Uncle Bill’s Very Difficult Ride

Bill Bushnell — Saturday, May 22, 1993

At 4:30 the alarm sounds, and I drag myself slowly out of bed. After eating my usual large breakfast and relaxing a bit to allow the food to digest, I head slowly toward Gunn High School, the official start of the day’s punishment.

When I arrive ultra-marathon cyclist John Hughes is waiting. A few minutes later Sterling Watson arrives. We wait until about 7:15 because I was expecting others. Just as we are about to leave, Josh Zucker arrives on his single. I had only previously ridden with Josh when he captained the tandem he and Carolyn Fairman ride. I notice that I am the only one with a triple chainring, though John has a reasonably low gear of 38 inches using a 39x28.

We start slowly down Foothill Expressway. The first 10 miles or so of riding is really the only riding we’ll do that is neither up nor down. We stop at the picnic area just past Montebello Rd. to top off our water bottles and to take a quick stretch. Then we begin our first climb: Montebello Rd.

Montebello climbs steeply at first (10-17%), but levels off about a third of the way up before resuming a steady but more gradual climb. Still the grade is about 8%. Hildy Licht told me she would maybe meet us on Montebello Rd., so I keep my eyes open. (I learned later that she started up about five or ten minutes after us, and she never caught up.)

We stop briefly at the gate to enjoy the morning air before walking around and continuing up the road. At the microwave relay station, the pavement ends and our first dirt adventure begins. I was afraid there might be muddy spots, but I soon discover that the soil is dry and dusty. The road has been graded recently. I don’t understand why road bikers ride up Montebello Rd. and turn back at the gate. The best part of the road is the part over Black Mountain, and it’s really not a difficult ride on a road bike—even on the northern side of the mountain where broken pavement and occasional ruts and gravel patches offer the opportunity to practice bike handling skills.

We stop again at the top of Black Mountain and take a group picture with a very full Crystal Springs Reservoir, San Francisco, and Mt. Tamalpais in the background. The time is 9:02.

After negotiating the road hazards on the northern side of Black Mountain, we arrive at Page Mill Rd. A sensitive induction coil has been installed, so the gate at Page Mill Rd. now opens automatically when bicycles arrive. We turn left and continue to Skyline Blvd. and then down Alpine Rd. to Portola State Park.

The upper part of Alpine Rd. is a quilt work of uneven asphalt and makes for a very bumpy descent. I take the corners cautiously. We continue straight on Portola State Park Rd. and drop quickly into the redwood forest of Portola State Park. I register my maximum speed while dropping down the chute, a broad, sweeping curve at a considerable downgrade that straightens and narrows into quilted asphalt again before reaching a sharp corner at the bottom.

John and Sterling have arrived at the park headquarters just moments before. After a few minutes I worry that Josh might have taken a wrong turn halfway down or worse. Just as I wonder if we should return up the same way, Josh comes rushing into the parking lot.

“What took you so long?”, I ask.

“I lost my VistaLite on the way down.”, Josh says. “I stopped to see if I could find it, but I could only find this.” He displays the red lens covering.

After eating some food and resting a bit, we continue through the park on the service road that connects to Old Haul Rd. I warn everyone to be careful on the wooden bridge over Pescadero Creek if it’s damp. I once almost took a nasty spill into the water while riding across the bridge when it was damp and slippery. On the hill just before Old Haul Rd., I demonstrate the utility of a triple chainring on the very steep road connecting Old Haul Rd. to Portola State Park. Everyone else shifts to the “two-foot” gear.

We turn right on Old Haul and continue right on Bridge Trail, crossing Pescadero Creek again, taking care not to let the gaps between the bridge planks swallow our narrow tires. Surprisingly, even Old Haul Rd. is bone dry.

Bridge Trail dead-ends at Camp Pomponio Rd. We turn right and begin the long climb back to Skyline. It would be easy to miss Bridge Trail if one were riding down Camp Pomponio Rd.

Camp Pomponio Rd., a single-lane paved road, climbs gradually at first through a dark redwood forest, but when it leaves the redwoods it begins a relentless climb through oaks and meadows that still have some wildflowers. Sterling streaks to the front followed by “standin’ John”. Josh and I, the sitters, bring up the rear. Just before Alpine Rd., Camp Pomponio Rd. climbs very steeply at a grade reaching 19%. Sterling with his 42x24 low gear tacks back and forth across the road. Gee, that looks fun.

At Alpine Rd., we continue without stopping. At the one short downgrade on the upper section of Alpine, we pass another group of bicyclists zipping down the hill.

“You know,” I say to Josh, “I think that guy in the middle was Bruce Hildenbrand.”

“Yeah,” Josh says. “We always seem to run into him out here.”

We continue pedaling up the hill. At the summit we pass a group of mountain bikers preparing to enter the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. We continue down to Skyline Blvd. Sterling waits, but John has ridden on ahead.

After eating a small snack we turn right on Skyline and begin the much easier climb to Saratoga Gap. Just before we reach the Saratoga Gap Fire Station, we meet up with John who has started riding back toward Alpine Rd. to find us.

At the fire station, we refill our bottles. Josh and I eat. Sterling and John head down into Saratoga in search of lunch.

“We’ll sit somewhere conspicuous and keep an eye out for you.”, John says.

While we rest two joggers come by for water. They’ve apparently jogged up Montebello Rd. then to Skyline and then up to the fire station. They’re heading back to Saratoga now.

