The moon was just a sliver in the sky, barely visible through the mist of early morning.
The highway had not yet started to roar with the hum of people starting their day, a lone car here and there.
My bike was loaded along with a tent, sleeping bag, and a change of clothes
I was on my way, another ride to start in a few hours, the two day 150 mile, “JONATHAN PON” memorial ride.
The ride starts at the south end of Mill Valley (where we can park and leave our cars overnight), and goes to Duncan Mills.
I was the first one there, I parked my car, and soon the others started to arrive.
First one, then another, and then many more, we unload our cars and get our biking shoes on. Then we started giving hugs to those we know and introducing ourselves to new friends. We stretch and complain about the cold. We wait for the sun, we log in and sign insurance waivers, we chatter some more. We load up the moving truck; we check the air pressure in our tires and fix any last minute flats.
Soon it is time for the safety speech, we introduce our training ride leaders, and then we are off. I get a plum spot, sweep of the first leg. Though it means I will be behind everyone on this first leg, it also means that when my duties are done, I can ride as fast as I like.
Before we know it we are at the base of Camino Alto and doing the climb. A rider is up ahead, and we stop to help fix his flat. The rest does wonders and the rest of the hill is no problem, fastest I’ve ever been up it.
Then down the hill and into Fairfax (through Ross, San Anselmo, etc). We regroup, get some coffee, chat for a bit and then we (the sweeps) get our people on the road and up White’s Hill we go.
At the top, our duties are done and we hand over the sweep duties to the TRLs waiting at the top. They brought cowbells and have been shouting words of encouragement to all the riders riding past them (White’s Hill is a longer climb than any single hill we do on the ride).
We zoom down the hill, and Donald (my sweep partner) flies past me, But I catch him on the long straight portion, and we ride this portion as fast as we can, until we need to turn and start our climb up Nicasio Hill. Donald stays with me during the climb, and we chat while climbing.
Once we reach the top, he is off, and I behind him, he isn’t listening when I yell out “car back!” and a car comes too close to him for my comfort, but he is fine ((I tend to ride more cautiously than some others))
We get to Nicasio and take a brief break, chat with some other riders who are taking a break as well. We get on the road, and head down skirting the edge of the Nicasio Reservoir and get to the base of the “Alps de Fromage” (the road to the Petaluma Cheese Factory).
Donald soon leaves me, and I ride up the hill, staying with some other slower riders. We eventually reach the top and then we ride into the Cheese Factory, another water break.
I meet up with some friends, and make some new ones. We ride together up (yes another hill) to the top of “D-Street- Petaluma Hill” and then we ride / coast down into Petaluma for lunch.
It is a nice day and we have lunch in the park. For some reason I catch the eye of Ginger Brewlay, and next thing I know she/ he has his arms around me, and I am blushing. I get on my bike before things get too embarrassing and I ride off.
We ride out to Valley Ford, and this is against the wind, so it is slow and steady, the wind is not that bad, so we bitch to each other when we reach Valley Ford, but we are not dead tired.
After a short break, we get on the road, and we go around the bend, now the wind is at our backs and we ride a short ways to Freestone, there is a nice bakery here, we rest munch and sit in the sun, for here we are sheltered from the wind.
Now we have a ride to Occidental, one last climb, and then a nice long gradually dropping rolling curve of a road into camp.
MORE LATER
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