Saturday was the day of the 40 mile Mermaid Ride. There was a nice big group with some new faces, including Nancy from masters. I wanted to wear my tri top to expose my skin to the sun a little before the race. (in 2 weeks!) However, it was a cold foggy morning in Santa Cruz so I bought a pair of sleeves to keep me warm. And, after we started rolling I was glad I did. I would have been really cold.
The route went along the coast from Santa Cruz to Capitola to Rio del Mar. In Rio I had to face my nemesis, The Hill of Doom. I made it further up the hill, but decided to walk the steepest part. *sigh* Then it was a lovely ride (with some gradual hills) through the strawberry fields to Watsonville. When I turned on to Beach Road there was a nasty headwind so I took some pics since I wasn't going anywhere very fast.
Still working on my photographing while riding skills.
Okay, that's better.
We had a nice lunch and then headed back to Santa Cruz.
Mermaids in front of me . . .
Mer . . . umm . . . need to work on shooting behind me
Better . . . let me try again . . .
Out of focus Mermaids behind me.
Here is where I found my happy pace last year and remembered how much I liked bike riding.
The Hill of Doom is too steep to stop and take a pic of going up, so here is going down:
We made our way through busy Capitola Village, up another hill, by the beaches in Santa Cruz, and finally I could see the Rio Theater. I was never so happy to be back and done in my life. (Well, maybe except for the ride in Sonoma last week.)
Nancy and I at the end.
Why does Nancy's hair still look normal? I was a sweaty mess.
40.91 miles
3:19 riding time
This was my last big ride before the Vineman AquaBike on 8/1. Starting to get nervous.
1 comment:
Great photos, it looks like it was a great ride. And for the record, I'm pretty sure I couldn't snap photos while riding my bike :)
Post a Comment