Anyone riding the Santa Cruz Mtn. Challenge?
 

Just curious/FYI. https://santacruzmountainschallenge.com/

Wow, I ridden all those roads growing up in San Bruno and living in San Jose. Should be fun. The double metric should be a good test. Almost reminds of doing the Death Ride, which is seriously crazy.

Do they really have mountain lions along the way, or is that just a teaser? 😁 I'm not really ready this year, but quite possibly next year. 🤔 I've ridden most of that area, touring, but not sure I can keep up with regular roadies, I'm pretty slow. 🙄😉

It is where I live and ride every day, so ... no. But if anyone wants to drop by, let me know.

A lot of the area is burned now, so for example that little school house on Alba is gone. Much of Empire Grade and Swanton were devastated. (I think they aren't routing it through Swanton now.)

Mountain lions are always here, but seldom seen. I've only seen 3 or 4 in 12 years.

Edit: Shortest and longest routes do a Swanton out and back.

That's the problem with mountain lions; you don't see them. :twitchy:

I see what you did there. If they want to "get" you, you'll never see them coming. 😲😉

I've only ever seen one, and he must have been pretty young. I was going North through Oregon, along the main coastal highway (101?). It was windy as heck, and I decided to cut across, to the inland highway. I was taking a lunch break, and not paying any real attention to any critters. This cat was creeping up on me, and I happened to see him in the corner of my eye. I didn't realize it was a cat at first, and said to myself, "What the heck do I see?", and that spooked him, lol. He took off in the other direction, like his tail was on fire or something, and that's what makes me think he was a youngster. I don't know much at all about them, but I think an adult might've dealt with me a bit differently. 😟😲

santacruzpumas.org

Your link didn't work for me, but I just typed it in, thanks. Some really good stuff there. 👍

There's a puma warning sign near Riverbend Park here in Sacramento, which makes sense, with all the deer I see here. Just last night, 2 deer snuck up on me, while I was goofing around on my phone. I looked up, and they were about 20-30 feet away, just staring at me, lol. 😁

Yikes! :eek:

I think the probability of me getting killed by a driver is about 100,000X greater than by a member of our abundant mountain lion population (and the drivers are courteous around here).

So a mountain lion is actually 100,000x more polite than a California driver? 🤔😁😉

If a mountain lion kills me, at least it will be for its next meal. (Around here the deer are so abundant, they kill them and just rip out their kidneys).

You should read about the mountain lion attack east of Seattle (I used to live in North Bend). Two mountain bikers on a ride and the lion attacked. One of the riders tried to peddle away from his so called buddy while he was being attacked. Lion decided he might be better prey, and decided to kill him instead. Karma...

I found a different warning sign this morning, right near Riverbend Park. This sign is not very visible from the MUP itself, it's more aimed towards folks using a parking area. 🙄

It's still less than a month old, so I think I'll keep my eyes peeled. 😲😉
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c9a5f1d104.jpg

They've spray-painted bright orange circles around all of the road surface irregularities, cracks and pot-holes around here, of which there are many.

Takes all the fun out of the ride. Also, who wants to look at a bunch of bright orange road graffiti?

PSA: If anyone is thinking of riding this, the chances of a mountain lion attack on this route are < 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%, even if you ride it at night (which you won't be doing). It is absolutely safe.

You are FAR more likely to have a heart attack going up Alba (and the nearest defib is at the Epire Grade/Felton main fire station).

What do you think they mean when they say "This will be a fully supported ride," ?

Do I only need to carry water and they care of flat tires & food? It would be nice to ride my bike with nothing on it for a change :-)

Yeah, they provide food and water at rest points, mechanical assistance, and even have sag cars that mistook my sloth for distress. (Since I live near the half-way point, I took a couple hours off in the middle of it to shower, eat, change clothes and play with the dogs, so I was running late.)

They have a dinner at UCSC when/if you finish, and you can park for free in the parking garage near the start point.

I would bring enough to deal with a flat, just given the distances involved and isolation.

Don't worry, the cars will wear it off soon enough.

And you didn't win, did you? Sounds too much like "The tortoise and the hare". 😁😉

It isn't a race.

That's no excuse. 😉 Hey, I just had a skink sneak up on me too. Darn thing was sitting in the bit of shade my foot made. I've never been closer than about 6 feet from one before, as far as I know, they generally keep their distance. Weird. 🤔

Wait until the larvae hatch from the eggs it deposited in your foot while you weren't looking.

They're burrowing larvae, aren't they? 🤔