Mid-Week Rides: Riding alleviates worrying

Wednesday, May 3 2017

Chris writes

What a spectacular day for a ride! Green, green grass, blue sky and warm, perhaps a little to much so. Three gathered at the G.G. Bridge and waited for Alberto (he said he was coming). At 7:15 am the three amigos, John Guy, Mike Moore and me, Chris Weld, left for breakfast…operating under the known facts. Alberto rises very early, knows the breakfast beanery and probably rode straight-away. Arrived to find a nice group of riders, Joe Arietta, his friend Doug (sorry - don’t recall the last name), Paul Hampton and Don Theile. No Alberto! Call, no answer..message left. Start to worry.

Riding alleviates worrying, so ride we did. Rode Stoney Creek to Pepper, Pepper to Walker, Walker to Bodega Highway but whoa! We’ve got time..let’s use it! Turned toward Tomales and then toward Dillon Beach but ducked onto Middle Road first.

We rode Middle to Whitaker and turned west for the road into Valley Forge and then Hwy #1 into Bodega Bay and a break at the Tides. Here some of our fold watched a crew cleaning crabs through the viewing windows, others watched the 4 or 5 huge Sea Lions putting-out large ‘barks’ while doing some swimming antics, still others tested the plumbing provided.

Back on the road Jenner was our next stop..one member wanted more gas. Cal-Trans had a sign up, expect 45 minute delay ahead. The ‘gas guy’ told us it was a 3-4 minute wait, the sign was a contractual consideration so the contractor ‘could’ delay that much as necessary. Us? Never had to stop. We climbed Meyer Grade and rode it the whole length, about 15 miles to pick-up Hauser Creek where Theile got to play ‘chicken’ with a piece of highway machinery. Hauser Creek is a steep twisting challenge for the motorist, even if the pavement were smooth (it wasn’t).

Here the rider’s in a forest canopy. Hauser Creek, Tin Barn and King Ridge all terminate together. We rode King Ridge down into Cazadero for a break (Theile thought it a meal break and dined without us). We all putt-putted down Austin Creek to Hwy #116 where Hampton peeled for cool ocean breezes and an early arrive home. The rest? We headed for lunch in a pizza shop in Gurneville before tackling Sweetwater Springs (one of my personal favorites). This road is similar to Hauser Creek in that it has tight, rising and falling turns with poor pavement - just ask John Guy about it.

Brent, Joe and Doug all split for Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Sebastopol on our arrival at River Road, John and Chris headed for Forestville and Hwy 116 toward Cotati but turned onto Stoney Point and back to the ride’s ‘official start’. John (who lives across the street from Chris) knocked-down 237 miles on the day.