gran fondo L
HIGH PERFORMANCE TEST BIKES DEMO FLEET CONCIERGE SERVICE SHIPPING & RECEIVING
FEATURING S-WORKS CERVELO IBIS SURLY CO-MOTION
go
4
amgen tour of california 2010 sponsors
S TAG E 2 | M O N DAY | M AY 1 7 | 2 O1 O
S ta g e S p o n s o r Levi’s GranFondo/Bike Monkey Y e llow J e r s e y S po n so r Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa Blue Jersey Plus Sponsor Redwood Regional Medical Group V IP H o s p i ta l i t y T e n t S p o n s o r Redwood Regional Medical Group Blue Jersey Sponsors the Bike Peddler/NorCal Bike Sport North Bay Vitreoretinal Consultants Parkpoint Health Clubs Santa Rosa Cycling Club Sonoma County Tourism Bureau Russian River Brewing Company Northern California Medical Associates Red Jersey Sponsors Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery, P.C. Carle, Mackie, Powers & Ross, LLP Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz, LLP Trek Bicycle Store Santa Rosa Orthopaedics AT&T R e d J e r s e y Cowb e ll S p o n so r Mary’s Pizza Shack Kids’ Zone St. Joseph Health System – Sonoma County Green Jersey Sponsors Cambria Bicycle Outfitters Codding Enterprises Spoke Folk Cyclery Massage Envy
White Jersey SponsorS The Sales Foundry Ty Jones & Co. Mac’s Kosher Style Deli Stout Brothers Irish Pub & Restaurant La Vera Pizza Skyline Design Studio Media Sponsors Froggy 92.9 97.7 The River 101.7 The Fox Mix 104.9 KSRO 1350 AM The Krush 95.9 96.7 BOB FM Y100.9 Exitos 98.7 100.1 KZST In Kind Sponsors Clover Stornetta Farms, Inc. Pure Luxury Limousine, Inc. Sonic.net Friendly Feed and Supply SIGNS par excellence, Inc.
contents PU B LISHER
5
Tour Sponsors
4
Welcome
7
A Letter from Levi
9
AMGEN Tour 2010
12
Race Viewing Areas
18
Bike Bites
21
Gran Expectations
28
10 Santa Rosa Rides
34
Ride Atlas
36
Cycling Resources
38
WSD: The Right Fit
40
The Daily Biker: A Primer
42
Bike Gangs of Santa Rosa
45
Ride of Passage
52
Annadel
57
Bike Talk: A Glossary
62
Raissa de la Rosa, City of Santa Rosa EDITOR
Ty Jones, Ty Jones & Cยบ. C REATI V E SER V I C ES
ranch7 creative c o v e r i l l u s t r at i o n
Sheryl Chapman WE B SER V I C ES
Sassy Monkey Media SALES
Jami Jennings Dominique Pacheco C ONTRI B UTIN G PHOTO G RAPHERS
Carson Blume Carl Burchfiel Veronika Lenzi John Reid City of Santa Rosa C ONTRI B UTIN G WRITERS
Raissa de la Rosa Claire Fetrow Greg Fisher Laurie Gibbs Heather Irwin Jim Keene Levi Leipheimer Rand Libberton Sandra Lupien SPE C IAL THAN K S
Carlos, Greg, Ray & Jim
PHOTO: MICHAEL FRIEDENBERG
from the mayor Welcome to Santa Rosa, a city of food and wine, a city in transition, a city on the move! Santa Rosa is the largest business and service hub for the Sonoma County wine region, and as mayor of this dynamic city, it is my honor to welcome you to our community. Santa Rosa truly is a city designed for living and is worth celebrating. Located just 55 miles north of San Francisco, Santa Rosa offers a warm and sunny climate with outstanding park systems and is within biking distance to beaches, rivers, mountains, Redwoods and small artisan wineries. For the past five years, Santa Rosa has served as the prized training ground and stage for the AMGEN Tour of California (TOC). The 2007-09 Tour winner and local pro-athlete Levi Leipheimer compares the quality of our local terrain to the European topography so famous among professional cyclists. Like fine wine, balance is the key to Santa Rosa’s appeal. Its thriving arts and emerging creative hub bustles like a big city with the friendly service of a small rural community. Situated in some of California’s most fertile soil, Santa Rosa farmers’ markets are vibrant places for Sonoma County farmers and artisans to provide a wide selection of organic foods and specialty products for customers to enjoy. Travelers appreciate Santa Rosa’s relaxed and authentic wine country experience. Our famous chefs and diverse downtown restaurant offerings—many of which source products locally—make dining in Santa Rosa an affordable and sustainable culinary adventure. As Santa Rosa continues to transition and define its position within the marketplace, citizens and policy leaders are working diligently to protect the environment and grow responsibly by supporting sustainable development. Our city features prominently in the future SMART Train system, which links Sonoma and Marin counties via a rail corridor with a bike/pedestrian pathway. Policy leaders and community groups continue to work toward alternative transportation options that nurture our growing pedestrian and bicycle culture. I sincerely thank you for taking the time to visit, even if it’s just by way of reading this magazine. I hope our hospitality brings you back for many more visits.
