Skyline Boulevard Ride (Part I)

Having done the reconnaissance work previously, I was ready to attempt this ride. Skyline Boulevard is also known as Highway 35. As daylight hours are shorter in winter, the ride had to be broken into two. Click on the pictures for a larger view.


Map of the route. A substantial portion of the ride (minus the mountains) duplicates that of the Lexington reservoir ride. 250 track points laid by the GPS unit.




TOPO!'s elevation profile.




A nice orchard on Fruitvale Rd, just before downtown Saratoga. Skyline Boulevard meanders on top of the ridge in the background.

Los Gatos Creek Trail hasn't fully dried out yet from the recent rains, and so it was muddier than usual. That made me decide against taking the singletrack shortcut I discovered on my recon ride. The water level of Lexington Reservoir didn't look much higher. The ride along Alma Bridge Road was uneventful.

Elevation 700 ft: a young lady in a spanking new Nissan 350Z nearly ran me over as she skidded round a corner coming down Aldercroft Heights Road (I literally had to swerve off the road, on to the grass and mud on the soft shoulder). She apologized profusely, but it was quite a while before I snapped out of the "deer caught in headlights" mode. Talk about getting your heart rate up.




530 feet (161.56 m) of climbing later: Holy City, elevation 1230 ft (375 m). Holy City was one of the many towns that sprang up beside Old Santa Cruz Highway, a road that runs between the rest of the valley and Santa Cruz. When Highway 17 opened, the volume of traffic passing through plummeted, businesses closed down or moved away, and towns like Holy City became ghost towns. There is an unusual story behind Holy City's founding and decline.




What little remains of Holy City today. Found a forgotten waterfall near here.

229 more feet (69.82 m) of climbing along Old Santa Cruz Highway lies the junction to Mountain Charlie Road. To my surprise, I actually found a bus stop here: service #76. Mountain Charlie is a rather steep and narrow road, rising 452 feet (137.8 m) in 0.77 miles (1.23 km) to meet Old Summit Road. It averages a grade of 12%, with memorable sections of 16% and 22%. Like Holy City, Mountain Charlie Road has an interesting history behind it.




Summit Road going over Highway 17.




Elevation 1827 ft (557 m): looking over Highway 17, the main highway between San Jose and Santa Cruz.

After Highway 17, with a brief section at a grade of 18%, Summit Road climbs a little sharply for half a mile (0.8 km), gaining 208 feet (63.41 m) before meeting Hutchinson Road. From here until Bear Creek Rd, Summit Road is like a "Get Out of Jail Free" card: for 2.23 miles (3.57 km), it only subjects you to a net gain of 261 feet (79.57 m) of climbing. Gee, one could do better than that walking around the streets of San Francisco. It is also very scenic, with large oak trees on either side forming a canopy over the road, creating a sort of a living, green tunnel effect.




A Llama farm along the way. This fellow was trying really hard to reach the shrubs outside (notice the stretched netting). It looked hungry. I really felt sorry for it.




A Holiday Tree Christmas Tree farm at the junction of Bear Creek Road and Summit Road. Bear Creek Road was a nightmare. There was a lot of traffic; they move fast, and many of the drivers who passed me were absolute jerks. In the 0.67 miles (1.07 km) that I was on Bear Creek Road, I nearly got run over / side-swiped thrice. Two of the drivers were yakking on their cell phones.




Mercifully, the end of Bear Creek Road, and the proper beginning (IMHO) of Skyline Boulevard / Highway 35.




Skyline Boulevard / Highway 35: elevation 2145 feet (653.96 m). The road was very quiet and isolated for the first 4 miles (a welcome relief from Bear Creek Road).




A trio of cyclists going in the opposite direction passed by me here (no doubt taking advantage of the curves and the downhill).




Another Christmas Tree farm. Check out the little Christmas Trees in the foreground.




After the gentle climbs of the first 4 miles (6.4 km), Skyline Boulevard starts really climbing again.




Elevation 2300 ft (701.22 m): looking west.

A long series of rollers lies ahead, where Skyline Boulevard gains another 700+ feet of elevation. Passed Black Road (a possible bail-out, but not a very good one. Read the description) somewhere along here.




Elevation 3079 ft (938.72 m): sunset on the top of Skyline Boulevard.




A closer look.

