9/26/06: Tunitas Creek (39.2 Miles)

After spending the night in Half Moon Bay, I rode back over the hill to Palo Alto on Tunitas Creek Road.

The first 10.5 miles were along Highway 1 South to Tunitas Creek Road. It was windy and cold, but after a couple of miles I warmed up and was okay by the time I reached Tunitas Creek. I’ve heard from so many people about how Tunitas Creek seems to go on forever with miles of incredibly steep road that slowly grinds riders’ legs into jello.

Tunitas Creek is 9.2 miles long but its really only the 5 miles in the middle that are steep. The first 3 miles and the last 2.5 miles are pretty flat. Furthermore, the first mile of the climb is gentle and there are short flat spots along the way that provide moments of relief. There are a couple of brutally steep parts of the road but I don’t remember any of them being longer than .5 miles. On the whole, Tunitas Creek Road is difficult but it isn’t as hard as Page Mill. Of course, it would have been harder if I had done the Coastal Loop in one day rather than splitting it over two days.

As far a scenary goes, I was blown away. Tunitas Creek is much more isolated than most of the other climbs in the area. There is virtually no traffic and the road is very narrow as it winds through towering redwoods next to a small creek.

After reaching the Sklyine, I made a right and climbed back to Highway 84 which I took down into Menlo Park and then coasted back to Palo Alto.
Here are my stats:

3h & 22s

39.17 miles

13.0 avg mph

35.2 max mph

131 avg heart rate

165 max heart rate

1153 calories

9/25/06: Ride to Half Moon Bay (37.6 Miles)

Today I rode from Palo Alto to Half Moon Bay. It was a more difficult ride that I had anticipated but not too bad on the whole. The wind on Highway 84 and Highway 1 definitely made the ride at bit more difficult than it looked on paper.

I rode up Old La Honda to Skyline and then down Old La Honda West to Highway 84. Highway 84 is a long descent of about 6 or 7 miles before hitting a rolling flat section before Stage Road and Highway 1. The descent through Pescadero is fun and beautiful. There were very few cars on the road so I was able to ride it fast and take the full lane for most of the turns. However, the road gets very pebbly. Pebbly probably isn’t a word but it seems to be the best way to describe the road with was quite uncomfortable. The road surface wasn’t in disrepair, it just wasn’t smooth and was made up of thousands of small pebbles. It definitely wasn’t unbearable but it was pleasant either.

I turned right at Stage Road, which climbs 1 mile to Highway 1. The climb on Stage Road felt good. I was more tired than I expected at this point, but the grade was manageable (I’d guess 6%) and very consistent. I went slowly, but this climb was easy.

I made a right on Highway 1 and headed North towards Half Moon Bay. At this point the the temperature began to drop and I was a little bit cold. It wasn’t too bad, but if I do it again any later in the Fall, I will definitely bring leg & arm warmers. Highway 1 is also quite windy and a huge gust coming in off the ocean hit me just as I was crossing the bridge before Tunitas Creek Road and nearly knocked me off my bike. Highway 1 was mostly rolling hills a couple of short steep climbs but otherwise nothing difficult. The traffic moves quickly on Highway 1 but the bike lane is very wide most of the way. Traffic really picked up in Half Moon Bay, but otherwise it was light.

After passing though downtown Half Moon Bay I met a friend at his beach house were I spent the night. Also, we had dinner and several beers at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. Its a great place with a nice beer garden that has roaring fire pits to sit around. The food was a little bit expensive but the beer was cheap and very good. I highly recommend their Maverick’s Amber Ale. Just the kind of place I was looking for after a long ride.

Here are my stats:

2h 43m 37s
37.63 miles
36.3 max mph
13.7 avg mph
1170 calories

142 avg heart rate

239 max heart rate (this must be wrong)

9/19/06: Montebello, Page Mill & Skyline (49.6 Miles)

Today I did an amazing ride that really wound up being an adventure. I havent kicked my cold/flu yet and I started out really slowly. I was planning on riding over to Montebello Road to scout it out and do about 25 flat miles in the process. On the way over to the Stevens Creek Reservoir through Los Altos, I was really gassed and I figured there was no way that I could climb Montebello today. I stopped into Chain Reaction Bikes on the way over and asked a couple of questions about Montebello. I like to research my roads before a I climb them so I had a good idea of what was in store for the paved section but I had no idea how long the dirt fire road would be and whether or not it really was doable on a road bike. I was told in the shop that the dirt fire road was a mile, maybe a mile and a quarter and doable on a road bike.

As usual, once I got to Montebello I was tempted to try riding a little bit of it. I started by saying I would just try to do a mile, after a mile passed, I thought I would try to get to the flat part at the end of mile two and finally about an hour later I found myself at the top of the climb staring at the fire road. Considering my pulled hamstring, nose running like a faucet, lungs coated in gunk and the fact that I hadn’t eaten all day it was probably quite stupid of me to try it but standing at the top sure was rewarding.

