Mmm, Strawberries

The hallmark of the Strawberry Fields Forever ride is (you guessed it), strawberries. After passing acres of them ripening in the hot sun, we were rewarded with heaping mounds of strawberries, along with bowls of chocolate and whipped cream, at the end of the ride. I easily ate a pint of them; but that's okay, there are plenty still out there.

Plan A today was to tackle the 100 mile route, which climbs the Santa Cruz Mountains from the coast. The route would bring me so close to home that I've often feared that I might just head that way, which would present a problem in that my car would still be parked in Watsonville.

When the temperature in my backyard reached 97 degrees on Saturday, it seemed advisable to check the conditions on the other side of the hill. With a forecast of 75 degrees at 3 pm, Watsonville was instead baking at 90 degrees. Given Sunday's forecast for warmer temperatures, Plan B was hatched. The sensible choice was to back off and ride the 100 km route. I don't perform well in extreme heat, and given my typical pace, I would be sizzling in the wide-open fields during the hottest part of the day. Even worse, I would run the risk of finishing too late to enjoy my fair share of strawberries!

I rode most of the route with some friends who had reached the same conclusion, and met about a dozen more along the way. Overall, a much better day than I expected, with a mere 3,290 feet of climbing over 66 miles. The steep bit looks a little less daunting every year (11.5% grade for a quarter of a mile). I was grateful for the little bags of ice supplied at the lunch stop, but I never imagined that I would be happy about a headwind until our cooling offshore breeze arrived (ahead of schedule).