Tailwinds to Santa Cruz

Bill Bushnell — Saturday, April 9, 2005

On Saturday morning at the rather leisurely hour of 9:30 I set out to ride a loop from home in Sunnyvale, CA to Santa Cruz, CA and back again. I hadn’t really thought about what route I would take, except that somehow I would ride south on CA1, the coast highway, and enjoy the tailwinds that were expected to be blowing strongly from the northwest. My sister, Laura, would be in Santa Cruz on Saturday and had called the night before suggesting that we meet in Davenport for lunch. So Davenport around lunchtime was a goal of sorts.

I headed out in the direction of Los Altos and Portola Valley, rode around the backside of “The Loop”, then climbed Old La Honda Rd. I was surprised by the low numbers of cyclists on the roads at this rather late hour on a bright Saturday morning. Maybe the Tierra Bella Century with its 2000+ cyclists was drawing everyone to Gilroy.

Halfway up the climb I heard my phone ringing. It was Laura asking where I was. I told her I’d call her again in San Gregorio and confirm our plans, that it should give her enough time for us to meet in Davenport.

I stopped 3/4 of a mile down the west side of Old La Honda to take a panorama of the classic view from this side of the ridge. The air was bracing but quite humid. Views of distant objects were obscured by haze, so today would not be a good day to take pictures of distant scenery.

Continuing down the west side of Old La Honda I saw going the other way several clumps five or six cyclists each, the largest group of cyclists I saw all day, Alto Velo, perhaps, out on their Saturday morning ride.

Continuing west on CA84 I found myself riding into a stiff headwind on the last few miles to the coast. At the General Store I stopped out of the wind long enough to call Laura and to confirm our plans. It was noon. I told her I should be in Davenport by 13:15, but perhaps as late as 13:30 if I stopped to take pictures along the way.

I continued out to the coast and then south on CA1. I took several pictures on the trip south, stopping only a few times before Davenport. Near the south end of Pescadero Beach I passed a couple of cyclists, one recumbent. The recumbent cyclist displayed the classic expression when I rode by. I had too much momentum to lose or I would have stopped to chat.

I as enjoying the tailwinds as much as ever when I passed by the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, and managed to get a decent if distant picture of it.

Near Ano Nuevo I ran into Jobst Brandt. I didn’t recognize him from the rear, thinking he might be a local. Jobst was wearing curduroys and was riding at a relaxed pace and appeared content to let the wind do most of the work. I had a good head of steam so I kept going. Further down the road just north of Waddell Beach where I had stopped to take a few more pictures of the bluffs marking the southern boundary of Big Basin State Park, the whitecaps on the Pacific, and Ano Nuevo Island, Jobst rolled up. At first I wondered if he had come off of a nearby trail, but then I remembered passing someone dressed like him not far back.

We rode together past Waddell Beach where parasurfers were catching the stiff wind and continued into Davenport. Jobst had other lunch plans, so we parted ways while I ordered lunch and waited for Laura and Michael, who arrived when I was about half way through the meal. Their ride from Santa Cruz had been into a fierce headwind. She mentioned seeing a friendly cyclist going the other way who waved vigorously and smiled as if in recognition. At first she thought it might be someone she knew, so she returned the pleasantry, but realized a moment later that she didn’t recognize him.

After lunch we started riding into Santa Cruz. At first I thought I’d just go on ahead since I wanted to get back to Sunnyvale at a reasonable hour. But I realized that with the strong tailwind, the faired recumbent had less speed advantage over an upright, and that it would not delay me significantly to ride with Laura and Michael, who themselves were enjoying immensely riding with the wind instead of against it.

At Western Drive Laura and Michael turned right and continued home along the scenic West Cliff and East Cliff Drives. I continued on Mission St. through the west side of town. I had the vague idea that I might return through Henry Cowell Redwoods on the Pipeline Rd., scouting it out for this year’s Sequoia Century and then press on up Zayante Rd. Then I remembered that Jobst had mentioned he was returning up CA9 and had suggested that traffic wasn’t quite as threatening as my memory had recalled.

