# Santa Cruz to Watsonville, post 5000



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

This is my 5000th post. And I can't think of a better way to send it off than with some commute pictures.

My California commute to work is a joy. A benefit indeed. About 33 miles round trip, Santa Cruz to Watsonville. Alongside the Monterey bay, through small towns and villages, over and under bridges, next to lagoons, rivers, beaches and a slough, up bluffs, beside cliffs, bisecting valley farmlands, pastures, eucalyptus groves, with snips of historic structures, infamous parks, silly markets and some amazing non-franchise coffee spots. It's quiet in the morning, light traffic for much of the ride, and then it unfolds into abandoned country roads only to wind up in an agricultural community, famous for strawberries, raspberries, Martinelli's cider, lettuce, spinach and a slew of other crops that I have no clue as to their nature.

It ties together my love for riding, my bliss surrounding the product I'm working on, the friends I'm working with, and a need to stay fit to prepare for a clash with a cluster of rebel prostate cells.

The ride









My favorite breakfast spot. Bloody Mary mornings! Yum!









Twin Lakes Beach









Overlooking Schwann Lagoon









Amsterdam Bikes









Corcoran Lagoon draining out to Live Oak Beach









Moran Lake









Tsunami bait at Moran Beach









Pleasure Point surf totem

















East Cliff Drive

















Jack O'Neill's house - above the shifter









More East Cliff

















Localism at the hook

















Hanging out









Cliffside overlook of Capitola Pier


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Capitola at see level









Heading out of town









Last glimpse of the bay, New Brighton State Beach









Under the Union Pacific RR Bridge in Aptos Village









The entrance to Nisene Marks State Park, where you can hike to the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake.









Antique wooden sidewalks in Aptos









Baldwin Hotel









Under the second UPRR Bridge in Aptos









A cool project?









Bridges of Santa Cruz County









Piggie's Market, starting point for the brutal Tuesday night hammerfest...









Not tagged - tres cool









Cresting Bonita Drive

























The climb starts at the corner of Larkin Valley and Moon Valley Ranch Roads.









The camera's at an angle I think


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Up and over and up again

































Down into Larkin Valley

























In the belly

















Fences









A car?









Curves ahead

















He always says hello









Looking sheepish









XP screen inspirations









Leaving the valley









Past the airport









Into the city


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

One last Larkin Valley ranch view, on the return that night









Parked outside my little office


----------



## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

Cooper, that is a sweet ride and those are some great photos. The area is beautiful and you do a nice job capturing a lot of the character...Cool stuff.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

SilasCL said:


> Cooper, that is a sweet ride and those are some great photos. The area is beautiful and you do a nice job capturing a lot of the character...Cool stuff.


Thanks man - we gonna meet you this Sunday on the RBR ride?


----------



## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

thinkcooper said:


> Thanks man - we gonna meet you this Sunday on the RBR ride?


Can't make it this weekend. But I'll definitely be coming to the ride & BBQ at your place next month.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

SilasCL said:


> Can't make it this weekend. But I'll definitely be coming to the ride & BBQ at your place next month.


Cool - looking forward to meeting you!

Oh yeah, we'll be doing the first part of the commute beside the ocean on the BBQ ride...


----------



## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

5000 posts to get to this point????

Well worth it. Fantastic.

Rebel prostate cells? Cancer?


----------



## ampastoral (Oct 3, 2005)

that was awesome coop.....what an amazing route on which to commute. 

was that a dslr?


----------



## thien (Feb 18, 2004)

that's a pretty sweet commute Coop. Thanks for posting...

Congratulations on 5000!


----------



## 10ae1203 (Jan 14, 2007)

Pretty neat. You have some nice country to ride in.


----------



## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Very nice ride report coop. I always enjoy seeing other parts of the world through the eyes of another cyclist. Great stuff.


----------



## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

very nice, I gotta get back there.... is there always so few cars?


----------



## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

Awesome ride.........what a way to start the day.

Nice report.

Len


----------



## thebadger (Jul 27, 2002)

Really liked the craggy tree and roots on the cliffside.


----------



## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

Wow ... what a commute. Makes me very jealous compared to my ride through the jungles of suburbia.


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

33 miles is a sweet distance and that is a sweet route so I am thinking you have a sweet squared commute.

What is that frame you are riding? So you do the commute every day? How is the traffic in the afternoon? Are you ever tempted to stop and hit the beach?

Tell all!


----------



## haiku d'etat (Apr 28, 2001)

beautiful, coop. thanks for the pics and write-up!