After this, until the Highway 9 junction, northbound Skyline Boulevard offers mostly long sweeping downhills, interspersed with a few gravity climbs (i.e. where you sprint on the downhill so that momentum slingshots you through most of the uphill that immediately follows).




Elevation 2604 ft (793.9 m): Highway 9 junction, west (left) leads to Santa Cruz, east (right) leads to Saratoga. As it was approaching twilight, the temperature was now 45 F (7.2 C) and dropping. Time to switch to full-fingered gloves. A gentlemen seeking directions to Santa Cruz delayed me for a good 15 minutes, so it might have been even colder when I finally started on the return leg of my journey.




Elevation 471 ft (143.6 m): Highway 9 runs through downtown Saratoga. Was experiencing mild hypothermia on the long downhill--dropped 2133 ft (650.3 m) in 7.51 miles (12 km)--and nearly lost my balance a couple of times (generally not a good idea when coasting down at 40+ mph / 64+ km/h). Next time I will bear with the additional weight and bulk, and bring my thermal fleece jersey along. Murphy almost ensures it is the one time that you don't bring it, you will need it.




Elevation 106 ft (32.32 m): back at my apartment, with the heater on full blast. I swear by this stuff. Each packet contains 100 calories. 20% from simple carbohydrates, to give you that instant boost. 80% from complex carbohydrates, taking over when the 20% is burnt and tapering off. Cliff Shot energy gels, with a 30% simple / 70% complex also works wonders. For some reason, Hammer Gel just doesn't work for me. (No, I don't work for GU).

Looking back, perhaps my hypothermia was exacerbated by having skipped lunch. Besides a breakfast of coffee and toast, all I had the entire day was 7 packets of energy gels (7 x 100 calories). Darn, I probably burnt more than that in an hour. I should be kinder to my body. Yes, that should be my new year's resolution.


Epilogue:
Total distance: cyclo-computer 49.2 miles (78.72 km) / GPS 48.63 miles (77.81 km) / TOPO! 48.60 miles (77.76 km).
Total elevation climbed: Altimeter 4810 ft (1446.4 m) / GPS + TOPO! 5884 ft (1793.9 m).
Temperature range: 43 F to 53 F (7.2 C to 11.7 C).
Fluids consumed: 0.3 liter of CytoMax.

The discrepancy (1074 ft) in total elevation climbed between the altimeter readings (4810 ft) and TOPO! topological data (5884 ft) might be explained by the change in temperature (and hence barometric pressure) between the start (53 F) and the end of the ride (43 F).

Ride conducted solo.

Bear Valley Trail Ride

Easy ride today: the Bear Valley Trail to Arch Rock.


Map of the ride. 238 track points laid down by the GPS unit.




TOPO!'s elevation profile.




Rigging up in the parking lot. It's 44 F (6.6 C) and it's windy and it's raining. But my cycling socks give me inspiration.




Map at trailhead.




Bear Valley Trailhead.

And it was raining.
It was raining.

Can you guess which song that's from?




A gentle climb to 368 ft. Helps to keep one warm too. An Ent guards the road on the right. (Look closely, doesn't it resemble a human face?)




Fallow deer (Cervus dama), at Divide Meadow. Fallow deer are common in bushy hillsides and grassy fields. Their color vary from white to light brown to blackish-brown, with some possessing distinctive spots through adulthood. Their antlers have wide, flatten palms. Fallow deer are native to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region. They were introduced by hunters, who favored the white variety as it made them easier to spot (and shoot). Looking at the bad picture (sorry, it's foggy and it's raining), how many blackish-brown and light brown deer can you see? What about the white deer?




Bike rack. The final 1 mile (1.6 km) has to be made on foot.




Fenders would have been a good idea.




That's not just mud all over my bike, on my seat, my butt and back (not pictured). You see, the rain mixes horse crap, deer droppings, rabbit pellets, and fox poo with mud. And when a spinning tire goes over it... You get the idea.




Moi.




Trail sign.




That little sign carries a lot of weight. Trail poaching ("illegal riding") here results in a fine in the hundreds of dollars and the confiscation of your bike.




Entering Fangorn Forest. The cool dampness from the fog, mist, rain and dew results in a type of verdant growth that is distinct from tropical jungles. It is colder in here, about 39 F (3.8 C).




Reaching the coastal area and leaving the forest. The rain stopped--temporarily.




Ground becoming more sandy underfoot. Forest has given way to coastal scrub.




Reaching Arch Rock.




Wide view.




Final approach.