My Best,
Mayor Susan Gorin City of Santa Rosa
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PHOTO: CARL BURCHFIEL
8
a letter from levi Dear Cycle City 365 Reader, If you’ve pulled back the cover on this magazine, it’s likely because bicycles compel you. I can certainly understand the attraction; I’ve made a life out of riding and racing my bike all over the globe. With the entire world from which to choose, I opted for Santa Rosa. Here at the edge of North America, the land meets the sea in a conspiracy of hills, canyons, ridgelines and valleys. Remote mountain roads can carry you along for hours up, over and across emerald slopes before dumping you at steep bluffs overlooking crashing waves. Cool, foggy mornings regularly give way to a bright sun and skies so blue as to strain the eyes. On good days, you’ll see more deer than cars, more eagles than people. These days are plentiful, as the Mediterranean climate of this area allows for some of the best year-round (though occasionally wet) cycling. The professional cycling industry tends to agree with me on this one. Santa Rosa has hosted pro-bike races for decades, beginning with the famed Coors Classic in the ‘80s. The modern Amgen Tour of California picked up where the Coors Classic left off in 2006. In 2010, the Tour of California will make its fifth stop in Santa Rosa, continuing our ongoing home tradition of bringing out the best in the world’s top cyclists. In celebration of this, I developed my own annual charity ride, Levi’s King Ridge GranFondo, to allow others the opportunity of riding my favorite Sonoma County roads alongside my professional buddies and me. Not into road cycling? Hey, we all need a break from the asphalt. Santa Rosa has some of the best off-road mountain biking a few short miles from downtown in Annadel State Park. We’ve got 5,000 acres of oak woodland and Douglas-fir forest strewn with trails that regularly put a grin on my face. If you’d rather just pedal around town, that’s fine, too. We’ve invested a lot of money in local bike paths, signed bike routes and special boulevards designed specifically for bikes. As a cyclist, Santa Rosa holds a deep place in my heart. It’s not only my home but also my favorite place to ride. I invite you to come and enjoy Santa Rosa—a true Cycle City.
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PHOTO: ©2010 JOHN REID
“I’ve ridden my bike in some of the most beautiful locations across the globe, but there is no place I would rather ride my bike than the amazing landscape and terrain of Sonoma County. The roads are pure cycling heaven.” Levi Leipheimer
amgen tour of california 2010
PHOTOS: CITY OF SANTA ROSA
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TOUR 2O1O
amgen tour of california 2010 catch myself ranting at times about how I’d like Santa Rosa’s bike culture to be like that of, well, almost any great city in Europe where people commute on bikes without thought–where cycling is accepted on rural and urban streets alike. Yeah, I know, “This ain’t Europe, honey,” is what you’re thinking. But a girl can dream.
organizer AEG Sports. Eight months later on the eve of Stage One of the inaugural Tour, after a moderate attendance at the Prologue in San Francisco, I remember clearly the nervous anticipation and fear that after all our planning, only a handful of people would show up for the Santa Rosa finish on a potentially rainy President’s Day holiday. Boy, howdy, were we wrong.
I didn’t think this dream could be a reality until the Amgen Tour of California took hold here; and Sonoma County got recognized as one of the top cycling destinations in the world; and more and more seemingly suppressed biker tendencies started bursting forth proudly around town.
First off, the weather was perfect— warm, sunny and spring-like. Secondly, people came out in droves. Thousands of people downtown moved in masses through the traveling circus that is the Tour’s Lifestyle Festival. But the real crowds came shortly before the cyclists entered town. Standing on the announcer’s stage with some of our local organizing committee and city councilmembers, we got our first clue just how successful this event would prove to be.