----------



## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Coop, that is an outstanding report... a person can almost live the experience reading and looking at your pics....... great job


----------



## Zero Signal (Feb 8, 2008)

Man I'm jealous of your commute. Mine is incredibly dull compared to that despite the similar distance. I would kill for a trip like that before and after work. Maybe I should post a commute report called "as dull as it gets" hah!


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Thanks for all the great compliments. The camera is a Canon Powershot A640. It has a rotating LCD so I can take low hold shots and frame the image before snapping. I wish the new Canon G9 still had the rotating LCD, it would be my camera of choice....



DrRoebuck said:


> Rebel prostate cells? Cancer?


Yeah, details here on my blog. Mild form, early on...



MB1 said:


> 33 miles is a sweet distance and that is a sweet route so I am thinking you have a sweet squared commute.
> 
> What is that frame you are riding? So you do the commute every day? How is the traffic in the afternoon? Are you ever tempted to stop and hit the beach?
> 
> Tell all!


I agree - a very sweet commute. It's equally so at night. That twisty road and the climb is a grand experience in the dark. So far, I haven't been able to work in more than three commutes in a given week. Meetings and work load are pretty frequent as we ramp up for big new product release. Once that rolls on through, time will free up and my legs will be able to pull off riding every day. I time trialed and chased two riders on the commute home Wednesday night, still feel it in my quads this morning. 

Traffic is always light. The pics are taken of the scenic version of my commute. There's a slightly more inland route that has a little heavier traffic and a few more lights, if time's an issue, I take that route, and match speed light to light with the cars

The frame? A 1986 Specialized Team Stumpjumper, with rebrazed canti bosses to fit 700C wheels. The bars are old Scott LH2 ATB bullhorns. 8 speed, with Mavic VTT components. The paint is rattle can industrial white. The whole package with loaded panniers, rack, fenders, lights, and 28c specialized armadillos comes in well over 40 pounds. 

Notice anything unusual about the saddle? The last pic is a late 80's vintage Concor, the first pic is an early 90's WTB. Both have been recovered with new leather. I've been restoring saddles for a while now, they come out great. And there's no limit to the leather colors. No sense letting a torn old friend languish in a dusty box on the shelf.


----------



## AIE (Feb 2, 2004)

That is more beautiful than I can handle right now. Great pictures Cooper. Thanks for the report.


----------



## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

nice pix...your office looks more bleak than Joe D's though.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> nice pix...your office looks more bleak than Joe D's though.


Cut me slack bro. It's only been a few weeks. There's a creepy cymbal crashing monkey on the shelf, a totem, some BM pics, a framed pic of me with the family sporting a mohawk, my tophat with a madhatter tarot card in the band, a lava lamp, a painting my stepson did with my name in Japanese (stee-boo?) and some butterfly chairs. A little more time and I'll have some bigger art up on the wall. Maybe a tapestry. I want my office to be the first place you'd go to do shrooms. :thumbsup:


----------



## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

No concrete boat shot???

I always loved riding over there, and most of that looks very familiar. You are pretty lucky. I like how you manage to stay off Soquel Drive for as long as you do. That would get pretty boring. I always hated the underpass into Trout Gulch, because I always feel like I'm going to get squashed. Larkin Valley is pretty cool, but I recall some short but steep climbs coming back the other direction!

Nice report.


----------



## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

thinkcooper said:


> Cut me slack bro. It's only been a few weeks. There's a creepy cymbal crashing monkey on the shelf, a totem, some BM pics, a framed pic of me with the family sporting a mohawk, my tophat with a madhatter tarot card in the band, a lava lamp, a painting my stepson did with my name in Japanese (stee-boo?) and some butterfly chairs. A little more time and I'll have some bigger art up on the wall. Maybe a tapestry. I want my office to be the first place you'd go to do shrooms. :thumbsup:


What are you doing now? I thought you had your own biz out of your house?

//monkey scares me!


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

mohair_chair said:


> No concrete boat shot???
> 
> I always loved riding over there, and most of that looks very familiar. You are pretty lucky. I like how you manage to stay off Soquel Drive for as long as you do. That would get pretty boring. I always hated the underpass into Trout Gulch, because I always feel like I'm going to get squashed. Larkin Valley is pretty cool, but I recall some short but steep climbs coming back the other direction!
> 
> Nice report.


There's a shot of the concrete boat, a little hazy - it's in the last views of the office in the series. Kinda small, and the sunlight overpowers most of the detail on the beach.

We'll be riding the first half of the commute route (up to trout gulch) when we do the BBQ ride on April 5th. As for those two UPRR bridges? They're spooky. I always glance over my shoulder and sprint, taking up the full lane so I don't get crunched.



Bocephus Jones II said:


> What are you doing now? I thought you had your own biz out of your house?
> 
> //monkey scares me!


I'm product manager of Poser again. Like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes.


