AV A Ride - 4/14/24 - Big Basin Greatest Hits

This A ride is an “A for Adventure” ride that is different from the typical A ride and aimed at a wider section of the club. We’ll do one of Robin’s favorite long Sunday routes, have good conversation, and an actual lunch stop. Climbs include Page Mill, Jamison Creek, and Zayante, with a total of ~105mi and 12k ft climbing, so bring your easy gears and a lot of food!

If you haven’t done a long ride with this much climbing before, this is a great place to start. If you have done a century before, or if you can do Pescadero loop with B-ride easily, you’re definitely welcome to join. There’s several places to bail out and make the day shorter if you don’t want to commit to 8+ hours moving time. Average speed over the entire ride will be 13.5-14.5 mph (typically A ride will average 16-17mph on this sort of route).

Bring lots of calories and two big bottles, as water stops are limited. We’ll stop at Wild Roots in Felton (mi 57) for a short lunch break, water, and bathrooms and Castle Rock (mi 77) for water and bathrooms, with other stops as the group needs but kept as short and efficient as possible.

It looks like the weather may be cloudy, overcast, and a bit drizzly, but not outright rainy. Dress warmly and bring layers - it’s a long day and you won’t want to rely on hammering all the hills to stay warm. If you’re planning on doing the whole day, bring a small front light just in case. If the weather is truly miserable the ride leader reserves the right to shorten the route.

If you have any questions about the ride, food, clothing, or if you’re up for it, feel free to message ride leader Robin on AV Slack or Strava. The more people that show up the more fun we can have on the downhills!

Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3213538949323630798

Summary: Summit -> Page Mill -> Skyline -> Highway 9 -> 236 through Big Basin -> Jamison Creek -> Empire Grade -> Pine Flat -> Ice Cream Grade -> Felton Empire -> LUNCH -> Zayante -> Summit / Bear Creek -> Skyline -> 84

Longer description:

This ride can be thought of as two rides: “going to lunch,” and “going home.”

After the fast group drops us up Page Mill, we’ll regroup at the top with a SHORT bathroom stop for those that need it. We’ll climb ~25 more minutes to the top of Highway 9 (possible bail out down 9 back into town), filling our bottles at the fire station if necessary. After a fun descent down 9, we’ll climb through Big Basin (with a porta potty stop if needed). After climbing out of the park, we’ll “enjoy” almost 3 miles of 10% grade on Jamison Creek. The last bail-out route is continuing on 236 instead of climbing Jamison and returning via 9 or Bear Creek. Doing Jamison commits you to the full ride!

We’ll roll along the ridge line on Empire Grade, descend Pine Flat a bit, and be disappointed by the pavement on Ice Cream Grade (which should have amazing pavement based on its name). Try not to steal the ride leader’s QOM down Felton Empire - it’s one of the best descents around!

Lunch is at Wild Roots market in Felton, aka “even more overpriced Whole Foods.” In the interests of time please plan on getting food there. They have sandwiches, hot pasta bar, chips, drinks, etc, and the ride leader’s traditional long ride meal of sushi, peanut butter cups, and apple juice (don’t judge until you try it, but maybe don’t try it for the first time on this route). We’ll get to ride through a secret covered bridge to get water and a porta-potty stop at a park before starting the second half of the ride.

We’ll climb back to the ridge on Zayante, avoiding cars on the bottom section by taking the quieter W Zayante Rd. The road gets narrower and calmer as we climb, and with the exception of a few rude switchbacks is not too steep. A bit over an hour after lunch we’ll reach the end of this road, but there’s still 1000 more feet of climbing along Summit, Bear Creek, and Skyline which will take about another hour to finish.

After reaching Castle Rock state park, we’ll stop for water, bathrooms, and complaining about all the climbing we just did. It’s all downhill for the remaining 20+ miles though, and is super fun in a group. We’ll count down every single remaining tiny hill until the top of 84 where we’ll descend and head home or back to Summit.

Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto

Time: Meet 9 AM, Leave 9:10 AM

Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules

Additional etiquette - Robin will be riding the climbs at her conversational all-day pace of about 3-3.3 w/kg. That’s about a 52-55min Page Mill. You’re welcome to go faster and wait at the top, but keep in mind it is a very long day and you may regret it at miles 70-75. Riders who push the pace on the flats will be allowed to dangle off the front indefinitely.

Make sure your bike is in good working order - you don’t want your Di2 battery to die on Jamison!

Ride Leader: Robin Betz