Sequoia Double Metric (125 miles) Century, June 2, 2002

Fear, uncertainty & doubt described our pre-ride feelings about the Sequoia Double-Metric this year.  We could have dispensed with the uncertainty, as the fear & doubt were warranted!  Last year's double metric was a great ride, heading quickly out to the coast and heading south down Highway 1 to Bonny Doon for a tour of some of the more interesting parts of the Santa Cruz Mtns.  This year they decided to head north first, and then out to the coast in Pacifica, down Highway 1 (even riding over Devil's Slide!), up Higgins Purissima, Los Lobitos & Tunitas, then down 84 to the coast again, Stage Road to Pescadero, then up West Alpine and finally down Page Mill to the finish.  Something about that morning run north that took it out of you.
7:43am and we're doing the check-the-course-map ritual before heading out.  From left to right is Dick Kiser, Todd Norwood and Richard Brockie. 8:03am Fairly pleasant when we started the ride, with just high clouds and moderate temps as we approach Alpine Road from Arastradero.
8:25am After riding Whiskey Hill we rode into Woodside and... 8:41am ...out Canada Road, and then Skyline (the part North of Highway 92) up towards Pacifica.
9:24am Our first rest stop, about 28 miles into the ride.  And yes, they had Cantaloupe (my favorite!). 10:12am In Pacifica, heading down the coast to our date with...
10:22am ...Devil's Slide!  Sorry I couldn't get a decent photo, but it was pretty busy and, since it's a descent, it was hard to get a photo while riding at speed. 10:57am Rest stop at Half Moon Bay high school.  Seen here is Todd's LeMond, Richard's Klein and my TREK.  (Shameless plug for bike we sell)
11:28am Heading up Purissima Creek (a little side-trip that I missed the markings for last year!).  That little goof saved me a fair amount of climbing in 2001. 11:35am Higgins Purissima is well worth seeking out, for it's light traffic and "how could something look this remote so close to civilization" beauty.
11:46am Cresting the main climb on Higgins. 12:10pm on Los Lobitos Cut-off
12:21& 12:24 pm Heading towards Tunitas Creek on Los Lobitos.  There's actually quite a bit of climbing on Higgins Purissima and Los Lobitos, so don't look at the map and think they're no big deal!
12:31pm Just up Tunitas Creek a bit from where Los Lobitos intersects it.  The steep part of the climb is just ahead!  Tunitas Creek is a beautiful climb, all of it shaded from the sun (of which there wasn't any today!) and with a babbling brook to the side. 1:06pm Towards the top of Tunitas Creek, making the fateful turn onto Starr Hill, which connects to Swett Road where you'll find a dreadfully-painful (and fortunately short) piece of steeply-pitched road, just before the next rest stop.
2:00pm Heading down 84 to the coast, passing the famous "Red Barn."  This is a fun stretch until just past LaHonda, where the road surface deteriorates (lots of gravel) and you get a nasty headwind. 2:55pm Entering the town of Pescadero, just after climbing the two fun (they really are fun!) hills found on Stage Road between here and San Gregorio.
3:15pm Shouldn't we be at lunch by now???  At least I've come across Jamie Wallach, one of our customers, to ride with for awhile. 3:42pm Lunch, finally!  This is way later than I expected to be at this point, and it's a bit discouraging that the course closes at 6pm!  Are we that slow?
4:07pm Todd & I are actually making decent time up Haskins Grade.  Seems like we alternated between me feeling good and Richard, but Todd always did well. 4:14pm A rider heading down Pescadero Road (off Haskins Grade), about to make the turn onto West Alpine for the final hill assault.  Just 3000 ft to go!
4:14pm But first Todd loans a CO2 inflator to a guy with a flat. 4:20pm West Alpine starts out so innocuously!  But after a mile or so this road goes UP.  Way UP.
4:38pm Heading up West Alpine, on one of the less-steep sections.  The steeper parts are simply too steep to take photos on while riding. 4:42pm The top of the first section of West Alpine, where we finally see blue sky (and a brief section of flat road).
5:03pm Almost to the top of West Alpine, maybe another 200 ft of climbing to go to Skyline! 5:41pm Arriving back at the start, considerably later than planned.
5:44pm You know how Ice Cream is one of those things you might as well glue to your body, because you'll instantly put on that much weight?  Furthest thing from your mind right now as the Western Wheelers (the sponsoring club) is handing out Its Its Ice Cream Sandwiches to all of the riders!

125.8 miles, 15.6mph average speed, 42.2mph max, and 8 hours, 1 minute riding time.  A long day on the bike!


Above is a profile map generated by Klimb, a downloadable program you can generate such information from for rides just about anywhere in the SF Bay Area.  In this case, it's slightly underestimating the climbing, since it covers just the major roads, and doesn't include some of the smaller climbs into rest stops etc.  Overall it was probably around 10,500 feet or so of climbing.

Last updated 05/06/05

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