----------



## Starliner (Mar 7, 2002)

Congrats on the 5K & add me to your list of admirers - great shots. I like the idea of celebrating things with pix, but if I do it it'll have to be way before I get to 5K posts, if I ever do get there.


----------



## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

thinkcooper said:


> Yeah, details here on my blog. Mild form, early on...


My dad was just diagnosed with the same.


----------



## svend (Jul 18, 2003)

thinkcooper said:


> This is my 5000th post. And I can't think of a better way to send it off than with some commute pictures.
> 
> My California commute to work is a joy. A benefit indeed. About 33 miles round trip, Santa Cruz to Watsonville. Alongside the Monterey bay, through small towns and villages, over and under bridges, next to lagoons, rivers, beaches and a slough, up bluffs, beside cliffs, bisecting valley farmlands, pastures, eucalyptus groves, with snips of historic structures, infamous parks, silly markets and some amazing non-franchise coffee spots. It's quiet in the morning, light traffic for much of the ride, and then it unfolds into abandoned country roads only to wind up in an agricultural community, famous for strawberries, raspberries, Martinelli's cider, lettuce, spinach and a slew of other crops that I have no clue as to their nature.


Awesome! Must be in the pantheon of all time most scenic commutes. Thanks for taking the time to share that.

/ April 5 looking better than 50/50 right now!
// brought back some good memories too, time spent in SC and environs


----------



## logbiter (Sep 14, 2005)

congrats on the post & sweet commute! 
Those pics really bring back the memories, though I usually did that route on my moto back when... Hey, I was young and not at all interested in the road bikes I did it a few times on my mtn bike, back when I was living in the trailer park @UCSC.
I'd do almost the same exact route to swing by dad's office when he was on Airport blvd. 
My favorite carnitas were from Hector's Bakery, is it still there? Oh man, that did it, now I'm hungry! 
Keep on keeping on!


----------



## Hollywood (Jan 16, 2003)

nice choice for #5000 Coop. Looks like a fun "assignment" and you're fortunate to have such a scenic commute.

thanks for putting that together!


J


----------



## Tabije (Aug 14, 2007)

very nice.

so the harbor cafe is good huh? i live over near morrissey and the highway but my good buddies live on 8th street.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Tabije said:


> very nice.
> 
> so the harbor cafe is good huh? i live over near morrissey and the highway but my good buddies live on 8th street.



Since you're local and potentially competing for the same table I might be looking for, it's horrible, don't ever go there, the wait is glacial, the staff surly, the cocktails are watered down, sea gulls poop all over, and there's a stinky compost heap right in the middle of the outside seating area. Or not.


----------



## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Wow, if I had a commute like that I'd be riding every day. Great shots!

How long is the commute?


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

il sogno said:


> Wow, if I had a commute like that I'd be riding every day. Great shots!
> 
> How long is the commute?


I cringe the days I have to drive... My personal best was last Wednesday night. 1:04, including lights. The 800 feet of climbing is the stiffest time challenge.


----------



## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

Great way to spend your 5000th. Nothing is better than a great commute.

BTW, my Dad has finished number 20 treatment with 23 more to go for his prostate.


----------



## snapdragen (Jan 28, 2004)

Beautiful coop! I even recognize some of the roads from my Bike Academy days.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Tabije said:


> very nice..


Hey Tabije - if you're interested and since you're local, I'm putting on this ride on April 5th, starting out in Live Oak, join us if you're interested!

Thinkcooper's Spring Ride and BBQ


----------



## Sledgehammer03 (Mar 7, 2006)

That looks like a great way to spend a couple hours of your day. And, of course, the more days you can do that the better.

Thanks for taking the time to put the whole commute into a report.

Sledge


----------



## varoadie (Feb 4, 2005)

Nice report! You are the King of the 5,000 posts. Thanks for sharing. That is the whitest bike I've seen. 

KD


----------



## YuriB (Mar 24, 2005)

That is a fine post and one helluva commute. Nicely done.


----------



## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

*This* is how 5000 should be done. Vera nice!


----------



## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Holy scenery Batman! What a beautiful ride, much less a commute! I'm way jealous. Fantastic report. And judging by the size of your headtube, you're about as tall as I am. At first, I was wondering why the gears with the bullhorns, since I thought it was a SS or fixie at first. Then I saw your climbs. yeah... gears.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

bigrider said:


> BTW, my Dad has finished number 20 treatment with 23 more to go for his prostate.


Hope he sails through it!


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

JohnnyTooBad said:


> Holy scenery Batman! What a beautiful ride, much less a commute! I'm way jealous. Fantastic report. And judging by the size of your headtube, you're about as tall as I am. At first, I was wondering why the gears with the bullhorns, since I thought it was a SS or fixie at first. Then I saw your climbs. yeah... gears.


