Surprisingly, one hill I haven't yet climbed is Soda Springs. I've heard some things about it, but only that it's a good sized hill ... and is it ever. Soda Springs actually climbs hills on the other side of Mt. Umunhum.
In order to get there, I either have to drive to Lexington Dam to get there, or take a long route around to get there. Dri
ving there would be the chicken-shit way, so long ride it is. I had to climb Hwy 9 to Skyline, then take Skyline south, to Bear Creek, then Summit, to get to the other side of Hwy 17.
I'm getting pretty familiar with Skyline and Bear Creek. I seem to be doing these a lot lately, especially with SCMC last week. As I was climbing Hwy 9, I get passed by a bunch of Alto Velo guys. I think the B ride was doing Hwy 9, and I did get passed by 3 riders, but luckily I limited my loss. I actually got a perso
nal best out of the climb from Saratoga Springs to Skyline, turning myself inside out. So in a way, I was riding with AltoVelo B riders ... for a short bit at least.
It's actually mostly downhill, after reaching the summit of Skyline, which makes it nice, so that I don't have to do any more climbing until I get to Soda Springs.
I was originally going to continue on Summit Road, and head down to Summit Store, to refuel on water and supplies, then backtrack to hit Old Santa Cruz Road ... but I realized I still had plenty, so I skipped that, and went right on Mt. Charlie, then onto Old Santa Cruz Road. More downhill ... gee, I'm glad I don't have to climb up this hill.
Another right on Albercroft Heights, but now I see newly added chipseal, so there is plenty of gravel on the road. This continues all the way onto Alba Bridge Road, but it is rideable ... not too bad.
Ok, here we go ... I read Soda Springs Road. Not sure what to expect of this, so time for a big deep breath.
I already have 40 miles and about 4000 feet of climbing already logged in my legs, so who knows how well I'll do here. The grade itself doesn't seem too bad ... averaging about 8-10%, but it just keeps going. I know before hand it's a 5.5 mile climb ... when I start getting fatigued, I look down on my Garmin, and I've only gone 2 miles ... WTF ... I haven't even gone through half way.
I start having to fight mental fatigue. I start thinking many times about stopping and turning around, but no ... it would be too embarrassing to make it all the way this far, only to not complete it. I actually did stop twice on the upper section of this hill ... once with serious thoughts of turning around, and the second to actually catch my breath. I decided to just go slow, and just finish this stupid bloody hill ... who's idea was it to do this? Oh yeah, me.
I see 500 ft left to go, then 200 ft left to go signs ... there is an end to this after all. I finally made it. Kind of anti-climactic, because there is not much of a view to see here at all ... just a big gate, with a END sign. Well at least I made it all the way through ... couple of stops, but at least I made it. For this climb, total was 5.5 miles, 2288 ft climbing, in 1:05:11.
Now for the return home, and more chipseal on Alba Bridge. There's still a little bit of climbing left to go, as I circle around the Lexington Reservoir. I'm surprised there weren't too many people out boating ... weather would be nice for this.
One more obstacle on the ride back ... Los Gatos Bike Trail. One you get off Alba Bridge, you get onto the bike trail, and then it turns into hard pack dirt ... with lots of rocks. This is where having a CX bike would have helped. There was one section in particular, where I'm descending, and the road is a little looser packed, and I just had to go to a complete stop. I was the only road bike on the trail at this time, and everyone else had mountain bikes. They must think I'm nuts, and I am.
Finally made it back to downtown Los Gatos, and back on pavement. 10 miles back home, and boy am I spent and tired. That was a tough ride. 295 on the Strava suffer score ... at least they consider it epic.
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