Looking south at Millers Point.




Closer view.




View from the top of Arch Rock. Storm clouds returning. Rain will resume shortly.




View north.




Coast Creek drains into the Pacific, cutting a canyon into the rock.




A couple of hikers contemplating the scramble down the canyon.




This spot marks the terminus of Coast Creek. Standing on the sand enables one to look through the arch at the bottom of Arch Rock, but it is a treacherous exercise: a big wave could wash in at any time and suck one out to the ocean. The steep canyon walls mean there isn't much room to run as well.




The Pacific rushes in through here to embrace the freshwater of Coast Creek.




Looking through the bottom of Arch Rock.




Returning to the forest (and fog and rain). The ride back to the car was a cold cruise downhill at 22.4 mph (35.84 km/h) in the rain and 40 F (4.4 C).


Epilogue:
Total distance: cyclo-computer 6.4 miles (10.24 km) + 2 miles (3.2 km) hiking / GPS 9.52 miles (15.23 km) / TOPO! 9.32 miles (14.91 km).
Total elevation climbed: Altimeter 660 ft (201 m) / GPS + TOPO! 845 ft (257.62 m).
Temperature range: 39 F to 44 F (3.8 C to 6.6 C).
Fluids consumed: 0 liters.

Bolinas Ridge Trail Ride

Riding Bolinas Ridge Trail today. It is listed #28 on Mountain Biking Northern California's Best 100 Trails.



Map and route of Bolinas Ridge Trail. 250 track points laid by the GPS unit.




TOPO!'s elevation profile.




Northern trailhead off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Started at 11 AM. Temperature was 46 F (7.7 C), without taking windchill into account. Discovered to my chagrin that I left my vest back at the hostel. Grrr. Thank goodness for my windbreaker.




Wider view. It is a sight to behold when the coastal fog blows in.




Trail sign.




Trail warning. Now I know why some cranky cows on Bull Point Trail refused to yield and tried to headbutt me instead.




Gentle climbs over pastureland. On the right, cows in the distance.




After the 1st brief climb. This spot reminds me of New Zealand's South Island: beautiful, isolated, secretive, and subject to the vagaries and whims of micro-climates.




2nd climb. Though it gets steeper near the top, it isn't as long a climb as it looks. Or maybe it's just that I had a good breakfast and am full of energy...




Elevation approximately 914 feet: a pond at the foot of a knoll on this ridge.

Back in Santa Clara, as I am composing this write up, an old man hobbled on the sidewalk, past my window, trailing his oxygen tank behind him on a dolly. The soundtrack to the film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day is playing on my sound system. The sight of the geriatric, the melancholy music, coupled with the approaching twilight, make me think about how little time we have on this earth to appreciate her ineffable beauty and august majesty. We are here for a while, and then we are gone. How little time to stroll, to bike, to hike, to climb, and leap with the impunity of youth, the ignorant audacity of naivete, in forests, mountains, canyons, across streams and rivers, before we are wrack and bent by time, and hobble, half-blind, wheezing and hacking to our graves.

I guess I am selfish in that way — I will not sacrifice my youth, my health, my wealth for someone's so-called greater cause. I will be no one's beast of burden: financial, intellectual, spiritual or otherwise. Look somewhere else for your martyrs (or coolies: cyber or otherwise). This ship has its own captain, and he only follows his own orders. Go rehearse your timeshare sales pitch somewhere else.




Climbed up the knoll by the pond. Looking back where I came from. The ridge I am standing on is Bolinas Ridge. The ridge directly across is Inverness Ridge. Behind it is the Pacific Ocean. The valley between these two ridges is Olema Valley. The active San Andreas Fault / Rift lurks under idyllic Olema Valley.




Leaving pasture land and skirting the edge of the forest. Spotted a herd of Fallow deer in the distance, but they dashed away before I could get close enough with my camera.




Trail flanking the forest.




Trail entering forest.




Wider view.




Looking back.




A popular resting spot.




A wider view.




Entering protected area: Mount Tamalpais Watershed.




Entering Lothlorien. A Bobcat (Felis rufus) ran across the trail in front of me. It looked like a large, spotted kitten with a short, stubby tail.




The rush of the wind through the forest is punctuated by the pitter-patter of water dripping down to the ground below. But it is not rain. The water comes from fog condensing on leaves and Spanish moss, gaining mass, and then dripping off. The process is called fog drip.