How is it that a bike race could help hasten a change in destiny of Santa Rosa’s cultural identity? I’m not from Santa Rosa originally, so I never knew its illustrious cycling history. And while I enjoy a good ride, and do keep a bike at work to get about town, I’m not an avid cyclist. I only know that when I moved here about six years ago, it seemed very few people were going about their daily business on their bikes. Sure, there were plenty of road cyclists riding hard on weekends out in the county, but the bike culture in town was not as obvious. Interestingly, the Tour seems to have changed that. The Amgen Tour of California first came to Santa Rosa in June 2005 in the form of a sales pitch and Request for Proposal from Tour owner and
Everywhere we looked—across Courthouse Square, down Fourth Street, down Third Street—there were people. People were dripping off the 4-story parking garage, leaning out of buildings, sitting in trees, standing on any elevated surface they could find, and lined manydeep behind the circuit fencing in anticipation of the peloton entering its final leg of the 80+ mile stage up the coast from Sausalito. When the advance cars came, cowbells started ringing and thunder sticks started banging, so that by
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...
amgen tour of california 2010 the time the peloton did arrive, the pitch was fevered with ecstasy. It was thrilling. The cyclists said they were shocked by the welcome, that it was so noisy they couldn’t hear their headsets, that they had never expected any thing like the r e c e p t i o n t h e y received that first day of the race in Santa Rosa. Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, called it a moment of truth. Indeed, it was. This is what has made Santa Rosa a mainstay of the Tour. Well, that and the guy who keeps winning it. No doubt about it, we’re lucky to be home to Levi Leipheimer, three-time Amgen Tour of California champion, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and third place winner in the 2006 Tour de France. Without him, we may not have been considered as a potential host city. But we were, and for five years now we’ve made the best of it. How, you ask? We’re one of only two cities who have participated in all five Tours, which means we’ve had five good years to shore up our bike culture, increase our cycling
infrastructure, and really claim a place in the pantheons of cycling destinations. It would not be a stretch to say that five years ago our bikerelated subculture was sub- rosa. Also, from an economic st a ndpoint, f ive years ago we had only six bike stores in town. Today, we have eleven, plus a handful of related businesses and startups, including those driven by bike t ou r i s m . A m or e obvious cu lture shift, though, is the increase in the number and types of bikes and riders you see on the road— gutter bunnies, fixies, Freds and Wilmas, and the retro-grouches. It’s a vibrant and colorful scene. On top of this, the Sonoma County terrain and temperate weather really do make for ideal cycling conditions, and we provide folks ways to experience it all. In its first year, Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo attracted a sellout crowd of 3,500, hauling tail up multiple killer hills with equally killer vistas. For visitors and locals alike, Santa Rosa Cycling Club, Sonoma County Bi-
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amgen tour of california 2010 cycle Coalition, and any one of the local bike shops around the city and county put on numerous rides. But it’s not all road cycling all the time. It’s velo Valhalla here for mountain bikers considering Howarth Park, one of our largest city parks, flows seamlessly into scenic Spring Lake Regional Park, which, in turn, leads beautifully into Annadel State Park. Ever see the YouTube footage of someone with a headcam chasing Levi as he bikes down a mountain? One can’t help but notice how content Levi looks. That’s the effect Santa Rosa’s landscape can have on an individual. Come on, check it out! Raissa de la Rosa, an economic development specialist for the City of Santa Rosa’s Economic Development and Housing Department, has played a key role in coordinating the Tour in Santa Rosa since its inception in 2006. Cycle City 365 is a publication of the City of Santa Rosa’s Economic Development and Housing Department.
