It is early morning, and we need to get started, but the fog has not lifted so we are reluctant to start.
The climb out of the campground isn’t really a climb but it is up a gravel drive, so I walk my bike up (I’m so not interested in falling on gravel).
For some reason that I don’t remember now, I stop and the others go on, so after a bit when I finally get started, I’m alone in the early morning mist. It is quiet and magical, only the bitter cold breaks the moment.
I hurry now, knowing the faster I go the sooner I will warm up. I come to the bridge that crosses the river and soon the highway that leads to the coast. I look both ways then cross, and head towards the coast, soon I fall into a rhythm and I soon catch another rider and another. I see others who have stopped to take pictures of a patch of sunlight, like it is an alien thing. I wave and go on, I to have stopped for pictures like this, but I’m finally warm, and don’t want to stop yet.
We reach the junction of the River and the Ocean and turn south. We start our first climb of the day, it is a relatively easy climb not too long, not too steep, we are still slow, for we suspect we have many hills to climb before the day is done.
Riding along the coast it a ride of pleasure, (especially if the wind is at your back)
Rolling hills, where if you can gage the angles right, you push yourself picking up speed to coast your way up (or not slow to a crawl) most of the other side, just leaving you a little amount of hill, where if you push, you can make it to the top and you aren’t worn out.
There are many places to pull over and enjoy the scenery between Jenner & Bodega Bay, but not any “Towns” so Bodega Bay is the first rest stop, where some of the riders stop for coffee, I keep going, I heard through the grapevine that the wind will be blowing against us as the day goes by, so I want to get as many miles under my belt before it does.
So I ride & ride until I get to Valley Ford, our second official rest stop. Half of our riders are there; so I stop and socialize for a while, refill my water bottles and Camelback. Before long the sweep (yes the sweep), is coming along, so we get back on the road. Valley Ford is where the Sweep changes.
(The 1st sweep my friend Beau is done with his duties so we ride together. The 2nd shift sweeps has been lounging in chairs by the side of the road, you would think by looking at them that they are at the beach.)
We ride, like the wind (for the wind is at our backs) and soon we are in Tomales where we have coffee, and then we are off to Point Reyes Station, where lunch is being served.
Now lunch is served in a deli, so we actually get to sit down in a padded booth. Very nice and cushy on our bottoms.
Then back on the road, some of the slower riders have sagged now, so we are now getting to be the tail end of the riders (or it seems that way)
So we ride back to Samuel P Taylor Park and take the bike trail though the park, it is great ride, but don’t do it when it been muddy.
When we get to the end of the trail, we discover that one of our riders has a shoe that refuses to unclip. So we have to stop and he takes of his show while it is still clipped in, can’t get it undone, so we sag him.
We ride on, at this point we are in Lagunitas, stop for a bathroom break and then back over White’s Hill and into Fairfax. Can you say ICE CREAM, I just have a taste of Beau’s “delicious” – Maybe after the ride, after all I have to fit in my red dress.
We ride on, now the only hill we have left is Camino Alto, so up that hill , down the other side and we are done. We coast into Mill Valley, retrieve our bags and say good bye
Another Training ride is done
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