Current mood:	accomplished
Entry tags:	cycling, recreational, ride report, sequoia 50k

Ride report: Sequoia Century 50K ride
I had a fantastic ride yesterday. The weather was beautiful, everything went smoothly, and I enjoyed the hard work of climbing, the reward of long, gradual descents, and the varied scenery of the semi-rural areas out in the hills and the suburban areas on the bayside. I took the VTA #22 bus from the Palo Alto Transit Center, and the bus driver was very helpful in explaining how to deal with the bike rack and made sure he stopped at my stop. The ride from there to the VA was short. I didn't want to ride the full 6 miles before the ride, so the riding was only 2.5 miles before I arrived at the VA.

I've never seen so many racing bikes in one place before. I think I arrived at a time when a lot of people were still getting ready for the century and 100K rides, so there were so many kinds of bikes and clothes and things. My favorite bike I saw was a Trek with a cloud design painted on it; very beautiful. They were well organized and there was some good food; I ate half a bagel with a little cream cheese, partly to kill time after picking up my map/cue sheet and number.

I started out quite early for the 50K, right at the early start time of 8:00. I picked up a riding partner early on who had followed me out and asked if I knew where I was going. Apparently "sort of" was enough to qualify. (I had the cue sheet attached to my handlebars with twist ties and had seen the sign for the first turn on the way in.) She was a nice woman named Phyllis from Livermore. We chatted pleasantly as we meandered and climbed through Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. The bike path connecting Palo Alto to Los Altos is idyllic (except for the dogs being walked, luckily leashed). The air was getting warmer but still pleasant and so clear.

As we headed toward the Arastradero portion of the route, I took a fast turn on gravel that made me a little nervous. Sometimes I forget that my tires are thin and smooth now and don't have the kind of traction I'm used to. At the first turn onto Arastradero I muffed my balance in the clips again, but still didn't fall (and didn't even cut up my ankle this time), just hopped around for a while. The hill coming out from under 280 was brutal. We had done quite a bit of climbing by then already (about 600 feet, I think) and it was steep! There was a long rewarding descent, but I knew that more climbing was coming up as we headed into the Arastradero Preserve, so I stopped in the parking lot there for a bit of a rest break and leg-warmer removal.

Arastradero wasn't quite as hard as I remembered with my hybrid, but I was still pushing myself and breathing hard to keep a steady cadence and not have to stop and walk. The hill doesn't look that steep, but somehow it is! The descent is a little rough and I remembered a particularly bad bump from before that I fortunately avoided the worst of. I lost Phyllis at this point and later (when we met up at the official rest stop) found out her chain had come off. The next step was a gradual but thankfully short climb up Alpine with a view of the hills ahead, and then a long, gradual descent down Portola Valley Road, which was almost the best part. Just surrounded by forest and a few houses and businesses occasionally, going nice a fast down a fairly smooth road, with just enough spots to pedal instead of coast.

Then the final climbing of the route up Whiskey Hill Road (yep, the same one I've fortunately practiced on!) and the same descent down Woodside Rd (CA-84). I took a break before that to change my cue sheet to the other side. Someone nicely stopped to ask if I was okay, but of course I was fine. I felt even better about the descent this time -- it was so clear and beautiful I could see all the way to the bay, and I was speeding along nicely, hitting my top speed of 27.3 mph at some point along the way. It was especially good not having to make the sudden turn onto Northgate. There's plenty of warning for the turn onto Alameda because you go by Woodside High School first. Then I was back on familiar territory that I biked on Saturday, and swung down Alameda and Valparaiso past Burgess Park to the rest stop at the far end. It was funny being so close to home. I was tempted to stop at my own bathroom, but I wasn't sure I'd leave again if I went home. I was feeling tired while going down Valparaiso and concentrated on staying safe and getting to the park. But after a rest and some good food (strawberries, bananas and peanut butter, and a few Fig Newtons) I felt better. I saw some young kids there as well, some on tandems or even triples (tandem plus attachment), but one little girl on her own racing bike. Her dad said she wanted to do the 100K but didn't want to do all that climbing (which was exactly my reaction when I first picked up the flier). Gosh, I wish I'd been riding 30 mile rides at that age. No telling what she'll be doing later on. It was funny and cute and humbling to see the kids in these tiny bike shorts and tiny clip shoes, riding what even for me was a tiring course.

I started out again with Phyllis and we managed to stay together for the rest of the ride. I had enjoyed the solitary part but having company made it more fun. The next part wandered along San Francisquito Creek for a long way on a street called Woodland Ave, a very nice ride until the pavement quality degraded near East Palo Alto (we didn't actually cross 101 into EPA, thank goodness). It was bumpy and uncomfortable for a while, and by this time my hands were tired and not feeling very happy about that. Then a nice meander through Palo Alto, including a section of E. Meadow that I love because it's recently repaved with wide bike lanes. And finally, back to the VA via a back route on Los Robles and through Gunn High School.

We got back at 11:17, and my bike computer showed that I had been active for 2:28 (so I guess I stopped for longer than I thought) and had an average speed of 12.5 mph while the computer was on (it turns off at longer stops, and I'm not entirely sure it counts times when I have zero speed for a long while). The total distance it recorded was 31.5, which is close to the predicted 31.3. I'm not quite sure where their zero point was; I probably started my computer a bit before it.

After lunch and another little rest, my return trip was 6 miles and I had a pretty fast speed (avs 12.9 max 16.1); despite being tired I really wanted to be home. When I arrived my total mileage for the day was 40 miles almost exactly (2.5 to the VA, 31.5 ride, 6 back). So one mile more than my previous 39. I was still very tired and sore, but much less exhausted and much more able to walk. After sacking out on my bed for about half an hour, I was able to finish party prep and have a fun birthday party. A great day.