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DAY 16
Glad to be out of the city

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ROUTE: San Francisco to Santa Cruz CA DISTANCE: 84 Miles WINDS: North 10-15 in the afternoon
WEATHER: Sunny and mild...high 77 TERRAIN: Hilly TOTAL CLIMBING: 4200 Feet

DAILY REPORT: Well, another "rest" day is in the books.  I think the riders had a good day off touring the sights of the city and trying to relax for the last 8 day punch to Costa Mesa.  We welcomed 10 new riders who will be joining us...you can find them in the Riders section. 

We had a pretty inauspicious start to the day as while I was still loading luggage I got a call that someone had fallen on departure and broken a finger...OK, time to improvise.  It took me a little while just to get the van out of the motel as the parking was tight and was barely big enough for our big vans to maneuver.  I made my way down course and found Mac waiting with his group for me to get him to a hospital.  I packed him up, sent his buddies on route, and started to find the hospital which was at the top of one of the steepest, long climbs I've ever seen.  I'm sure they don't have any sleep walkers at that hospital...or at least habitual ones.  I dropped him off, made arrangements for a later rendezvous, and started down course to check on the riders.  About 2½ hours later he called and said he had been released.  The last riders were still at the first SAG when I pulled up with him in tow.  As it turned out, he had just dislocated his finger and as luck would have it, his doctor was a cyclist who rigged him a splint so he could continue riding.  At the second SAG, he mounted his bike and finished the day.  I'm sure he's going to have a sore finger for a few days, but he can control his bike so he's back in business.

Even though we were in the big city, the route out of town was pretty easy...if you just count navigation and suitable roads.  The pedaling was pretty challenging as we were up and down over bluffs overlooking the bay and ocean all the way out of town.  After leaving town, we found ourselves on hwy 1 for the remainder of the day until we got into Santa Cruz.  Hwy 1 was a very suitable road with a nice shoulder except for one short section climbing out of Pacifica.  After peaking out on top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, the riders were treated with breath taking scenes all the way to town.  I'll probably just show riding shots in the photo section below...there were just too many great shots throughout the day to pass up.  In addition to the beautiful scenery and nice roads, the afternoon brought kicking tailwinds to help the riders finish easily in spite of all the ups and downs.

Santa Cruz looks like something out of Baywatch.  As we entered town, we rode along a rustic coast line in the outskirts of the city...premium housing along the coast I'm sure.  As we neared the downtown, the shoreline turned to sandy beaches lined with volleyball courts and an amusement park.  Not sure the park added to the beauty of the beach scene, but someone in their infinite wisdom decided they needed them.  All along the way, we saw surfers of varying degrees of ability trying to catch that perfect wave to take them down the shoreline while tourists (and some of us) marveled from the cliff's edge.  Boy that water looked cold from where I was standing.

Mac wasn't the only one today who weathered a fall.  John M. fell a couple times today and banged up his knee.  We got him checked out after the ride and he'll take a day off tomorrow.  Pat D. and John C. both failed to unclip at low speed and are OK but wearing bandages at rap...geeze, I knew they had too good a time yesterday.  OK gang!  No more days off until after we get to Newport Beach!

All in all it was another perfect riding day...great weather and everyone got in safely albeit a couple of them are a little beaten up.  We miss Peter and Norbert who departed our ranks in SF, but we continue on our quest to explore the coast.  Tomorrow we head toward Carmel Valley and on our way we ride through the Monterey Peninsula.  I hope we don't have fog tomorrow, it would be a shame to miss those views.  Tune in tomorrow for some photos of 17 mile drive...if we can see it.  M

 

HEARD DURING THE DAY:

"Ever Google yourself?"
"Yes, how can you not."
"Me too, I like to do it in the morning."
"You keep your door closed don't you?"

"Jean's been taking us on training rides on these kind of hills.  I'm going to thank her when I get in."

"You don't see many overweight people walking around San Francisco."

"I told my wife I thought I was losing weight and she said that I definitely had lost weight."
"Huh, how did she know?"   Response from one who didn't know that Tom's wife visited over the day off.

"Did you see the surf at the top of that hill?"
"Not sure where you mean, I thought the whole ride was just one big hill."

"All those surfers probably just look like a smorgasbord to a shark."

"I've got to stop using my knee as a curb feeler."

"OK guys, follow me to the van."  The whole crew followed like little ducklings behind Barbara to shuttle back from dinner.
"I guess Barb doesn't want us to get lost on the way back to the motel."
"Is everyone in the van."
"Yes mother."
"Now does anyone know how to get to the motel from here?"
"No, don't you?"
"No, but I have my GPS."  Time to load data.
"What's Michel doing walking up and down the street?"
"Michel, would you like a ride back to the motel"
"Well OK, I thought we were walking."
"Well, we were...to the van."
 

 CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT:

For today's odd item, I must give it to Barbara and refer you to the "Can't Believe I Did That" from day 10, Garberville.  Remember Dave's blowout that he booted and put back on just to have another blowout because he hadn't noticed the sidewall was also damaged?  With that stage set in mind, today at the first SAG, John M. had a flat just after I drove off in the van.  Barb called me back to help fix it and by the time I got there, Tom R. had already put it all back together for John.  Being an experienced ride mechanic well versed in tire forensics, before I would let them pump it up I asked if they found why it went flat.  Tom said, "Yep, the tire was shot so we put on a NEW tire and tube."  "Great," I said, "Let's pump it up."
"POW!!!!"  It exploded just as I reached recommended pressure.  "TOM!" I said, "You pinched the tube when you put it back together."
"Well, when you drove up, I quit looking to see if the tube was pinched anywhere."
"Wow Tom, and you attended my tire clinic in Crescent City."
Again, as is my habit, anytime I see a flat, I have to check the tube to insure my initial assessment of the problem was indeed correct.  When I looked for what should have been a long tear in the tube, what I really found was a bullet hole type hole that indicated a hole in the tire instead of a pinched tube.  But how could that be?  This was a NEW tire Barb just gave to Tom!  Now I had to find a hole in that NEW tire...when I found the hole, it looked oddly familiar...it looked just like the puncture that Dave had on day 10.........It WAS the puncture that Dave had on day 10.  Now the rest of the story.  When Dave had his flat, I told Barbara to save that tire for one of my future tire changing classes because it was a perfect example of a tire that had blown out and would do it again if reused without proper booting.  I guess we proved that hypothesis.  Anyway, she inadvertently gave it to John INSTEAD of a new tire.  Way to go Barbara!  I guess we also proved another important fact...just because you let an injured tire rest a couple of days, it doesn't heal much.

SCENES OF THE DAY?

No Gerard!  You are almost over the last hill.

When I saw Gerard leaning against this sign, I was reminded of Lee Marvin and his horse in "Cat Ballou."

Look who they got to guard their pumpkins.

To John, everyday is a party!

On the right, a bandage applied by a professional doctor and after sitting in the van for a half hour.
On the left, a bandage applied by Barbara after riding 20 miles.  You decide.  I guess she's better at this than selecting a NEW tire.

Our last look back at that magnificent bridge on our way out of town.

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