We were originally supposed to ride road down in the Santa Cruz Mtns. yesterday but that got rescheduled to today and then changed altogether because of the heat. I was supposed to ride dirt today but Bob wanted to ride road. So the compromise, they rode road and I did some road with them and brought my gravel bike to do Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. I met Bob and Sonny at Woodside Store and we climbed Kings Mtn. together. The plan was for me to descend Whittemore Gulch while they descended Tunitas Creek and I’d meet them somewhere on Purisima Creek Rd. Well Bob wasn’t feeling good at all on Kings and at the top he decided to call it a day and turn around. That meant Sonny descended Tunitas by himself while I headed to Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP. Three ways: Bob - east, Sonny - west, me - north. I had so much fun descending Whittemore Gulch. Purisima Creek is such a beautiful park, my second favorite after Big Basin. I took my time and stopped a lot to take photos. I timed it perfectly it seems because I exited about a minute before Sonny arrived so didn't have to do any backtracking really. Dad's Luncheonette was great as usual, especially since the Homemade Chips weren't sold out. They even put fun cat drawings on our to-go bags that they didn't do for anyone else. It was nice and cool at the coast but not far inland, it was hot. My legs were still feeling good after climbing Higgins but the heat and the steepness of Lobitos and Tunitas meant my legs weren't feeling so great by the time I got to the top of the Grabtown Gulch trailhead. This is where Sonny and parted ways again. He headed home up Tunitas while I descended Grabtown Gulch back down to Purisima Creek Trail. I love that descent. So beautiful and fun. I would hate to climb it though as it's really steep. At the bottom, I had most of the steepest climbing of Purisima Creek to do and it was hotter there than on Tunitas. Plus I started to feel a twinge of cramps beginning so the whole climb up I was managing my effort to avoid getting a cramp. By the time I got to the top, I was pretty tired but I was also out of water. I felt like it was better to stay in the shade of Skyline than to drop down Kings to Robert's for water. Maybe it was the right decision, I don't know. By the time I got to Canada, I was in survival mode. It was super hot. By the time I got home, I could feel the dehydration starting - my extremities were starting to tingle. Everyone made it back safely at least. Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP was hands-down, the highlight of the ride. As soon as I got home I downed two full bottles - a bottle of Skratch Hydration and a bottle of Recovery Mix. Thankfully, the tinglies have gone away.