Backroads of San Benito County, 2004/10/02

Backroads of San Benito County
Bill Bushnell
2004/10/02

Ron Bobb and I started from the Windmill Market parking lot in San Juan
Bautista at 8:15a, headed north briefly past the Mission and onto some
local farm roads and headed into Hollister. After passing through the
central part of town we started up Santa Ana Rd. and continued past Quien
Sabe Rd. on Santa Anita Rd.

We stopped halfway up the short climb through the narrow canyon near the
top to observe up close a male tarantula crawling slowly but deliberately
up the center of the road. After taking a picture we coaxed him off the
road before pressing on to a high valley overlooking the Quien Sabe Creek
watershed near Buena Vista Ranch.

We took Browns Valley Rd. (dirt) for the next 6.2 miles over a couple of
low ridges into some intervening valleys, including Browns Valley, which
must have been named sometime in late summer or early fall where hardly a
stitch of green could be seen, before plunging very steeply into the
Panoche Creek watershed.

http://tinyurl.com/44s4k

The road was fairly easy to ride in this direction. A couple sections had
some larger loose rock, and a couple of other sections had a washboard
surface from too much spinning and skidding of wheels, but on the whole
the road was well-graded and not too loose. Everything was dry and brown
this time of year, but I imagine it would be green and filled with
wildflowers in the springtime. The road fords Panoche Creek (something to
remember for a springtime ride) before climbing back up to Panoche Rd. on
which we turned right and continued into Paicines where we stopped at the
store for a snack break shortly before noon.

We continued south on CA25 toward Pinnacles with the aid of a moderate
tailwind. Every time I ride down this way it seems the vineyards are
pushing farther south of Hollister. Ground squirrels could be heard
squeaking in the fields next to the road and could be seen as they darted
across the road ahead--one even dared me by crossing directly in
front--and hawks, vultures, and other birds of prey could be seen circling
overhead.

We made good time. Around 1p we reached the summit of the short climb
that crosses from the San Benito River watershed to the Salinas River
watershed and shortly after the Bear Valley fire station where we stopped
to top off our water. The firemen invited us inside to get water from
their cooler. We wished them an uneventful afternoon as we set off down
CA25 and then turned right onto the mostly unpaved La Gloria Rd. The sign
said 18 miles to Gonzales. I wondered if it would be dirt the whole way.

http://tinyurl.com/3rr4v

La Gloria Rd. starts at 1462 feet elevation, climbs in fits and starts up
Bickmore Canyon, steeply for the first mile, and then rolls for another
mile before climbing more gently up the long shallow valley. This part of
the Gabilan Mountains lies just north of Pinnacles National Monument and
is folded and bumped in odd ways due to its proximity to the San Andreas
Fault that runs just east of CA25 in this area.

We came upon a couple small groups of "long-horn" cows walking along the
road. The ladies trotted ahead of us for a while before turning around
and glaring at us as we went by, the tips of their sharp horns pointing in
our direction all the while.

Bickmore Canyon leads to Parks Valley, where the next item of interest we
came upon was a rather foul looking pool of water to the left of the road,
in front of which signs enjoining the public from swimming had been
placed. Nothing could have been further from our minds.

The west end of Parks Valley leads to a local maximum that due to the odd
foldings of these hills marks the true boundary of the watershed between
the San Benito River and the Salinas River, only detected as we were able
coast briefly downhill into Williamson Valley where its creek flows north
through a notch in the hills into the South Fork of Willow Creek.

http://tinyurl.com/6pxl8

Ron, who was riding a couple hundred yards behind me, was lucky to see a
"rather large" roadrunner standing in the grass by the road.

Soon we found ourselves at the west end of Williamson Valley, the Monterey
County line, and the ridgeline of the Gabilan Mountains that form the east
side of the Salinas Valley. We took our last picture looking back east
down the gentle valley with a healthy handsome oak tree in the background.
The air temperature that had started in the mid-80's along CA25 had now
cooled about 5 degrees with a noticeable increase in humidity. After
crossing the Monterey County line (2350 ft), La Gloria road plunges down
Henry Sands Canyon into the Salinas Valley, barely visible through the
milky haze below.

http://tinyurl.com/5nc7d

The descent reminded me of the ride down from the top of the Wasatch Range
into Bountiful, UT that I had done last summer, only the latter elevation
drop was about twice as great. For its steepness the road was remarkably
smooth. A few of the inside corners were quite dusty, off-camber, and
slippery, but parts of the road appeared to have a layer of old asphalt
underneath. Still, it would be a strenuous climb in the other direction.

