I led two rides in late February, and I continue to be amazed at the amount of running water in places I’ve never seen running water before. Creeks are appearing and rivers that are nearly dried  up in summer are full. Last weekend, on another ride, I saw a waterfall on Petaluma-Point Reyes Road as we approached Nicasio Reservoir.

On Saturday, February 20, Will, Evan, Ben, the two Rogers and I rode up Mt. Veeder, which is the first part of the route of the Tour of Napa Valley. The ride was largely an excuse to go up to Yountville and pig out at Bouchon, the bakery owned by Thomas Keller, who also owns French Laundry. Since Bouchon was the start point and end point for the ride, we did just that. Mt. Veeder was its usual nasty self, and I heard Roger swearing at me on the way up for having the brilliant idea of climbing it. At about 1,200 feet elevation, I was swearing at myself, too. But the great thing about this route is that once you get to the top, it’s downhill or flat the rest of the way. Thanks to a good idea by Will, we changed the route to tour Bear Creek Rd. all the way back to Napa, where we had a nice lunch at a grocery on 29 and Redwood Road. Yes, I guess this one was all about the food.

The following Sunday, a nice group of us including co-leader Doug, Evan, Roger, and Mark (apologies – I think I’m leaving one or two out) did a club favorite, Morgan Territory Road. The climb was tougher than I remember, as the hill up to the Preserve seems to have gotten steeper over the winter than it was the last time I did it. Another great day.

The pretty gate to the property at the top of Mt. Veeder

Napa Valley in the winter

Roger conquers Mount Veeder

On the way to Morgan Territory

Into the park

Flowering trees in the East Bay hills

David and I were joined by Jerome, Will, Dave and Jon, and two gals from the East Bay, Jodi and Jean for the out and back/Point Reyes Station loop from the Millwood Community Center in San Rafael. While we had some headwinds along the way to Nicasio and past the reservoir, it was a pleasant day.

Leaving Point Reyes Station, Jodi and Jean suggested taking Bear Valley Road, which led to a bit of confusion as we got separated from Dave, Jon and Will. Bear Valley is a very pleasant road which loops around back to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Olema (can’t we skip the Olema hill one time?). Great ride and company!

More pictures here!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/20939/embed

Approximately 12 riders joined fearless leader David Goldsmith and myself for this lovely ride over to Caffé Rulli in Larkspur and back. These included fellow FrontRunners Tim Offensend and Bruno Olhshausen as well as many of our regulars, such as our pres David Gaus, Doug Sabo, Evan, Tim (a new DS rider), Rob, Lee and others. The sky was cloudless and the sun was out in all its glory though it was still a bit crisp in the city at the start. By the time we made it to the bridge, most of us had shed our extra layers, leggings, arm warmers, etc.

We had a nice rest stop at Rulli’s and then headed back. It was still mostly sunny though a few clouds had entered the picture and it was slightly colder on the return trip. Everyone had a nice ride back save our newbie, Tim, who unfortunately got a major blowout just before the climb back up Camino Alto and thus had to walk to REI to get a new tire, the old one being useless. We bumped into Joseph Collins at the Sausalito side of the bridge on the way back as he was leading a Cat 2 ALC training ride and bemoaning the loss of his pink handlebar tape but sporting a brand new sensible black one. After returning to the city folks could get on with their afternoon plans, mine (as well as a few others, I understand) included watching the Saints come back and beat the favoured Colts in the Super Bowl; all in all a very excellent day.

Three intrepid riders – myself, Nancy, and Evan – set out from San Rafael for a 33 mile jaunt through the Marin suburbs and back country. We were treated to a beautiful winter ride with sights rarely seen – a nearly-full Nicasio reservoir, plentiful and rushing water flowing through the creek that runs down the back side of Lucas Valley Road, and an empty parking lot (and no waiting) at the Cheese Factory at lunchtime.

I did not even realize there was a creek that ran alongside Lucas Valley Road  – I had never seen running water there – but on this particular day, it was spectacular.

A few minutes of rain at the very end of the ride did not spoil what was otherwise a glorious day for riding.

6 riders braved the January weather in Pescadero. We all drove through a deluge on Highway 1 before arriving at Pescadero, then spent the first hour of the “ride” having coffee and tea in the bakery and country store, lusting after the baked goods, and debating the merits of riding vs. the warm artichoke soup at Duarte’s. Great hanging out with Wly, Scott, Nancy, Frank, and Patrick for a while – but I’m glad we decided to take off on our bikes around 11 – the sky cleared, and we were rewarded with a beautiful day.

