Whole Lotta Climbing Going On

A lot of climbing on today's bike club ride.  4,137 feet to be precise.  We did Clayton, Crothers, Whitman, Suncrest, and Sierra.  Here we are on Clayton.  Miss P. was able to join us today.  Yay!

There goes Dancer and Prancer.  Actually there were 5 of them on Crothers but I couldn't get my camera out of my pocket fast enough for a group shot.  A few minutes earlier, we were harassed, harassed I tell ya, by a lone deer who thought he was a bull.  I kid you not.  He stormed after us before deciding to give it up.  Certainly no Bambi.

Donny and another fella stuck with me, how sweet, as we climbed Whitman and Suncrest, neither pictured.  We came across The Boyfriend descending Suncrest.  He had never done Suncrest before so he biked beyond the turnaround point. Impressive since that involved more climbing!  I was waving at him but it took him awhile to figure out who the crazed chick on a bike was .... He definitely was enjoying all these climbs he had not done before. The photo is somewhere on Sierra.  Oh boy, I had to walk parts of Sierra.  I was pretty much spent.

Another shot of Sierra.

It seemed like an eternity but I finally got to the summit on Sierra and made my merry way to the other side for more stunning views.  Lots of cyclists out today enjoying the fine weather.

Aww, Alpaca somewhere on Sierra Road.  Lots of them hanging out in a field.  Boy, this was probably the most challenging ride I've done all season.  It was sweet to have Donny's company.  I was pleased to learn that The Boyfriend only had to wait 45 minutes for me to return to his car at the finish.  I'm pooped but pleased with today's outing.

Just the Stats:

35.42 miles
31.5 mph descending
8.7 mph avg
4 hr 4 min.

To the Lighthouse

The long and winding road ... here I am alone on quiet Cloverdale Road.  The Boyfriend and Miss P are sick and couldn't do the ride.  I know what that's like, having been sick myself for the last week and a half.  Donny and the rest of the club members (including Ray!) are way ahead of me, of course.  But that's okay.  It's unbelievably warm here in  La Honda and Pescadero.  I'm remembering the fantastic weather The Boyfriend and I had as well last weekend in Big Sur.  We had a magical time cycling Highway 1 starting from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to Gorda, a sweet tiny town and the stopping point (the road is no more but will be one day).  We took hundreds of photos from our hike and biking adventures.  I couldn't figure out which photos to share or what to write; it was simply too overwhelming to capture in a blog.  We stayed at the Fernwood Resort, cheapest place in town.  It was nice.

Back to the present.  We started in La Honda by Jack's restaurant. I finally caught up to the gang for our picnic lunch at Pigeon Point Lighthouse!  From then on, I mostly was able to stay with the group.  I pushed myself a lot. 

Ha, that is what remains of the failed alien attack upon our shores.  Oh alrighty, if you look closely, you'll see a few Brussel Sprouts on the stalks.  This was on Bean Hollow.

Entering Pescadero soon after a short time on Highway 1.  Boy the day got warmer and warmer.  There were a lot of cyclists and motorcyclists taking advantage of the weather.  Can I just say that motorcycles are incredibly noisy and take away from quiet beauty of the area.

We breezed through Pescadero and continued climbing Stage.  Yay, we get to descend for awhile.  Boo, we have to climb some more.  We passed San Gregorio store and kept climbing Stage until it dead ends with Highway 1.  One of the fellas kept me distracted.  That really helped to keep me going. After Stage, we rode 8 miles on La Honda back to the start.  Nothing like fabulous weather and the beautiful Northern California coast to make you feel alive and happy.

Just the Stats:

45.87 miles
10.7 avg mph
33.5 mph descending
4 hr. 15 min.