Climby climby Calaveras-Sierra
30.5 miles, 3695 ft
Today's ride commenced bright and early in Milpitas. With no preamble, we plunged right into the hills, dismissing several signs warning ominously of road closures ahead. I have yet to come across a road closure that bikes cannot traverse. A few minutes in, some pedestrians excitedly relayed tales of a rattlesnake up above, which, disappointingly, transpired to be a regular snake.
"Will there be steep sections?" I enquired of the team captain. The unreassuring response: "There's one coming up, but no worse than the driveway to Loma Prieta Winery." He achieved Strava King of the Mountain on the Loma Prieta driveway so maybe he does not construe that section as terribly steep. I was compelled to walk up the driveway on both attempts to attain that winery by bike, with so much sweat dripping that a woman literally screamed in disgust when she saw me on one occasion. I drove once, and my leg was aching from the sheer amount of gas needed to ascend that driveway.
In short order, we came up against the dreaded Calaveras Wall, a 13%-steep little section to get the blood pumping and the stomach churning. Once again, the regret of having consumed a hearty marmite-filled breakfast was near overwhelming. After a shady rehydration break and some rejuvenating muttering I pushed onwards and upwards, somewhat akin to an oxygen-starved snail.
The reward was delightful rolling hills and terrific reservoir views, with not a single car (the drivers, unlike us, presumably having been actually deterred by the road closure signs). Unfortunately the road closure did transpire to be real and extensive, including a padlocked fence and a rather forceful pictogram of a bike in a red circle with a line through it. Somewhat deterred, we backtracked through more of the same delightful rolling hills. As it was only 11 am upon our return to the intersection leading back to the cars, and "the time budget allowed", team captain proposed adding on some more distance with a loop up Sierra. It did not sound too aggressive, only a few more miles. Turns out I had forgotten which one Sierra Rd was, having migrated away from East San Jose a year ago. It traverses the ginormous mountain above Alum Rock.
The ascent started fortuitiously upon the narrow avoidance of squishing of a baby snake. Soon, the sun beat down harder, and the sweat spraying out every pore power-washed away the last vestiges of sunscreen. "We're making good progress," declared the team captain, in a definite sign of imminent further ascent. Mercifully however, we did eventually reach the summit. The worst was yet to come...
The descent on Sierra is horrifyingly steep, inducing in me a cataclysmic grade of wussiness. Seemingly impossibly, my descent speed was very nearly as slow as my ascent speed. Fingers and hands and neck and shoulderblades burned furiously as I frantically pummelled the brakes, visions of plummetting off a hairpin bend lurid behind the eyes. I was compelled to stop on not one but two occasions to rest my poor, strained phalanges.
Happily we all three survived the descent intact and traversed a pleasant final few miles through North San Jose to re-find our vehicles gently furnacing in the early afternoon sun.
All in all, a marvellous ride!
Sightings: snek x2, yappy collies x2, alpacas - 1 herd, cows - 1 herd, goats - 1 herd, miscellaneous bird of prey x1, vultures - several circling.
Today's ride commenced bright and early in Milpitas. With no preamble, we plunged right into the hills, dismissing several signs warning ominously of road closures ahead. I have yet to come across a road closure that bikes cannot traverse. A few minutes in, some pedestrians excitedly relayed tales of a rattlesnake up above, which, disappointingly, transpired to be a regular snake.
"Will there be steep sections?" I enquired of the team captain. The unreassuring response: "There's one coming up, but no worse than the driveway to Loma Prieta Winery." He achieved Strava King of the Mountain on the Loma Prieta driveway so maybe he does not construe that section as terribly steep. I was compelled to walk up the driveway on both attempts to attain that winery by bike, with so much sweat dripping that a woman literally screamed in disgust when she saw me on one occasion. I drove once, and my leg was aching from the sheer amount of gas needed to ascend that driveway.
In short order, we came up against the dreaded Calaveras Wall, a 13%-steep little section to get the blood pumping and the stomach churning. Once again, the regret of having consumed a hearty marmite-filled breakfast was near overwhelming. After a shady rehydration break and some rejuvenating muttering I pushed onwards and upwards, somewhat akin to an oxygen-starved snail.
The reward was delightful rolling hills and terrific reservoir views, with not a single car (the drivers, unlike us, presumably having been actually deterred by the road closure signs). Unfortunately the road closure did transpire to be real and extensive, including a padlocked fence and a rather forceful pictogram of a bike in a red circle with a line through it. Somewhat deterred, we backtracked through more of the same delightful rolling hills. As it was only 11 am upon our return to the intersection leading back to the cars, and "the time budget allowed", team captain proposed adding on some more distance with a loop up Sierra. It did not sound too aggressive, only a few more miles. Turns out I had forgotten which one Sierra Rd was, having migrated away from East San Jose a year ago. It traverses the ginormous mountain above Alum Rock.
The ascent started fortuitiously upon the narrow avoidance of squishing of a baby snake. Soon, the sun beat down harder, and the sweat spraying out every pore power-washed away the last vestiges of sunscreen. "We're making good progress," declared the team captain, in a definite sign of imminent further ascent. Mercifully however, we did eventually reach the summit. The worst was yet to come...
The descent on Sierra is horrifyingly steep, inducing in me a cataclysmic grade of wussiness. Seemingly impossibly, my descent speed was very nearly as slow as my ascent speed. Fingers and hands and neck and shoulderblades burned furiously as I frantically pummelled the brakes, visions of plummetting off a hairpin bend lurid behind the eyes. I was compelled to stop on not one but two occasions to rest my poor, strained phalanges.
Happily we all three survived the descent intact and traversed a pleasant final few miles through North San Jose to re-find our vehicles gently furnacing in the early afternoon sun.
All in all, a marvellous ride!
Sightings: snek x2, yappy collies x2, alpacas - 1 herd, cows - 1 herd, goats - 1 herd, miscellaneous bird of prey x1, vultures - several circling.
Comments
Post a Comment