72 miles of solitude

So, H had a friend doing her annual b-day clebration camp-out at Pinnacles National Monument. She wanted me to go. Only two problems. She didn't want me to take the camper. And, more importantly, there is no mtn biking. I'm not even sure if inside the park they let you ride a bike at all. So, my only way to compromise was to ride my bike from home to there.

I got some input from folks on the route, but 75% of it would be over roads I have never been on. Saturady turned out to be one of those perfect cycling weather days, and I set out to do this ride.

I ended up doing the ride and enjoyed it quite a bit. I left my house around 1130 or so and headed up along my normal route to hit the Fort Ord trails. Continued on past to pick up intergarrison and then headed over to Reservation, Blanco and North Davis. I think I was 20 miles into the ride as I watched what would be my last visible chance to stop and load back up on water and gatorade. But, 20 miles into it, feeling fresh and with four still nearly full water bottles on the bike, it seemed too early to stop and refuel. Having never driven any of these roads beyond the Salinas mall, my reconnaissance of the route relied mostly on things like mapquest and google maps. It looked like most of my route was in moderately populated areas except for the last 25 miles or so down Hwy 25 to Pinnacles campground. Thus, I figured there would be some decent opportunities to find a gas station/convenience mart to resupply. It even looked so probable, that I considered riding with just two water bottles. But, knowing my tendancy to drink excessively while on the bike...I threw on the behind the seat double water bottle holder. Turned out to be a good choice.

From north Davis I picked up San Juan Grade. Once away from the houses clusterd along the roadside, I started riding into hilly ranch country. The hills were still a bright, vibrant green making the scenery just as nice as Henry Coe the weekend before. Moderately smooth road surface with little to no traffic, great temperatures and what felt like no wind was fantastic. Pretty easy grade to climb too.

At some point, the road turns into Salinas road and drops you down the backside of the hills toward San Juan Bautista and Hwy 156. I think exactly at the San Benito County line sign...the road turned to pure garbage. It was a bone jarring, tooth rattling decent down the back side to get to Hwy 156. I would have loved to let gravity to its work and rip down the back side of that hill. But, road conditions as such...20mph seemed plenty fast enough.

Hwy 156, at least the stretch I was on, wasn't bad. At least there was a decent sized shoulder/bike lane that wasn't too muddied up by the farm equipment. I then headed to Union road to skirt the south side of Hollister and pick up Hyw 25/Old airport road. By this point, I think I was 40+ miles in and hadn't refilled any of my water bottles. From a water standpoint, not knowing where I would be able to get water, I was getting nervous. Looking at the online maps, my chances really started to slim down the further south I got along 25.

Finally, I reached Tres Pinos and a gas station. 1 Liter of water, a 20 oz gatorade and a chocolate milk. I thought that should get me through as I had 25 or less miles to go at this point. But, strangely for me at this point...I still had not felt the urge to go to the bathroom at this point...hmmm...that must mean that I am getting more dehydrated than usual. But, I shrug it off and keep going.

The scenery again is fantastic. Rolling country side. Nice smooth roads. Very little traffic. Again, it seems that sometimes it is just me, the bike, the road, and the cows. I think somewhere after dropping down from San Juan Grade to 156, I bottomed out at around 180 feet above sea level. From there, it was a long gradual climb. Most of the time rolling such that it didn't seem that I was in a net elevation gain. Then, sometime after Paicines, the road pitches up with a little more vigor. Just about the same time I start to think maybe I should have gotten more water in Tres Pinos. I also get that ever so familiar feeling of "okay, I think I am ready to be done by now." I think that was around mile 60 or so. I keep climbing...up to a peak of about 1500 feet or so at around 68 miles in. Then, finally, a descent. Again, nice and smooth. Very little traffic. I can finally let the bike just run out. I only lost maybe a couple of hundred feet in elevation, but it sure was nice. Then, into the park and the campsite...and even a warm shower after I make a solid effort in re hydrating myself.

All in all, a good ride...72 miles...3300 feet of climbing, all in just under 4.5 hours of pedal time. Great scenery and even better weather. If fact, the weather was about as perfect as you could ask when spending the day on a bike. I gave half the thought to riding back home the next day since Sunday morning started out nice and peaceful. However, a stiff wind quickly stirred up and I was glad I wasn't out on the bike suffering in that wind all by myself. I'll take the ride back in the car....