In some instances the dripping is as heavy as light rain, as sometimes occurs among the redwood trees along the coast of northern California. During the foggy but almost rainless summers of California, fog drip prevents an excessive aridity in the coastal forests. As much as 0.05 in. of water, equivalent to a moderate shower, has been collected from a California fog in a single night. (Source)




A close up picture of a piece of Spanish moss that has fallen to the ground. It has no roots. It derives water solely from fog and dew. The strips are eucalyptus bark.




Another close up of Spanish moss, this time hanging off a tree.




Inside the forest, the temperature is cooler, ranging from 37 to 39 F (2.7 C to 3.8 C), but there was no wind, so it evens out (unless you are blasting downhill on the return trip).




Words are inadequate in describing the experience of riding through this: I am bathed in light, and white, luminous fog; each full breath — powering every revolution of the wheels over the velvety-soft carpet of leaves — is steeped with the mingling, shifting scents of pine, redwood, douglas fir, and eucalyptus. I am moving, and yet the white, translucent air that I breathe is moving as well. I am utterly alone in this foggy forest, on this windswept ridge, on this misty mountain.


I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. (Diane Ackerman)




Going deeper into the forest.




And deeper.




And deeper.




A clearing. I had to pinch myself several times to make sure the sight was real.




Close up.




McCurdy Trail connection. Woodville is another name for Dogtown. The trail drops 1180 ft in 1.8 miles to Dogtown.




3.4 miles to Fairfax - Bolinas Road.




A long 3.4 miles as I found out. Check out the magnified section on the right: 992 feet of climbing with an average grade of 10%. It felt steeper with the ruts, loose rocks and slippery tree roots though.




Exited the forest. Beginning a 250 feet rolling descent down to the southern trailhead of Bolinas Ridge Trailhead at Fairfax - Bolinas Road.




Looking back after having left the forest. Notice the change in vegetation from forest to chaparral.




More rollers and 2 rutted downhills later: the southern end of the Bolinas Ridge Trail, at the sinuous Fairfax - Bolinas Road.




An aerial photograph. To the east, Fairfax - Bolinas Road snakes towards Fairfax in an endless series of hairpin turns. To the west, it drops 1500 ft to Stinson Beach in 5 miles. Bolinas Ridge continues southeastwards along the flanks of Mount Tamalpais and towards the Marin Headlands, with the very pretty West Ridgecrest Boulevard (above) running on top of it. Across the bay, San Francisco and her landmarks (e.g. Transamerica Pyramid) shimmer in the distance. Trivia: West Ridgecrest Boulevard is commonly used for filming automobile commercials.




What the sign says: 11.3 miles (18.08 km) to get back to the Bolinas Ridge Trailhead at Sir Francis Drake Boulevard (where I parked my car).




Back on the chaparral ridge, just before re-entering the forest, looking east: fog totally covering Kent Lake (elevation 500 ft) between Bolinas Ridge and Pine Mountain Ridge (elevation 1762 ft). Pine Mountain looks like an island now.




A closer look. Zoomed in. While nearby Mount Tamalpais (1) is generally recognized as the historic birthplace of the sport of mountain biking: the steeper and looser slopes of Pine Mountain Ridge and Pine Mountain were likely to be more instrumental in driving the evolution of early mountain bikes from single-speed to the multiple gearing systems we encounter today.




Leaving the forest towards open pasture land. Bush rabbits (Sylvilagus bachmani) and the occasional Black-tailed Jack rabbit (Lepus californiacus) hop out of my way as I bombed down the ridge. Trivia: When the Black-tailed Jack rabbit is running at moderate speed, every fourth or fifth hop is higher, allowing for a better view of the surrounding area.




One more cattle gate to cross.




One more climb into the fog. And a rollicking good time bombing down the rest of the ridge back to the car.

The trail is isolated on weekdays. I met no one during the entire ride, save for a trio of ill-prepared novice mountain bikers on the last 2 miles of the ride who asked to borrow my pump.


Epilogue:
Total distance: cyclo-computer 22.8 miles (36.48 km) / GPS 22.43 miles (35.89 km) / TOPO! 22.50 miles (36 km).
Total elevation climbed: Altimeter 3350 ft (1021.3 m) / GPS + TOPO! 3317 ft (1011.28 m).
Temperature range: 37 F to 46 F (2.8 C to 7.8 C).
Fluids consumed: 1 liter.