Montebello road is a 5.24 miles climb. The first 2 miles are very steep and definitely more difficult than Old La Honda. They are also exposed and would be especially difficult on a hot day. However, after passing Montebello School the road has a false flat section that frankly feels like a down hill. The easy section lasts for about .75 miles and leads to grade that feels nearly spot on Old La Honda the rest of the way.  Like most climbs Montebello has its fair share of spectacular views. Most of the climbs that I’ve done are further North, so it was kind of neat to get views with a slightly different perspective. It was also interesting to be able to see down on top of the quarry that is next to the Stevens Creek Resevoir… man is that thing big! They’ve teraformed half of a mountain! The ride is long, and the first two miles are very difficult, but is beautiful and definitely worth riding.

After getting to the top, I stopped for a quick bathroom break and then road around the gate on to the fire road into the Montebello Open Space Preserve. At first the road is just paved poorly but it quickly breaks down into gravel and dirt. Also, its a lot closer to 4 miles than the 1.25 that I was told in the bike shop. It really isn’t a good idea to ride on a road bike and definitely not what I was expecting. Most of the road is rideable with caution but the middle section is especially bad. I actually fell and wound up walking my bike 3 times. Fortunately, I didn’t have to walk anything longer than 50 yards but it was anoying nonetheless. Toward the end there is also a dirt down hill section that was really dangerous. My road tires were so squirely in the loose dirt of the decline that I unclipped and squeezed the breaks tight to ride it as slowly as possible. The drop-off cliff on the side of the road served as the perfect accent to this harrowing stretch of road. Over all the Montebello Open Space preserve is beautiful and I’m glad that I road it. However, doing it on a road bike was dangerous and I would not recommend trying it.

Eventually, the fire road comes to another gate which leads to a private driveway and then on to Page Mill Road. After 4 miles on dirt, riding this newly paved road feels like floating on air. Furthermore, just after passing the gate on to the private driveway, at 4201 Page Mill, is a drinking fountain on the left hand side of the road. I had pretty much run out of water on the way up Montebello so the fountain was a big relief and I refilled both of my water bottles.  The combination of water and smooth pavement really felt like I’d reached an Oasis after all of that dirt.  After several hundred yards, the private driveway comes to a second gate that is not passalbe on a bike when it intersects with Page Mill. It wasn’t tough to lift my bike over the right side of the gate and then walk around the left side, but it did make me wonder if I had just been trespassing.

I actually had no idea how far up Page Mill I was but I figured that I would try to take it slowly and that I could always just head back home by coasting down Page Mill if my legs gave out. Fortunately, I was just below the Montebello Open Space Preserve parking lot and only about 2 miles from the top. The last 2 miles up Page Mill really aren’t that hard so I made to the intersection with Skyline easily. I took Skyline for 7-8 miles over to Highway 84 and then coasted back down into Menlo Park where I turned right on Alameda de las Pulgas and headed home.

This was an amazing ride. Definitely an adventure. I’m probably stupid enough to do it again at some point, but I really would not recommend riding the dirt section of Montebello on a road bike to any sane person.

Here are my stats:

4h 14m 26s

49.59 Miles

11.6 Avg Mph

37.7 Max Mph

1605 Calories

128 Avg Heart Rate

178 Max Heart Rate

Round Up: August 8th through 24th

8/8/06: I rode 28 miles in 2 hours including Old La Honda Road in 30:10.

8/10/06: I was in Tahoe staying at Fallen Leaf Lake. I rode from Stanford Sierra Camp along Fallen Leaf Road to Tahoe Mountain rode with was a short climb of less than 1 mile to a long decent to Lake Tahoe Blvd, which also decended to its intersection with Highway 89. I made a left on 89 through Camp Richardson and then another left back on to Fallen Leaf Road. Instead of heading back into Stanford Sierra Camp, I stayed straight at the firestation and rode up Glen Alpine Road. Glen Alpine is a very steep, narrow and pot hole ridden road that does have some cars traffice. Its only about .75 miles but with the road conditions combined with the altitude make it a challenge. To give an idea of how bad the road was, I actually went slower, squeezing my brakes as hard as I could, going downhill than I did uphill. 19 Miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
8/11/06: I had some intention of riding around Lake Tahoe (72 Miles), however, I woke up too late and by the time I got on the road at 8:30am Highway 89 already had enough traffic that I wasn’t comfortable riding a road with little or no bike lane. From Fallen Leaf Road I made a left on Highway 89 and road up to the pass at Emerald Bay. Climbing Emerald Bay is only about a mile, but it is very steep on a very narrow road that has moderate traffic. Furthermore, as the road twists it hugs the side of the mountain on one side, with a steep drop off on the other. There’s barely enought room for cars on the road let alone a bike and being passed by cars was hairy. Add in the altitude and this was a tough climb for me. Any thoughts I had about attempting to do the entire lake were squashed as my lungs and thighs burned climbing up the pass at Emerald Bay. Reaching the top was very satisfying and the views are amazing. Afterwards, I backtracked 89 to Lake Taho Blvd, where I made a right. I made another right and climbed back up Tahoe Mountain Road, which is good climb. I don’t know how long it was but it felt like about 2 miles. The grade was steep enough to get me down into my lowest gear but not enough to really hurt me after climbing up Emerald Bay. Lastly, I made a left back on to Fallen Leaf Road back into Sierra Camp. I road 24 miles in 2 hours.8/13/06: I rode 28 miles in 2 hours including Old La Honda in 29:47.

