Drake Pirates “A” Ride – Sunday February 3, 2008
It was a cold and rainy Sunday, one that wasn’t the most inviting for a long bike ride. It was also Super Bowl Sunday –the Giants vs. the Patriots – another reason for many to want to stay inside and be lethargic all day. But the first priority for the dedicated riders who showed up was to defy this common logic and put in some hard miles on the bike.
The route: Deer Park to 5 corners, down Shaver to Phoenix Lake, up Eldridge to Indian, Hoo-koo-e-koo to Railroad Grade to West Point Inn, Old Stage down to Pantoll, Coast View trail down to Hwy 1 and down to Muir Beach… and then BACK up to West Point Inn, up Railroad to Ridgecrest, and finally down Eldridge to the lakes and back down to 5 corners/Deer Park.
The A group riders: Satchel, Sam, Tyler, Dylan and Jack. Jack wasn’t feeling too good and was having some issues with his derailleur, so he rode with us up to the Eldridge/Indian intersection and then turned around (thanks for showing up and putting in the effort on a day when it would have been really easy to not show up, Jack).
The group progressed quickly up the mountain, passing a few groups of riders along the way. The Drake team is easily spotted and always receives praise from the people we meet (and pass) with the standard “Go Pirates!”. Sunday was no exception. One of the groups we passed remarked that the Redwood team was also on the mountain that day, though we never saw them. When we arrived at West Point Inn, Dylan and Satchel refilled their water bottles and we were off for the 10 mile downhill.
Once we made it to Coast View, the sun came out for a bit to reveal a lot of water still running off the trail. We cranked up the pace a bit – all eager to be on some really nice and perfectly legal single track. We then rolled across Hwy 1, and down through the Seascape neighborhood back down to sea level, about 2 blocks from Muir Beach, and then turned around to start the second climb of Tam that day: this time the south side. On the way back up, we stopped at the overlook spot and admired the awesome view of the ocean. The south side of Tam is actually a bit easier to climb than the North side, but when you’ve already put in 16 miles and 2,500’ of climbing, and the trails are muddy and slow, it can be pretty tough.
When we reached Pantoll, we all had some bars and gels, refilled on water, and then started up Old Stage to West Point Inn. Satchel started to get some leg cramps, so he and I brought up the rear, still cruising at a good pace. When wearrived at WP, I spotted a friend/teammate up on the balcony and asked if there was any food left (My other team hadstayed at the inn the night before). He disappeared momentarily and came back with Danny Forer (of Tamaranchofame) who had a bag of bagels in his hand, which he tossed down to us like seals eager for anchovies. And he evengave us some cookies for desert. After we quickly engulfed the calories (except Sam, he eats slower than the other 3and wound up eating the rest of the bagel on his bike), we hit the last leg of the climbing journey up Railroad to Ridgecrest. Then we began the long, cold 9 mile downhill, beginning with Eldridge. Eldridge is like a river in the winter – there is water all over the trail, and Sunday was no exception. Halfway down, Dylan’s chain was trying to get stuck in his rear cassette, so we stopped to remedy that, at which time Satchel commented how his hands were freezing– and Dylan agreed. My feet were like ice. Speaking of ice – another 3 minutes down the trail, we ran into a nasty headwind blowing hail and sleet directly at us that stung every piece of exposed skin it hit, but by the time we got to the Indian intersection, the sun was out again. We continued down Eldridge to Lake FR, rolled the pavement to the top of Shaver and then down to 5 corners and finally back to Deer Park. Sam’s cycle computer logged us doing 32.8 miles. We had started at about 150’, went up to 2,300’, down to sea level at Muir Beach, and then back up to 2,300’ and down. Just shy of a 5,000’ day!
Everyone thanked me for the epic ride and peeled off to hit the hot water at home. NOW we can watch the Super Bowl, having truly earned the right to be lazy rest of the day. Great ride guys – you’re all going to do very, very well in competition this year with days like that under your belt. Thank YOU for the epic ride, too!
Coach Russell
