Well, today is the day that I'm going to be riding my bike home from San Francisco. I've been looking forward to this for several weeks now. After a fun time with Adub on Saturday night and Sunday morning, it is time to be thinking about taking off. I wanted to be on the road by 10:00am so that I could be home for the Superbowl kickoff.
I did a pretty thorough job of backing my gear and it turns out the only thing I forgot to bring with me was my tire pump. If I think my tire pressure is low, I can always stop at a bike shop along the way and get my tires topped off. But I've got extra tubes, boots, gas cartridges and an inflator head. I've got a jacket, food, repair kit, cell phone and (of course) my iPod Shuffle :-) I've also got 4 juice bottles: 2 for my bike, one to drink before I leave and 1 for Adub to take with her so I can drink it when I get home. Besides all of the planning, the weather cooperated - the sun was shinning, it did not rain on Saturday so the roads were plenty dry and, while the air was brisk, it also has a feel of warmth to it so I knew it was going to be a nice day. Only problem was that it was pretty breezy - hopefully this is just because we're in San Francisco and it will clear up as i head down the coast. OK, no more excuses, now shut up and ride!
I took off down O'Farrell then around the block to Geary and figured I'd just stay on Geary until I got over to the Pacific side of the city and then take the Great Hwy down to Skyline. Lots of uphill / downhill and stoplights on this first section. Traffic wasn't too bad and I could time the bus stops with cutting in and out of traffic. But there were a couple of time where I had to go all the way across the road to get around some traffic backup - you just need to pay attention!
Eventually I made my way down Geary to the Great Hwy along the coast. By the time I got here, the starting/stopping and windy conditions were taking a toll on my legs - but I'm still looking forward to the miles ahead. As I made the left turn, I had a section of downhill that went my the Cliff House - one of my favorite breakfast joints back in the mid-70's. From there I wound my way down the hill to the beach. At this point I'm riding along with the ocean on my right and a 10K run across the street on my left. Evenually I find myself skirting the edge of Golden Gate Park, then down a hilly section and a left hand turn onto Skyline. From here I went inland around Merced Lake and wound my way back up the hills. Next thing I know, I'm passing the San Francisco State campus - how did this happen??? I'm not suppose to be going by CSUSF!!!! At the next opportunity, I make a right hand turn and head back out for the coast - beside, if I don't I'm going to end up on the 280 freeway! Back out on the coast, I wind my way around and all of a sudden I'm back on Skyline - going uphill. I check with a local and they assured me that I'm heading in the right direction to get to Southbound Hwy 1. I keep going up the steep grade and eventually take the Hwy 1 cutoff from Skyline. Now I'm heading down into Pacifica and the wind starts to whip up again. Once through Pacifica, I start a 3 mile climb along Hwy 1 to the top of the Devil's Slide area. At the top, I'm back on the coast, looking at the waves and heading back down the other side of the hill. The wind is pretty torturous here - first it blows from one side and then the gusts change and it blows from the other. At one point the wind is blowing so hard I'm listed over to the left to keep my bike going straight. Then the wind would change quickly and I'd be listing to the right. Gotta be careful not to fall over or end up in traffic. On one short uphill climb, the wind caught me be surprise and started blowing me over to the shoulder. I thought about correcting but remembered that was Hwy 1 immediately to my left. I decided I had more control if I just rode the bike into the ditch on the right so that's what I did. Then I picked myself up and kept riding on my way.
I passed a road marker that said it was only 15 miles to go to Half Moon Bay....
By the time I reached Half Moon Bay, I was hot and covered in sweat. I took off my jacket, refilled my juice bottles at the local grocery store and got back on my bike and headed south. Eventually I passed by Wilder Ranch and then headed up the hill towards Stage. I made the right hand turn and started down the hill. I figured I'm got some downhill to do before San Gregorio and now was a good time to put my jacket back on.
At the corner of Stage and 84 I made the left hand turn and headed straight into the wind as I wound my way towards the Santa Cruz Mtns. I made my way through the valley and then when I hit the hill I felt like I was flying up until I got past the La Honda Fire Station. Then I got bogged down. I tried to eat some GU and drink lots of fluids but I could tell my legs were not in good shape. I made the turn onto West Old La Honda Rd. Here I managed to pass another cyclist that looked like he was in worse shape than me. This is such a beautiful stretch - it reminds me of a rural French country road that you'd see in the TdF. I also felt the temperature dropping as I neared the summit and spent more time in the shade. Next thing I know, I'm into the final climb back up to Summit. This is a bitch after 60-75 miles!
Once on Summit, I head for Sky Londa. Along the way I'm passed by a string of motorcycles, one of which is a 3 wheeler (2 in front, 1 big fat tire in the rear). It is a Trax bike and when I pulled into the Sky Londa parking lot it is parked there and everyone is looking at it. It's a 2 seater with a white fiberglass body and lots of chrome. It is pretty hot looking!
I rest for about 30 seconds, take in the motorcycle, and then head down 84 to Portola. 84 is one of the best descents you could hope to do. Technical enough that it keeps you on your toes but not so bad that you feel like you might forget something and end up over a cliff!!! I'm faster than any car going down this grade. At the bottom, I make the sharp right hand turn onto Portala and head out to Sandhill where I turn right and head up Portola to the top of Alpine. From there I blast down Alpine at a good clip and then make the right turn onto Foothill. I can smell the coffee brewing at Peets by this time and I pick up the pace. Coming down Foothill I must have passed 15 cyclists, all out for the pre-Superbowl Sunday ride. Eventually I'm going up the 4 steps on Foothill between Arastradero and Edith and I know I'm home free. I pull into Peets knowing that I've done a good day's work in the saddle and it is one of the key rides I need to have done before Solvang (which is still 5 weeks way). I had lots of chances to change my mind and shorten the route but I stayed commited to my plan to ride 80 solo miles and that's what I did!!
Ride Stats:
- 80 miles in 4 hrs 48 min.
- Ave speed 16.2 mph
- Max speed 42 mph
- Ave HR 147 bpm
- Max HR 181 bpm
- Time in Zones
- Light Intensity - 0%
- Fat Burn - 6%
- Aerobic - 75%
- Max Aerobic - 19%
- Anaerobic - 0%
No comments:
Post a Comment