8/14/06: I rode 41 miles to Sarratoga and back. I was very tired and my legs really burned up the short climbs on Mt. Eden (6.6% grade over .75 miles) and Pierce (7.9% grade over 0.6 miles).

8/17/06: I rode 27 miles out Alameda de las Pulgas, up Woodside, over on Portola and down Alpine.

8/18/06: I rode 28 miles in 2 hours including Old La Honda in 30:06. I was a little bit disappointed that my time up Old La Honda was slower than the 29:47 that I rode on 8/8/06.

8/20/06: I rode 17.5 miles time trialing around the Portola Loop. I set new recent personal best with an average mph of 18.2, my previous best was 17.7mph. I hit the top of Alpine road at 16.2 mph, which was significantly fast than my previous best of 15.6mph, so I knew I was on for a fast time. Admittedly, I did get lucky with all green lights down Sand Hill Road, which probably boosted my time by .1-.2 mph.

8/21/06: I road 28 miles up Edgewood back to Woodside on Canada and then over to Alpine road on Portola.

8/22/06: I road 31 miles including going up Old La Honda with my college roommate. I dont’ know what my time was up Old La Honda but I really struggled up the hill. My legs were soar and my back was absolutely killing me.

8/23/06: I road 7.5 miles in the Marin Headlands with my college roommate. We were planning on doing a longer ride but his girlfriend called and asked him to make some dinner in Fresno. What ever happened to “Rides before Brides?” Anyway, the short ride that we did was amazing. We started at the parking lot on the south bound side of 101 at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge on Conzelman Road. The ride starts out with a 1.75 mile climb up Conzelman Road. The first half mile is the steepest and then if flattens out a bit. Conzelman is beautiful looking out over the Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge. It also winds past WWII bunkers that are kind of interesting. At some point, I’d like to go back and explore them a bit more. After reaching the top of Conzelman you get a very very steep down hill that definitely requires braking from the drops. A right at the T-Junction, which I think is Field Road, takes you through a misty valley. Make a slight right, basically staying straight, on to Bunker Road. Bunker Road comes to a one way tunnel where you wait your turn to cross under highway 101. The tunnel rarely drys out completely from the rain and mist, so it is very slippery and caution is required. After exiting the tunnel make a right on Sausalito Lateral Road, which crosses back underneath 101 again where it becomes Conzelman and takes you back to the parking lot.

8/24/06: I rode 34 miles out to Highway 92 and back around the Loop.

8/4/06: Highway 92 to Stevens Creek (53 Miles)

Today I rode 53 miles and I am pretty wiped out. I think tomorrow is definitely going to be a rest day, although I may do 20-30 minutes of low intensity training to loosen up my legs if they are sore.

Today I went out to Highway 92 in San Mateo and then back to the Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino. I rode Alameda de Las Pulgas to Woodside Road. Next I took Canada out to Highway 92 and doubled back to the town of Woodside, where I took Mountain Home Road over to Portola. I rode Portola to Alpine road than took Arastradero to Purissima. I made a right on Robleda and a left on Elena to Foothill College. After quickly cutting across campus I made a left on S. El Monte and then a right on Summerhill. I took Summerhill to Magdalena and the popped out on Foothill Expressway. I rode Foothill to the base of the Stevens Creek Reservoir and the doubled back on Foothill all the way back to Palo Alto.

I was feeling tired after about 16-17 miles and the wind on Canada road, which is normally strong, especially gusty. Yet, today was about putting in some base miles and not about speed so I just backed off and kept pedaling. I was slow and tired up all of the rolling hills but I wasn’t concerned because I was prepared to take the next day off to recover. One small frustration was that my heart rate monitor / cyclocomputer was definitely on the fritz. Numerous times through out the ride it measured my heart rate as zero for extended periods of time. Each time I double checked my chest strap but it always seemed to be correctly in place. Also at one point coming down Alpine Road, it flashed 58.8 mph for a second, which I’m certain was incorrect as it was otherwise reading about 30 mph. So of my stats below the max speed, average heart rate, and calories burned are all off by a significant degree. Typically I burn 400-450 calories per hour on the bike with a heart rate ranging between 130 – 150 and I suspect both of the recorded numbers are low by about 1/3. I am confident that the distance is accurate because I’ve ridden this route numerous times in previous years. Also, the average mph looks right based on the distance and ride time so I am confident it it as well.

Here are today’s ride stats:

52.81 miles

14.9 average mph

58.8 max mph

109 average heart rate

164 max heart rate

1109 calories burned

3h 32m 28s ride time