At the bottom of the steep descent we passed a gun club practice range
where the dirt road ended abruptly, 11 miles from CA25. We continued down
the paved road into an increasingly gusty side/head-wind into Gonzales for
lunch. For the entire dirt section of road we were passed by two cars
going in our direction and two going in the opposite direction.

After stopping at the Subway shop for a late lunch we started what was the
most difficult part of the ride, north toward Salinas along Old Stage Rd.
into what felt like a gale of a headwind, but was probably no more than
20-25 mph. The only good part was the wind was a nice, cool sea breeze.

Ron was worried about the late hour (4:30p) and of having to ride the last
bit in the dark, so he hammered on ahead. I tried to keep up at first
(230 watts and 15 mph), but then decided that not getting side-stitches
from lunch was more important, so I backed off (180 watts @13.5 mph). On
our bikes drafting offered little advantage, but neither of us could have
sustained more than 10mph had we been riding upright bikes. I put in my
earplugs to cut down on the wind noise.

Halfway along Old Stage Rd. I caught up to Ron who had stopped to put on
extra clothing. We were beginning to enter the coastal fog. He told me
to go on ahead of him, and I figured he'd catch up if he still had legs.
Once under the fog, the wind became less strong, although it was still a
headwind. Traffic on Old Stage Rd. was light but heavy enough to be a
mild nuisance, especially when motorists passing slower traffic in the
opposite direction came directly towards us at 70 mph, oblivious to our
presence on the road. There is little to no shoulder along this section.

As we neared Natividad we could see through a gap in the fog the sun
shining on the buildings at the top of Fremont Peak, the mountain that
marks the north end of the Gabilans. Old Stage Rd. makes an easy-to-miss
right turn just before crossing Gabilan Creek.

In spite of the "No Dumping" signs, some of the locals appear to use this
lightly-traveled section of Old Stage Rd. as a roadside dump for all
manner of human refuse, with an especially high concentration of
brightly-colored domestic rubbish: baby and childrens clothes, old and
broken cribs, strollers, washing machines, kitchen appliances, and
childrens toys. It looked like the aftermath of a tornado hitting a
Wal-Mart.

At Crazy Horse Canyon Rd. we turned left then right again on San Juan
Grade to climb back over the ridge to San Juan Bautista. At the top of
San Juan Grade we stopped to eat, and I put on some extra clothing for the
last few miles of downhill as the air temperature had dropped into the
mid-50's.

http://tinyurl.com/6p85g

The descent was swift and as bumpy as paved roads get, the surface being a
quilted patchwork based on the now cracked and tilted, old concrete slabs
of the pre-WWII road between San Juan and Salinas. We arrived back at the
Windmill Market parking lot at 6:50p, just as the sun set.

distance: 101.75 miles
climbing: 5400 feet
total time: 10:32:43
riding time: 7:39:44
average speed: 13.27 mph
average power: 149 watts
energy: 4116 kiloJoules (approx. equiv. dietary Calories burned)

--
Bill Bushnell

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004, Bill Bushnell wrote:

La Gloria Rd. starts at 1462 feet elevation, climbs in fits and starts up
Bickmore Canyon, steeply for the first mile, and then rolls for another
mile before climbing more gently up the long shallow valley.

Thanks for posting this ride narrative. I've long wondered what lies down
La Gloria Road, but was reluctant to try it on my own. Now I know that I
should be prepared to stare down some well-armed cows.

--Ed

--
Ed Swierk

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004, Bill Bushnell wrote:

La Gloria Rd. starts at 1462 feet elevation, climbs in fits and starts up
Bickmore Canyon, steeply for the first mile, and then rolls for another
mile before climbing more gently up the long shallow valley.

Thanks for posting this ride narrative. I've long wondered what lies down
La Gloria Road, but was reluctant to try it on my own. Now I know that I
should be prepared to stare down some well-armed cows.

--Ed

--
Ed Swierk

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004, Bill Bushnell wrote:

La Gloria Rd. starts at 1462 feet elevation, climbs in fits and starts up
Bickmore Canyon, steeply for the first mile, and then rolls for another
mile before climbing more gently up the long shallow valley.

Thanks for posting this ride narrative. I've long wondered what lies down
La Gloria Road, but was reluctant to try it on my own. Now I know that I
should be prepared to stare down some well-armed cows.

--Ed

--
Ed Swierk