A few minutes later another group of mountain bikers, this time a Western Wheelers group, arrives. I recognize Gary Davis and a few others.

If you ever want to know who’s on the road, just come up and sit for a while in front of the drinking fountain at the Saratoga Gap fire station. It’s the only water in the area, and anyone passing through under human power will likely stop here.

After about a 20-minute rest, Josh and I head to CA-9 and then down into Saratoga. I ride slowly down Big Basin Way looking for John and Sterling.

Suddenly, a loud voice yells out, “Bill, over here!”

It was John. As I approach the table where they’re eating a couple at a nearby table cower over their food.

“John, you have a very loud voice; you must have startled your neighbors,” I say, pointing toward the other table.

“Yeah, you should’ve seen ‘em when John yelled out,” Sterling says.

A minute later, Josh rolls in. Our timing is good as Sterling and John have just finished eating.

Sterling will ride with us to the base of Bohlman Rd., but will bail out afterward. He claims he has obligations at home this afternoon. In the voice of David Spade’s Hollywood Minute, “Yeah, right.”

John is rearing to go, and Josh, after wavering a bit, has decided to press on with us.

Bohlman Rd. starts innocently enough, but soon the true nature of this beast becomes apparent: A continuous grade of at least 10%, often more, and occasionally 20% for about 2000 feet of climbing. At the first steep turn Josh decides to bail out.

“Aw come on, Josh.”, John says.

“It levels off around the next turn.”, I add encouragingly.

Maybe it’s just as well that Josh decided not to continue because the leveling off doesn’t last very long.

The last time I climbed this wall I took Bohlman Rd. all the way to the top. This time I plan to take the detour up On Orbit Lane. If Bohlman isn’t steep enough, On Orbit should be.

About 2 miles from the bottom, On Orbit goes left while Bohlman continues right. We take the left route. In two long (1/3 to 1/2-mile each), very steep pitches (18-23.5%) in the hot sun, we climb On Orbit Lane. John is about 20 yards ahead standing all the while. I manage to keep pace with him in my lowest gear (25 inches) at 3.5-4 mph. The magnificent view of the south bay is partly obscured by the sweat running in curtains off my forehead.

Finally the grade lessens and then the road tops out before a brief downhill to rejoin Bohlman Rd.

Once back on Bohlman, the climbing seems easy, but the grade is still well over 10%. A half-mile later we reach the copse of redwoods marking the end of the grueling climb. From here to the end of the pavement about 1 mile later, Bohlman climbs in stair step fashion.

At the end of the pavement, we stop. I eat while John applies sunscreen. John, who is training for the PAC Tour, doesn’t like to stop long, and he seems to have mastered the art of “elimination on the go”. We make an unspoken agreement: John will stop with me, and I’ll take only as long as necessary to eat, drink, or mix chemicals.

At the top of Bohlman Rd. it is possible to continue on a dirt road that leads to the top of Montevina Rd. which in turn leads down to CA-17 across from Alma Bridge Rd. and Lexington Reservoir. But which dirt road?

There is only one that is not marked with some sort of “keep out” placard, and that is the one we take. It leads downhill to the right. Before long we reach a gate with an “obstacle course” walkaround. We are now inside the Monte Sereno Open Space Preserve. A half-mile later we reach a fork. The right fork continues to Montevina Rd. The left fork apparently goes down to Los Gatos. I’ll have to try that sometime. We turn right and continue steeply down the gravel road to the gate at the top of Montevina Rd. The pavement at the top is very steep, but further down, the grade becomes a fairly constant 9-10%.

At CA-17, we turn right and ride for 1/8-mile on the dirty shoulder before beginning the last grueling climb of the day: Black Rd. So far today, all the major climbs have been with very little auto traffic. This is, I think, because all of the climbs so far have been on roads that are not through for autos. Unfortunately, Black Rd. is a through road, although it’s not too busy.

The bottom part of Black Rd. is quite steep, but after a little over a mile it levels off in front of Lakeside School. If it weren’t for the drinking fountains at Lakeside School, we’d be in trouble! After waterlogging myself in Saratoga, I still managed to drink two large bottles (56 oz.) on the climb up Bohlman and the lower part of Black Rd.

The middle part of Black Rd. climbs moderately, but after Gist Rd., the grade steepens and after the trail to McKenzie Reservoir it steepens even more. Like a drained NiCd battery, I have passed the “knee”. I am now quite tired, and this last climb is really beginning to drain me. I’ve eaten enough and drunk enough, but I don’t have leg power to climb comfortably. Still I grind on.

At Skyline we turn right and continue up north to Skylonda, stopping once to eat and drink at the Saratoga Gap Fire Station. The descent down CA-84 is handled with care as we are both a little shaky from fatigue.

At the bottom we turn right on Portola. John heads directly home since he lives in Portola Valley. I finish by riding “The Loop” (or the Parade Route, as some are fond of calling it) to Alpine Rd. and then to Arastradero Rd. and back to Gunn High School.

Ride stats:

distance: 106.2 miles

climbing: 12080 feet

total time: 11:33

riding time: 8:21

average speed: 12.8 mph

maximum speed: 43.0 mph

index: 155

irp: 13

mirp: 19

climbing density: 114

climbing ratio: 0.0215

An article on indexing can be found here.

©2004, Bill Bushnell

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