A Rather Long Day

When you plan to spend three and a half hours of your evening on your feet, deftly threading your way through a dense crowd at a benefit gala while carrying champagne flutes on a silver tray, how should you spend the early part of your day? Surely not ... lying abed!

Various factors conspired to keep me off the bike last weekend, so I was determined to be back in the saddle today. A club ride started early, nearby, and I figured I could complete the ride with enough time to get cleaned up and report for volunteer duty at Denim to Diamonds, an annual fund-raiser for Ronald McDonald House at Stanford.

We climbed up and over the Santa Cruz mountains, through Soquel and Aptos to Corralitos, and then back up and over the mountains to return (54 miles, 4440 feet of climbing). We passed through the edge of the burn area from last year's Summit fire, climbing Eureka Canyon Road alongside Corralitos Creek. This was the first time I have traveled this route during the winter season, and I realized that the creek offers hints about the grade of the road (in case your quads are too powerful to notice). Vigorous splashing sounds = steep. Smooth silent flow = flat. And there are daffodils blooming along Summit Road!

I admit there was a certain charm to the sign that greeted us the last time we visited Highland Way:

THIS ROAD IS CLOSED by the order of the county road commissioner. Barricades blocking the road have been placed by the county. If the barricades are not in place, they were moved illegally. Your use of this road is at your OWN RISK. The county will not be responsible for your property damage, injuries or DEATH.

We were delighted to discover that the repairs have been completed on Highland Way, allowing us to ride (rather than hike) through. One can only wonder how long the road will remain passable, given the rather ominous slide area to the south and other nearby sections where one lane has already migrated downhill. It is, shall we say, a dynamic landscape.

It seems most fitting to close with this photo from last fall, as I prepared to hike through the rubble wearing a Waves to Wine Champagne Club jersey.

[Photo Composition 101: Choose an angle that doesn't make it appear that a sign post is growing out of your subject's head.]