Santa Cruz Hills - November 24th, 2002

Write up by Jimil

6 riders showed up for this ride. Myself, Rich, Megan, Dan, Les, and Megan's friend Stewart. The day turned out gorgeous and we made the most of the great weather. We headed up Hwy 9 towards 4 corners where we took a quick break to regroup. The pace was very mellow so it was just a few seconds till the last of the group showed up. From 4 corners we headed down towards Boulder Creek. We regrouped at the high school parking lot where a lot of people turn back. From there we continued on down Hwy 9 and after passing Boulder Creek and encountering a lot of traffic I decided to take a detour. We jumped on to Alba road near Felton which is a very nice newly paved road that is very tight but lots of fun. Alba dumped us on to Empire Grade which we then made a left to head towards Bonny Doon. After getting on Bonny Dune we jammed down to Hwy 1 and hung a left to take us down past Santa Cruz and on to the Soquel/Capitola area. We had lunch at that really good deli (I can never remember the name) and then took off towards Soquel Road/Old San Jose Hwy. This road is newly paved and in great condition with super fast sweepers. It all ended too soon as we reached the top and Summit Road. We turned left onto Summit and after a few miles turned right on Old Santa Cruz Hwy. This road is very much like Calaveras only its pointed down and its has a few tight tricky sections. It also goes through mostly residential areas so the pace was nice and easy going. Old Santa Cruz Hwy takes you down to a resevoir near the base of Hwy 17. From there get jumped on Bear (or was it Boulder) Creek road and enjoyed the slow but fun tight sections. We stopped at the next intersection which I believe is Summit and Bear Creek. Its also near the entrance to a paint ball park. You could hear the teams shooting and yelling. Time was running out for me so I decided to take off instead of continuing on Summit which would have then hit Hwy 35. Everyone else decided to take off as well so we backtracked down Bear Creek to Hwy 17 where we then all went our separate ways. Another great day of riding with some good company.