doon winery we turned left and headed up Pine Flat a short distance before turning right onto Martin Rd. Martin Rd. passes over what looks like a more arid pocket in the Santa Cruz Mountains, more like the middle-Sierras where the soil is drier and rockier. I wonder if the area was logged heavily at some time as The Chalks in Big Basin and Butano Ridge had been.

We turned right on Ice Cream Grade and right again on Empire Grade and enjoyed the rolling downhill to the west entrance of the UCSC campus. Rarely can I resist delaying my arrival into Santa Cruz by detouring up into the campus and zipping down over the Great Meadow on the bike path. This time was no exception.

The Saturn Cafe was our destination, and we lingered lazily over a two-hour feast. Each of us ordered at least two meals. Ron got a Frank Award for crossing the street to Yogurt Delite and bringing back a chocolate yogurt cone to go, and that was after a large bowl of very thick carrot and cashew soup, a large plate of pasta, a fruit shake, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Stella, who always seems to eat for one-half, outdid herself by putting down and keeping down a peanut butter and banana sandwich and a large plate of pasta.

We began the return trip home by slowly heading east on Mission Street to Water St. and then left on Market St. We continued on Branciforte Rd. and turned left at Granite Creek Rd. We stopped briefly at the Chevron station in Scotts Valley next to “nny’s” (Denny’s. When I was a student at UCSC, the “De” part of the sign didn’t light at night, hence the nickname.)

Our route took us up Glenwood Drive to Glenwood Cutoff, a road I had never ridden before. Glenwood Drive is the old Santa Cruz Highway used more heavily before infamous CA-17 was built. Glenwood Cutoff climbs steeply from Glenwood Drive to CA-17. At CA-17 we crossed and head uphill for 0.4 miles before diving off onto Laurel Rd., another road I hadn’t ridden.

Laurel Rd. starts slightly downhill then climbs a bit before descending more than 300 feet to the little community of Laurel nestled in the upper reaches of the West Branch of Soquel Creek. One reason I chose this route was to try some new roads. The other was to find the end of one of the tunnels used by the old railroad that crossed the mountains between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz many years ago. We found the end of the tunnel that goes between Glenwood and Laurel. It was completely caved in.

While we were standing at the opening, talking about the old railroad and where it went, I started looking around for a place to conduct business. Just then two men who must have heard us popped out of a little building off behind some bushes. Apparently, the local community draws its water from a well located at the mouth of the old tunnel, and the men were working on the pump when we happened by. It’s a good thing I decided not to add to the local water table.

I asked one of them about the possibility of rebuilding the rail line along the old alignment. In a similar situation I suppose things might go worse were I to ask Mike of the Junction Cafe why he doesn’t serve veggie-burgers or something suitable for customers who aren’t sitting on their duffs all day, though if he did he might have less reason to complain about bicyclists always wanting water but never buying anything, which isn’t true.

“You’d have alot of people against it up here.”, said the man, pouting and sighing. “Most of the land along the old rail line is private. And with these tunnels caving in all the time, I don’t think you’ll see it open any time soon. When the line was built it didn’t take the most direct route, but a route that went past all the sawmills. The lumber barons built the railroad to haul lumber so they routed it past all their mills. If they wanted to haul passengers, they should’ve sent it down Soquel Creek. That would’ve been easier.”, he said pointing behind us.

We continued up Shulties Rd., whose pavement is in as good condition as the top of Redwood Gulch, to Old Santa Cruz Highway, and turned right. We stopped just past Summit Rd. for a snack break before starting down the north side of the ridge on the old, broken concrete.

At CA-17, we turned right and coasted quickly down to Lexington Reservoir. We stopped just before the final plunge down into Los Gatos because Stella got a pinch flat after running over a rock somewhere along the highway. Fifteen minutes later and after graciously enduring a great deal of unsolicited advice from yours truly, Stella and the rest of us got back on the road.

After exiting at CA-9 in Los Gatos, we stopped at a pay phone to make a few phone calls and then continued home on the flat route through Saratoga, Cupertino, and Los Altos.

Ride stats:

distance: 114.2 miles

climbing: 8430 feet

total time: 12:32

riding time: 7:59

average speed: 14.3 mph

maximum speed: 45.0 mph

index: 148

irp: 11.8

mirp: 18.5

climbing density: 74 feet/mile

An article on indexing can be found here.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

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