Having acquired 2 nice bicycles (on Sat), I was eager to get some cycling done the next day (Sun). To add to those 2 cycles, I had also borrowed a cycle from my cousin, earlier in the week -- it was a MTB, from Specialized.
I had 3 colleagues from work with me on the trip, one of whom was interested in doing cycling. So on Sunday afternoon, we all headed towards Half Moon Bay, with 2 cycles -- the Cannondale (which I planned to ride), and the Specialized (which seemed appropriate for my colleague, who was not a regular cyclist).
From the 101FW, after we got on to 92, and crossed the 280FW, we saw some bike route signs, and a bit later, there we saw an open area where some cars were parked. This was near the Crystal Springs Reservoir. The two of us who planned to bike, stopped off there, while the other two proceeded to Half Moon Bay.
It was close to 1500hrs, when my colleague (D :)) and I started riding north, following one of the bike route signs, but a bit further, we reached a dead end. There was a gated off area, so probably there was a bike route further down, but it was closed now. So we turned around and got back to where we had parked. I was wondering which direction to head to, from there, when couple of bikers rode by; I flagged them down, and asked them for bike routes. They suggested going towards Kings Mountain Road, which they said was provided a good climb, and asked us to follow them for a bit, to get an idea of which way it was. So we tagged along, and finally they gave us more directions as to which way it we needed to ride.
It was Canada Road that we were riding on at that time.
It was Canada Road that we were riding on at that time.
Since my colleague D was not a regular rider, he was quite slow, and I was stopping from time to time, to let him catch up. The cyclists from whom we had taken direction, had gone ahead. Meanwhile, at one point, I noticed that one of the brake pads of my front brake, was touching the rim. I tried to figure out what it was, but couldn't. It was causing some drag, which was annoying, but I could continue riding.
Riding on Canada Road was very nice. Not much traffic, and there were quite a few cyclists riding in the opposite direction, who I figured were returning from their rides. There were vehicles parked at couple of spots along the side of the road where there was good amount space for parking. So overall, this road seemed very suitable for cycling (hence the lot of cyclists there :)).
Around 1630hrs, we reached Woodside. At Robert's Market, we picked up some water.
The ride upto this point (ignoring the initial bit where we went north for a bit), was this route (with elevation profile).
As D and I took a break, I saw another cyclist. I went over and talked to him -- he said he and his friend had cycled till here, via El Camino, from somewhere around Mountain View, IIRC; quite a distance. I asked him if he was familiar with routes in this area, and he said he wasn't
Back where D was sitting around, I saw a beautiful Rivendale bike; looked like a nice tourer-commuter. Took some pics of the bike (which I don't have handy at the moment; will post later), and when the owner (a musician from the Santa Cruz area) returned, had a chat with him about his bike as well as bike routes in the area.
Based on all the discussions, I figured I would stick to the plan of going to Kings Mountain Road. I took stock of the route ahead, from Google maps. Based on that, I told D to ride back the way we came, while I would proceed to Kings Mountain Road. The supposed climb there would be tough for my colleague, and with just ~90mins of daytime remaining, I figured it was not safe to be going further at the slow pace D was making. So around 1700hrs, we left from Woodside -- D riding back the way we came, while I went towards Kings Mountain Road, on HW84.
Within ~15mins, I was at Kings Mountain Road, and soon the climb started. It was a tough climb, and I realised that asking D to turn back earlier had been the right decision. I laboured up the road, having a take regular breaks. One nice thing was that one one break (fairly close to the top of the climb), I figured out why one of the front the brake pads was touching the rim; it was a straightforward tweak, and got that sorted out.
I reached the intersection of HW35 at 1800hrs, when light was starting to drop. (Part of the reason was also the fairly dense vegetation there, blocking direct sunlight). This section of the ride, was this route (with elevation profile).
At this point, I was debating which way to head from here -- whether to go back the way I had come, or take HW35, towards HW92. I met another biker there; had a chat with him, and he warned me of the fast traffic on HW35 (which I was aware of already). Also on my mind was the recent unfortunate cycling accident on HW35, in which Joy Covey (first CFO of Amazon) had died.
I finally decided to ride on HW35. As I rode along, I did_not see much traffic. The road was nice, with lot of trees around, so it was a real nice road for cycling. It would have been better had it been a bit earlier in the day. With more light, I would have gotten a better view of the vegetation around. The route was enjoyable regardless. It was all downhill, and so was
quite relaxed. I made sure I was braking a lot, to make sure I did_not pick up much speed. This section of the ride was this route (with elevation profile).
About two-thirds of the way along that route, as the wooded area cleared up, the view on either side was quite something -- on the right, below, was the Crystal Springs reservoir, while on the left, was the Pacific ocean at a distance, with some hills, clouds and the setting sun in the distance providing a beautiful mix.
