Sequoia Century

Bill Bushnell — Sunday, June 3, 2001

After a spring season of not enough long-distance riding I decided, perhaps foolishly, to sign up for the 200km Sequoia Century. I rode a highly modified version of it last year for the first time in many years and had a blast. This year the course was tougher and I was a few pounds heavier and in poorer condition. Still, I figured that it was only fair that if I had designed the route, I should have to ride it, too.

I started out from the VA Health Care System (not Hospital) at about 6:15 with fellow cyclist, Ron Bobb, who came up from Watsonville to do the ride. The ride up Arastradero and through Portola Valley, Woodside, and north on Canada Rd. went quickly and without incident. The left turn from Sand Hill onto Whiskey Hill Rd. spoils all the momentum from the prior downhill. My preferred road is Mountain Home Rd., but the City of Woodside apparently throws a fit whenever someone plans an organized ride on that road. At least Whiskey Hill was recently paved with nice, smooth asphalt.

A number of “go-fast” cyclists were already on the course. We were generally overtaken by them on the uphills and then leap-frogged them on the downhills.

The first climb up CA-92 is relatively short with a moderate grade. Only one short section of 50-100 yards long about halfway to the summit could be considered steep. I managed to average about 5.5-6 mph, which means that the climb took me a little over 20 minutes to complete. Ron, who was in better shape than I, arrived at the top about a minute ahead of me and waited.

Using CA-92 was borne partly of the idea that we could benefit from whatever support might be present on the roadway in the way of signs or police presence in connection with the AIDS ride that was to pass by a few hours later that day. We saw few signs, no police, and traffic was unexpectedly heavy for the hour of the day, 7:30.

The descent into Half Moon Bay is initially thrilling. The recently repaved highway makes for a descent that can be done without braking, if one is daring and/or foolish. The J-wall in the center gives one somewhat more confidence knowing that a crushing death under an uphill-bound vehicle is less likely should my tires find a sudden dislike of the roadway. My speed maxed at 50.4 mph. The remainder of the ride into Half Moon Bay was quick, though less interesting, since I found it more difficult to maintain the speed of auto traffic without riding anaerobically. Ron takes the position that the “race” is never won on the downhills and rides descents conservatively.

Ron and I decided to save a bit of time by skipping the first rest stop on the course by turning left onto Main St. and stopping at Dutra (cement) Park for a short break.

At the southern end of Main St. a left turn brought us to the start of Higgins-Purissima Rd. Higgins-Purissima passes by fields that when planted appear to be brussel sprouts. Then after a few false starts the road begins a relatively steep but short climb over a ridge into the Purissima Creek watershed.

On the climb we were overtaken by Laura Stern, whom I had last seen at one of the Low-Key hillclimbs a few years ago, and her riding partner. We overtook them again on the rolling descent to the coast on Purissima Creek Rd. We would be seeing Laura and her riding partner several times again until the lunch stop in Bonny Doon.

At Verde Rd. the course makes a sharp turn to the left and rejoins the 100-mile course for a mile before jogging right then left onto CA-1. As we rode down the coast it became apparent that a roaring tailwind would be at our backs much of the way.

On Stage Rd. we were passed by a couple of cyclists, but surprisingly we saw few while on this road. Riding CA-1 is quicker, but Stage Rd. is less busy and quieter.

In Pescadero we stopped in front of the closed Archangeli market, refilled water, and stretched a little bit before continuing. Once back on the road we continued without stopping for other than calls of nature until the lunch stop, saving some time by not stopping at the Costanoa rest stop. Perhaps on another trip I’ll explore the gravel trail into the resort.

The trip south on CA-1 went quickly, highlighted by the long downhill to Scott Creek where Ron and I reached speeds of 56.7 and 56.5 mph. Laura and her riding partner weren’t far behind on this hill and may have broken 50mph. I forgot to ask her. The detour on Swanton Rd. gives a nice break from the traffic on CA-1 but misses this dramatic plunge.

At Bonny Doon Rd. the hour of reckoning was at hand. All of the swift downhills and tailwinds were past us. What now lay between us and home was lots of climbing, and, what I’ll admit from a planning perspective was as much a reprise of Mr. Bill’s Nightmare as I felt I could slip under the watchful eyes of the Sequoia Committee.

