After doing the Solvang Double Century the weekend before last, and then Del Puerto Canyon Century last week, Bob wanted to do a 50 miler this weekend. He put together a different route back than we normally do taking E. Zayante, which we haven't done together in quite a while, and then cutting through Redwood Estates to get back to Lexington Reservoir. At the start of the ride, we were debating whether to bring layers for the coast. The weather said it would be nice by the time we got there but the fog was JUST burning off when we got to Gayle's. After years of visiting Gayle's, today was the first time I actually got a pastry from their bakery. I got a cherry hand pie for dessert and it was pretty good. After lunch, it was warm in the sun but there was a pretty cold breeze. We made it a block when we decided to pull over and put on our vests. Bob put on arm warmers which I kind of wish I had done too. Luckily a few blocks later, I was feeling fine. As we cut through Santa Cruz on the way to E. Zayante, it got hot. The last time I did E. Zayante, it was a 100 mile/11K' day and I was on my Tarmac. It's funny how 28t isn't low enough gearing anymore and I was grinding pretty bad up the climb. Once I got to the steeps, I could feel my legs wanting to cramp. Today, with the 36t on my Aethos, I was spinning up almost all but the steepest parts of the climb. And after the steepest parts, I felt so fresh, I don't remember ever feeling like the upper part of the climb was as flat as it felt today. Of course, I also wasn't trying to go for a PR. Point is, it was very pleasant. The southern part of Summit Dr. from the top of E. Zayante was really nice. At first I thought I'd done it before but I'm not sure that I have. Going through Redwood Estates was all descent back to Old Santa Cruz. On the map, it looked like there were a lot of turns we'd have to make to navigate our way through so we took it slow but in reality, we just had to stay on the one road so we could've bombed it, or gone faster anyway. I think it would've been fun. The descent down Old Santa Cruz was mostly fun until I got stuck behind a pickup truck. The Aethos rails corners! Finished it off with some dirt instead of taking Hwy 17 like we normally do. Great day!