Thanksgiving Ride

I have not been able to do most of the recent Low-Key Hillclimb rides, so I thought I would try to do the season finale — Mt. Hamilton. Instead, my friend Ravi invited me to join him and a couple other friends for the same route. Since I had not seen him for a while, I thought I would ride it with the smaller group.

I met Ravi a couple miles from home at 7:00am. After a few minutes, we were joined by Suraj, for whom this would be his first attempt up Mt. Hamilton. We rode the 15 flat miles to the base of Mt. Hamilton where we joined the final member of the group, Atri.

We started the climb at 8:40, which was 50 minutes before the Low-Key start. It was a cool and overcast morning, and it became even colder as we ascended. Fortunately the internal heat generated by the effort of climbing kept us comfortable. I expected to have a reduced fitness level since I have not been on the bike for long climbs for weeks. Yet, I decided to push myself and keep the same pace as Ravi. Suraj and Atri kept slower paces, so we stopped a couple times to regroup.

Ravi and me taking a break on the lower slopes. Photo by Suraj.

As we approached the summit, it became steadily brighter since we were reaching the upper level of the cloud layer. Then we started getting passed by the faster riders of the Low-Key group. Even with our head start, they are too strong for us.

With the final approach to the summit, we burst through the cloud layer. After stopping at the destination (Lick Observatory), we looked down at a vast white sea of clouds as we took in the warmth of the bright sun. We had reach the summit at 11:00am.

Looking down from the summit, we see that the very top section the road is in sunlight, while the lower part sinks under the cloud layer.
Photo by Stephen Fong, who rode the concurrent Low-Key Hillclimb.

We waited as first Suraj then later Atri arrived. We relaxed for some time before bundling up for the long, cold descent. The road was wet, but luckily not enough to make the descent treacherous. After reaching the bottom, Atri departed on his separate route home, while the rest of us retraced our morning route. I got back to the house at 3:10pm.

The ride was 6 hours total, and 8 hours 30 minutes on the bicycle. I reached home hungry, tired, and sleepy (since I did not get much sleep the previous night). It would have been a perfect time for a large Thanksgiving feast, but this year we were just having a quiet holiday at home. I ate a big lunch and took a nap.

A New Road

[official results] [route map] [series description]

Having ridden all over the hills of the South Bay Area and Peninsula, I have been on almost all of the mountain roads. However, there are a few that are still new to me, and this weeks Low-Key Hillclimb event was one of those — Bear Gulch Road West. This road connects Skyline Blvd along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains to Highway 84 near the coast. BUT the middle section of this road goes through private land, and there is no public access. This is the main reason that many cyclists have not tried it — it is a dead-end that is not part of any loop route.

The registration for the ride was near the intersection with Skyline Blvd. I wanted to save some time in the morning, so I had Vaishali drop me at the intersection of Highway 84 and Skyline. I then warmed up by riding the one mile along Skyline to get to the registration. It was a chilly morning, so I was fully covered, wearing arm-warmers and leg warmers.

Photo by Christine Holmes.
I am waiting to start and chatting with my friend Richard, and proudly wearing my California Triple Crown jersey. I am prepared for cold weather, but the ride ended up being hot.

When we were ready to start the ride, the entire group rode downhill on Bear Gulch until we reached the gate where the road becomes private. Because the road is narrow (mostly one-lane with no shoulder) with blind corners, the riders started in two groups — the fast group first then the slower group a couple minutes later. I started in the second group.

Before getting under way, I needed to take off my cool weather clothing. This side of the mountains was bathed in sunlight and was fairly hot. Half of the road was under tree cover and still cool, but half was fully exposed and hot.

Getting started was rather tricky. The road at this point is fairly steep, so getting pushed off and getting the shoes clipped into the pedals takes some skill. My start got delayed because the rider in front of me could not clip properly, and had to stop a couple times. This caused me a 20 second delay and I ended up starting from the very back of the second group. This meant I passed several people at the very beginning.

The first half of the three mile road is the steepest. Many people were struggling at this point. Having not ridden regularly for the past three weeks, I was struggling more than I normally would expect to. Once the steep part was finished, I was able to recover some strength. By this time the riders were spread out and I did not see anyone until reaching the finish.

At the finish, bunches of riders were chatting about a common theme — about how surprisingly steep the first half of the road was. The normally quiet road was filled with the sounds of chatter and the constant coughing of riders who had overstressed their lungs.

I refilled my water and ate a banana and a handful of cookies. I also chatted with a couple of cyclists who had also ridden the Death Ride this year. After a little rest, I set off for the 25 mile ride back home. It was a beautiful day and the roads were full of cyclists. I wondered if any of them had ridden on a hidden gem like I had.