At the end of that route, around 1900hrs, I touched HW92. It was starting to get dark, and the traffic on HW92 was quite a bit, so I did_not feel safe trying to ride on the shoulder; not even knowing if there was enough of a shoulder all along. So I synced up with the two colleagues heading back from Half Moon Bay, to pick me up. We then covered the short distance to get to Chen-Valia meeting point, where we had parked the other car, where D was waiting for us. From there, we headed back to out hotel in Santa Clara, bring to end a nice day of riding.
So got to ride for ~4hrs on some very nice and scenic routes. Would have liked to ride couple of more hours, but given that I was quite new to cycling in these parts, and planning the route was taking up some time, it was still a very fruitful day.
Will cover the next weekend's rides, in my next blog post. Till then, happy and safe cycling!
Riding on Canada Road was very nice. Not much traffic, and there were quite a few cyclists riding in the opposite direction, who I figured were returning from their rides. There were vehicles parked at couple of spots along the side of the road where there was good amount space for parking. So overall, this road seemed very suitable for cycling (hence the lot of cyclists there :)).
Around 1630hrs, we reached Woodside. At Robert's Market, we picked up some water.
The ride upto this point (ignoring the initial bit where we went north for a bit), was this route (with elevation profile).
As D and I took a break, I saw another cyclist. I went over and talked to him -- he said he and his friend had cycled till here, via El Camino, from somewhere around Mountain View, IIRC; quite a distance. I asked him if he was familiar with routes in this area, and he said he wasn't
Back where D was sitting around, I saw a beautiful Rivendale bike; looked like a nice tourer-commuter. Took some pics of the bike (which I don't have handy at the moment; will post later), and when the owner (a musician from the Santa Cruz area) returned, had a chat with him about his bike as well as bike routes in the area.
Based on all the discussions, I figured I would stick to the plan of going to Kings Mountain Road. I took stock of the route ahead, from Google maps. Based on that, I told D to ride back the way we came, while I would proceed to Kings Mountain Road. The supposed climb there would be tough for my colleague, and with just ~90mins of daytime remaining, I figured it was not safe to be going further at the slow pace D was making. So around 1700hrs, we left from Woodside -- D riding back the way we came, while I went towards Kings Mountain Road, on HW84.
Within ~15mins, I was at Kings Mountain Road, and soon the climb started. It was a tough climb, and I realised that asking D to turn back earlier had been the right decision. I laboured up the road, having a take regular breaks. One nice thing was that one one break (fairly close to the top of the climb), I figured out why one of the front the brake pads was touching the rim; it was a straightforward tweak, and got that sorted out.
I reached the intersection of HW35 at 1800hrs, when light was starting to drop. (Part of the reason was also the fairly dense vegetation there, blocking direct sunlight). This section of the ride, was this route (with elevation profile).
At this point, I was debating which way to head from here -- whether to go back the way I had come, or take HW35, towards HW92. I met another biker there; had a chat with him, and he warned me of the fast traffic on HW35 (which I was aware of already). Also on my mind was the recent unfortunate cycling accident on HW35, in which Joy Covey (first CFO of Amazon) had died.
I finally decided to ride on HW35. As I rode along, I did_not see much traffic. The road was nice, with lot of trees around, so it was a real nice road for cycling. It would have been better had it been a bit earlier in the day. With more light, I would have gotten a better view of the vegetation around. The route was enjoyable regardless. It was all downhill, and so was
quite relaxed. I made sure I was braking a lot, to make sure I did_not pick up much speed. This section of the ride was this route (with elevation profile).
About two-thirds of the way along that route, as the wooded area cleared up, the view on either side was quite something -- on the right, below, was the Crystal Springs reservoir, while on the left, was the Pacific ocean at a distance, with some hills, clouds and the setting sun in the distance providing a beautiful mix.
At the end of that route, around 1900hrs, I touched HW92. It was starting to get dark, and the traffic on HW92 was quite a bit, so I did_not feel safe trying to ride on the shoulder; not even knowing if there was enough of a shoulder all along. So I synced up with the two colleagues heading back from Half Moon Bay, to pick me up. We then covered the short distance to get to Chen-Valia meeting point, where we had parked the other car, where D was waiting for us. From there, we headed back to out hotel in Santa Clara, bring to end a nice day of riding.
So got to ride for ~4hrs on some very nice and scenic routes. Would have liked to ride couple of more hours, but given that I was quite new to cycling in these parts, and planning the route was taking up some time, it was still a very fruitful day.
Will cover the next weekend's rides, in my next blog post. Till then, happy and safe cycling!