Fully packed and loaded, I'm in my 36/28 if I climb seated. Plus it's nice to be able to go light one day, harder the next, and use gearing to turn it into a spin or grind. yeah... gears! :thumbsup:


----------



## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

I had to wait until I got home to view your post. I gave up on the bandwidth at work. Very nice, there are several places here in WA state that are very similiar except your places are sunny. I am trying to make April work. I saw that Svend was coming, if ATP comes you may witness the fury that is ATP/BigBill pulling a pack along.


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

bigbill said:


> I had to wait until I got home to view your post. I gave up on the bandwidth at work. Very nice, there are several places here in WA state that are very similiar except your places are sunny. I am trying to make April work. I saw that Svend was coming, if ATP comes you may witness the fury that is ATP/BigBill pulling a pack along.


Hell ya!


----------



## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

undies said:


> *This* is how 5000 should be done. Vera nice!


Thanks! Last thing in the world I wanted to do was pen an epic; pictures on the other hand, an easy way to deliver 1000 words per.



varoadie said:


> Nice report! You are the King of the 5,000 posts. Thanks for sharing. That is the whitest bike I've seen. KD


Glad you dug the photos. It's bright white so I can be seen at night - don't want to get run over anytime soon.



YuriB said:


> That is a fine post and one helluva commute. Nicely done.


Cheers!



Sledgehammer03 said:


> That looks like a great way to spend a couple hours of your day. And, of course, the more days you can do that the better.
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to put the whole commute into a report.
> 
> Sledge


I think it takes more time to view the thread full of photos than do the actual commute.  



snapdragen said:


> Beautiful coop! I even recognize some of the roads from my Bike Academy days.


Bike Academy? Isn't that a movie with Leslie Neilsen? 



Hollywood said:


> nice choice for #5000 Coop. Looks like a fun "assignment" and you're fortunate to have such a scenic commute.
> 
> thanks for putting that together!
> 
> ...


I got inspired by some of your posts dood.



logbiter said:


> congrats on the post & sweet commute!
> Those pics really bring back the memories, though I usually did that route on my moto back when... Hey, I was young and not at all interested in the road bikes I did it a few times on my mtn bike, back when I was living in the trailer park @UCSC.
> I'd do almost the same exact route to swing by dad's office when he was on Airport blvd.
> My favorite carnitas were from Hector's Bakery, is it still there? Oh man, that did it, now I'm hungry!
> Keep on keeping on!


Never been into Hector's, but I hear its great. Yep, it's still there.



svend said:


> Awesome! Must be in the pantheon of all time most scenic commutes. Thanks for taking the time to share that.
> 
> / April 5 looking better than 50/50 right now!
> // brought back some good memories too, time spent in SC and environs


Gots me fingers crossed you can make it up here.



Starliner said:


> Congrats on the 5K & add me to your list of admirers - great shots. I like the idea of celebrating things with pix, but if I do it it'll have to be way before I get to 5K posts, if I ever do get there.


I'm honored...


----------



## DasMud (Jun 8, 2003)

oh man did this post cheer up my day. I'm stuck across the world in a hotel in Taiwan, now daydreaming of years past when my fiancee (now wife) and I were in school and living in downtown SC. I worked at Family Cycling for maybe 3 years, and enjoyed that first part of your commute each and every morning. LOVED IT. Breakfast burritos from a little shack a few doors down (I think it was the Chill Out Cafe), and coffee from generous customers stopping in for bike fixes. I'm marking my calendar now for a visit back to SC from the East Bay. 

Thanks for the pics


----------



## eddy (Jun 5, 2005)

Wow, just awesome, Cooper! Congratulations on 5000. Your photos remind me of so many 
good, fun, relaxing times at the beach and among the redwoods in Santa Cruz. I need to get 
over to the left side of the hill again. I miss it there!

Very sorry to hear about the cancer, but good on you for having a great attitude and outlook 
as always. I hope your wife is coming to the RBR ride on Sunday. I might just have 
someone to follow and keep within sight on the ride.

Thanks for posting.


----------



## Mr Wood (Feb 23, 2006)

:cryin: I am sooo jealous. Can I come work for/with you? I don't even know what you do, but I don't care. I am a hard worker and a quick learner. My wife will need employment too.

I will post my commute some day, but only as a contrast to this one.


----------



## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

There are so many beautiful places in this country. It would so wonderful to live in one like that. I'm sure you know how lucky you are.


----------



## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*heaven?*

Looks like you died and went to commuter heaven. Or, you are definitely living right. 

I guess that's why everyone wants to live there.


----------