One of the goals of this ride was to help us get in shape for spring and summer riding. Good thing – several of us (myself included) discovered that we were quite out of shape after a winter of hibernating and not doing much riding. When I caught up with the fitter riders in San Gregorio, my thought was “I can’t believe I ever rode 100 miles on the same day before.” Things will get easier as the season develops.

It was a classic coastside ride on a gorgeous day – beautifully verdant hills on Stage Road, clear air as we rode down Highway 1, providing great vistas, and running water in Gazos Creek.

Yesterday was the first ride in a ride series promoted and put together by David Goldsmith; a series of progressively longer rides, leading up to a possible first century (the Wine Country Century in May), or just for those interested in getting out and to begin getting some miles in.

Thomas, Evan K, Anna, Rico and Joe joined David and I for “Our Destination is Destination“, heading first to Golden Gate Park, taking JFK to the Great Highway. We regrouped at the restrooms near the zoo, where Dennis caught up with us (actually, he was waiting for us; he missed us at the start and somehow got ahead of us.) Thomas unfortunately had a flat, and then Dennis joined him. Two new tubes later, we headed off to circle Lake Merced, then began the only significant climbing of the ride, up Sloat and St. Francis Boulevards, and over to Glen Park where we stopped at Destination Baking Company for a snack.

A delightful ride, without a doubt and great company! The next ride in the series is Saturday, January 16th, from Millwood Community Center to Nicassio and back!

September 26 was a warm day as Scott Steffens, Nancy Levin, and Maurizio Franzini joined me in Woodside, where we started our ride to Pescadero. Climbing Old La Honda, I was regretting the missed opportunity to wear a sleeveless jersey. However, descending into La Honda, we met the the Bay Area’s natural air conditioning. As we regrouped in La Honda, the club’s former ride coordinator, Bill Bushnell, passed us. He was taking advantage of the still longish days for a ride from Sunnyvale to Santa Cruz and back.

Nancy started out ahead of us from the regroup. Her day hadn’t started too well: She woke to find a flat tire and had gone to a bike store thinking she needed to buy a replacement tire. In her haste to get to the ride start on time, she had forgotten to pack her bike shorts. But without a second thought, she decided to do the ride in some loose-fitting gym shorts. I think those loose-fitting shorts acted like wings because the rest of us didn’t see her again until we arrived at the bakery in Pescadero for lunch.

Maurizio purchased a delicious-looking raspberry pastry twist for lunch. Some yellow jackets found it appealing, too. After changing tables and hopping about, he finally lured the yellow jackets with a nectar-flavored Snapple drink and salvaged the pastry to fuel the ride back along the rollers on Stage Road and the climb on Tunitas Creek. Turns out that the insect species had the last laugh: Riding down Kings Mountain I felt something bite me. Of course, I wasn’t going to let a little insect bite ruin this fun descent. But at the bottom I found a stinger in my Tibialis Anterior. I removed it and applied some Sting Eze, but over the next few days my foot and lower leg swelled up. Still, insects or no, this remains my favorite ride.

Today new member Peter from the Easy Bay joined Topher and Doug O for a ride up tunnel, over the three bears and finally up Pinehurst. Tunnel Rd challenged Doug’s confidence and he urged us to continue on without him, but with a gentle and friendly push he stayed with Topher and Peter, ultimately putting in a strong ride from then until the end, but we’ll come back to that in a bit. In the first descent, along Grizzly Peak Blvd, Peter went into a corner blazingly fast and found himself sliding across the road. He was a little shaken and suffered some abrasion, but this was not going to deter him. Peter picked himself up, dusted himself off and rode on. Yay! Peter hung in there through Three Bears, up San Pablo Dam Rd and partly up Pinehurst. At that point he decided to ease off the pace and take a short cut home for needed recovery—don’t overdue it Peter, we want to see you back!

Doug, who was doubting his climbing earlier, now urged Topher to make a route change. On the return, where we originally planned to descend Tunnel Rd the way we came, he suggested we instead head up Grizzly Peak again to descend Claremont, which adds a couple miles and some more ascent. Subtracting some time that we assisted Peter with his injury, Topher and Doug completed the 60 mile 4930 up-feet ride in 4:31. Peter gets credit for keeping that kind of pace too, since he did so until Pinehurst, and on a sore leg even. Brute.