Ron and I started the climb at about 11:00. I stopped briefly at the level section about halfway up from the coast to adjust my seat. Ron had also stopped, but just out of sight around the bend. We continued up through Bonny Doon at a relaxed pace, sometimes riding as slowly as 4 mph, past the entrance to the ranch hosting Karl Abbe’s workshop on Martin Rd., and arrived at the official Bikeaholics-hosted lunch stop just before noon at the Bonny Doon School. A crowd of cyclists, some hungry, some still full of energy, and some appearing dazed were helping themselves to sandwich fixings while strains of Puccini punctuated by an operatic shriek emanated from a boombox in the background.

We saw most of the usual Bikeaholic suspects, Laura Stern again, looking fresh and ready to get back on the bike, and Doug O’Neill, another friend of mine, who had started about 45 minutes after us and was now only about 20 minutes behind us.

I was happy to get off the bike and walk around for a little while just to let my leg muscles “reset” themselves prior to continuing. Ron likes to refill his water, grab food, and get back on the bike. We compromised and stayed for about 25 minutes before starting out again. Before we left the lunch stop I asked Lisa Antonino to take a picture of us while we were still able to manage smiles.

The route continued up Pine Flat Rd. to Empire Grade Rd., turned left and continued climbing gradually up over the false summit south of Alba Rd. before cresting the top of Ben Lomond Mountain in front of the California Youth Authority camp at about 2600 feet elevation. From here we descended quickly to the top of Jamison Creek Rd. and then dropped quickly down to CA-236 at the bottom.

We turned left at the bottom and continued up CA-236 and turned right onto China Grade Rd. We stopped shortly before the narrow metal bridge that marks the beginning of the steepest climb of the day to take a quick break. I noticed at this time that my rear derailer wasn’t shifting properly and that no amount of adjustment would restore crisp shifting. I learned later that the cable had frayed, depositing tiny pieces of wire inside the mechanism. If the cable had broken I would not have been able to replace it without disassembling the shift lever as I did not carry the proper tools and would have had to ride home in 3 gears, which would have been doable but very slow since I use a reverse-spring derailer for which a cable failure allows use of only the largest rear cog.

The top of China Grade did not come too soon. We turned right without pause and continued on mostly climbing terrain on CA-236, where Doug O’Neill finally passed us, before beginning a long winding descent to Waterman Gap where a water stop had been established.

After filling up on water, we began the most tedious and noisy climb of the day, CA-9 between Waterman Gap and Saratoga Gap. I put in my earplugs. Ron had ridden on ahead by about a minute, but about halfway up the climb I saw him stopped. I rode by slowly asking if everything was O.K. He said, “Yeah.”, but he didn’t sound entirely happy. I continued at my plodding pace, expecting he’d catch up to me before the top. Just as I arrived at the Saratoga Gap rest stop I saw Doug O’Neill resuming the ride. Ron arrived a couple minutes later. He told me that he felt as if he was getting sick. The next day he ended up coming down with a bad cold, but for the rest of the ride he seemed to do O.K. I was feeling slightly nauseous, which I find is typical on rides of this length or longer when I keep a steady pace with minimal resting. Ron thinks it’s the HammerGel making me nauseous because I am usually taking it when my stomach won’t tolerate another Clif bar. I had eaten seven already that day.

The ride north on Skyline Blvd. and down Page Mill Rd., went normally. I still haven’t worked up the nerve to take the uphill left bend after the rollercoaster downhill and whoop-de-doo just past the Montebello parking area without touching my brakes, but I can still break 50 mph at the bottom if the wind isn’t blowing uphill. We arrived back at the VA Health Care System just before 17:00, not particularly early but respectable under the circumstances.

The weather was perfect the entire day: no fog at the coast and moderate temperatures all around. I was sorry to miss the two rest stops in the morning at the coast, but the rest stop and on-course support I did use were excellent.

Ride stats:

climbing: 10880 feet

distance: 123.3 miles

total time: 10:41:51

riding time: 9:06:50

average speed: 13.55 mph

maximum speed: 56.5 mph

HR(z+): 1:08:40 (time spent with heartrate over 80% of max)

HR(z): 5:49:30 (time spent with heartrate between 70% and 80% of max)

HR(z-): 3:43:40 (time spent with heartrate under 70% of max)

HR(av): 121 bpm/70% of max (average heartrate over entire ride)

HB: 77664 (number of heartbeats over the course of the ride)

index: 185.69

irp: 17.36

mirp: 20.37

cd: 88.1 (gross feet climbed divided by distance)

An article on indexing can be found here.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

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