I hadn’t been up CA9 in many years. Even my trips south on CA9 are infrequent. I usually like for at least some part of a day ride to include some road I haven’t ridden before or haven’t ridden in a long time. Besides that, Jobst had chided me for not noticing the James Dean mural on the wall of the Brookdale Lodge.

So I started up CA9. The section of CA9 between Santa Cruz and Felton is beautiful, a gradual climb through redwoods followed by a gradual descent into Felton. I took a couple pictures but neither of them turned out due to camera motion. On the climb just above the railroad crossing I looked down to the right and noticed some guys playing on the tracks, although I couldn’t tell what they were up to. I thought they might be trying one of those contraptions with an outrigger that allows one to ride a bicycle on railroad tracks.

I remember long ago back in the 70’s being taken on a creek walk from down the San Lorenzo River through Henry Cowell Redwoods that included a walk back along the tracks, through a short tunnel and over the trestle. This was in the days when SP ran once or twice daily up to the quarries near Olympia along Zayante Creek. Nowadays I think the only service this track sees is from the summer tourist run from Roaring Camp to Santa Cruz.

To the left I saw one of the trails that descends from the upper UCSC campus that I remember hiking nearly 20 years ago when I was a student there, and where I and friends at school had occasionally run across the odd deranged squatter in the area. I’ll have to explore the upper campus again since it has expanded into the areas I used to hike and bike regularly.

From Felton through Ben Lomond to Boulder Creek CA9 is more crowded, most of the traffic arriving in the San Lorenzo River Valley from Graham Hill and Mt. Hermon Roads. Traffic was not quite as heavy as I was expecting, although a few rude pickup truck drivers passed by without lifting their foot even momentarily from their accelerators or giving up one inch of “their” lane. I was glad I was wearing earplugs.

When I got to Brookdale I understood why I hadn’t noticed the James Dean mural: it was only visible to northbound traffic, and I hadn’t ridden northbound on CA9 in over 10 years. And, even then it’s partially obscured from highway traffic by a few screening redwood trees. And while I enjoyed some of his movies, James Dean was a greater cultural icon of my parents’ generation than mine.

Continuing north from Brookdale I passed through Boulder Creek and then began a quieter section of CA9 between Bear Creek Rd. and Skyline. At least two times I was passed by a sports car driven at a high speed followed closely by 3 motorcyclists on crotch rockets who felt it necessary to keep their engines revving in low gears so as to make as much noise as possible.

After passing the junction with the Saratoga Toll Road CA9 begins a long climb to Skyline. About half a mile from Saratoga Toll Road CA9 makes a sharp hairpin turn to the left. The downhill side is tricky on the descent with its decreasing radius, once nearly sending me over the double yellow.

Just past the hairpin turn I noticed several spots where a strip of water was flowing across the road, allowing one to discern tracks of other tires that had passed earlier. The tracks would not evaporate quickly in the afternoon shade and the cold humid air. I wondered if Jobst had already come this way, so I looked for bicycle tire tracks but I didn’t see any. In fact, I didn’t see any other bicycle tire tracks or bicyclists all the way from Santa Cruz until I got to Skyline Blvd., and then I saw only a few mountain bikers out.

I stopped at the Sempervirens Overlook and took a panorama picture. But, the air was hazier than it had been on Old La Honda Rd. earlier in the morning. Only the nearby hills were visible. The ridge was under a low cloud, and the distant ridges were lost in the haze.

I reached Saratoga Gap a bit before 17:30 and headed north on Skyline to Page Mill Rd. where I turned right. I took the descent a bit more cautiously than usual because of the wet patches on the road, an occasional spot of gravel in the corners, and at one point, a deer making its way across the road. I continued down Moody Rd., taking care on the upper corners where gravel and mud have been known to flow out onto the road. The remainder of the ride continued without incident, and I arrived home at about 18:40.

Ride stats:

distance: 124.3 miles

climbing: 6640 feet

total time: 9:08:18

riding time: 7:17:41

average speed: 17.0 mph

maximum speed: 55.7 mph

HR(av): 106/107 (overall/while-moving)

P(max): 454 watts

P(av): 152 watts

E: 4007 kJoules (Calories)

Find the full picture gallery: here.

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