Stephanie & David posted this ride on the Different Spokes calendar and I had been looking forward to it. It’s now a “tradition” of sorts (do 2 years make a tradition?) to have a day after Thanksgiving ride, and with today’s weather, what a fabulous ride it was! David has cross posted the ride to the AIDS/LifeCycle forum and that brought Rod Wong out to join us, along with Will. I had not met Rod before, but I “knew” him from ALC and he is also a Training Ride Leader.
Todays ride was the Classic Marin One-Bakery ride, starting at the Millwood Community Center on Lucas Valley Road. We head out Lucas Valley and the first climb is up to Chimney Rock. From there it’s a nice downhill as we rolled through the redwoods and on to Nicasio, our first regroup point. From there, we headed out around the reservoir and up and over Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Road to the Cheese Factory, our second regroup. We had expected traffic to lighten up from here, but I think the clear gorgeous day brought out more cars and motorcyles.
Leaving the Cheese Factory, we turned onto Hicks Valley to head to the big, big hill called the Marshall Wall. From the top, what a gorgeous view of Tomales Bay. This was the first time to descend the Wall on the “new” bike and after some tips from Lorri with Velo Girls, and I must say, I felt more confident and comfortable on this than I recall the last time, which would have been the Marin Century in 2006.
At Highway 1, we head south about 10 miles to Pt Reyes Station and the Bovine Bakery for a late lunch. I had as slice of pizza, and David bought a cinnamon roll that he shared. A quick stop at the fire station to use the restrooms and then we started heading back. Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Road took us back to and around Nicasio Reservoir, and then it’s a gentle (mostly) climb back up Lucas Valley Road to Chimney Rock and the final descent back to the cars. All in all we were done just after 3pm, with just under 4 hours of moving time, averaging 15.6 mph!
The Chain Letter 