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LE G END
ROUTE DETAILS
Open Roads
Day:
Race Route
S ta r t :
Davis
Closed Roads
Finish:
Santa Rosa
Limited Access
S ta r t
Public Parking
Mi:
109.5
Km:
176.2
E n d ETA :
(ope n)
Event Parking (c lo s e d)
Festival Area
Time:
Mon, May 17
11:00 AM
3:00-4:00 PM
downtown race viewing Monday | may 17 | 2O1O festivals & events | 11:OO am - 4:OO pm A | Finish Line – 3rd St & Santa Rosa Ave
An obvious choice, of course. Not only is it the finish line, where the announcer’s and awards stages are located, it’s also where the Tour’s Lifestyle Festival starts, extending down Santa Rosa Avenue to Fifth Street. Since the jumbotron is also located here—which provides continuous coverage from the Davis start to the Santa Rosa finish—you won’t miss a thing. b | 3rd Street between D & E Streets
A second jumbotron will be placed in this second festival area. It’s actually an extension of the core Lifestyle Festival on Santa Rosa Avenue, but with a slightly different atmosphere. There will be a big beer tent and an entertainment stage with local band Baby Seal Club playing. Add to that food and vendor booths, bouncy houses for the kids and visibility of the peloton race up 2nd Street and back down 4th Street (if you stand at Third and E Streets), and you got yourself a most excellent race experience. c | 4th Street between B & E Streets
There will be a third jumbotron located on Fourth and D Streets. Additionally, the bars and restaurants along this stretch (and even some enthusiastic merchants) tune their TVs to the Versus TV coverage. You can enjoy some fine cuisine and local brews while watching those crazy fit men speed by you all lean and sinewy in their wind-efficient spandex. You might feel like a glutton, but you’ll be well sated as you enjoy the festivities. If you park yourself right at Fourth and D, you’ll be ideally situated to roll right into the evening activities with the Bike Monkey crew and their Gold Sprint shenanigans. There will be a DJ, stationery sprint races and some local booths. d | Railroad Square – Wilson st between 3rd & 6th Streets
If you’re looking for an area that’s a little quieter and more charming than the thick of the Courthouse Square festival areas, Railroad Square is your place. There’s no jumbotron, but some of the city’s finest hanging out can be had in this location. Two great coffee shops are on the route—one at Fourth and Wilson and the other at Fifth and Wilson. If you want to hang at a pub before dashing out to meet the race, you can do that on Fifth Street. Wine tasting? That’s on Fourth. Food? There’s plenty of it. Eat, drink, be merry, get over to Wilson Street to watch the race, then eat, drink and be even merrier. The bonus shot in this area is at Wilson and Third Streets. That’s the final corner for the straightaway sprint to the finish line at Third and Santa Rosa Avenue. There are no circuits this year, so the riders will be taking this corner hard if they want to win. And who doesn’t want to win? FOR A FULL SCHEDULE, VISIT
srcitytoc.com
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BIKER BAR. H O PM O N K TAVER N IS R I G HT O N TH E J O E RO D OTA TR AI L
2 30 PE TALU MA AVEN U E • S EBA S TO P O L • HOP M ON K .CO M 7 O 7 . 8 2 9 . 7 3 OO
bike bites ou may have been born to ride, but unless there’s some serious fuel behind those pedals, you may as well pack it in. Fortunately, there a re ple nt y of amazing resta urant s dotting popular bicycle routes from southern Sonoma to the coast, vineyards and beyond. Ready to tuck away some grub? Check out some of our favorite cyclist-friendly eateries . . .
Coast Bound Rio Nido Roadhouse: Tucked into a redwood grove along the Russian River, this funky roadside dive is all about the Hot Brown: turkey, bacon and tomato on grilled Texas toast that’s covered with cheese sauce. The rest of the menu is equally artery clogging (buffalo wings, fries, burgers and pizza) along with a smattering of salads to wash things down. In warmer months, live bands kick things up on the outdoor stage, and you can take a quick dip in the outdoor pool (Memorial Day to Labor Day). 1454O Canyon Two, Rio Nido | 7O7.869.O821
Wild Flour Bread: Make the pilgrimage to this funky Freestone bakery that’s become a must-stop for bicyclists and the beach bound. Follow your nose to where weekenders congregate around a communal table with steaming plates of sticky buns and fruit-studded scones or chase children through the garden. Don’t leave without feasting on a dense, seeded boule and an extra fougasse stuffed with savory cheese and veggies straight from the brick oven. There’s a catch, however: The bakery is only open Friday through Monday, they don’t take credit cards, and speed isn’t a virtue here, so sometimes there’s a wait, which only heightens the pleasure of finally getting that first bite. 14O Bohemian HIGHWAY, Freestone | 7O7.874.2938
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bike bites Morning Fuel-Up Fremont Diner: Oozing nouveau decrepitude, a heavy dose of John Deere chic and the irresistible lure of a butter- and pork-soaked menu that would bring a tear of recognition to grandpappy’s eyes, this burger-joint-turned-diner is everything good about, well, roadside diners. On the menu: buttermilk waffles, cheesy house ground grits and Braeburn apple donuts ($5). Here, “Praise the Lard” isn’t just a quirky tag line but a mission from 7am to 4pm daily. 2660 Fremont Dr., Sonoma | 7O7.938.737O
Jeffrey’s Hillside Cafe: Rib-sticking comfort food from one of Wine Country’s top chefs. You’ll likely fly by once or twice in search of this well-hidden cafe, but it’s worth a little extra recon for the chow. From blue-collar classics like huevos rancheros, chicken fried steak and cheese grits to highbrow fromage blanc blintzes, Chef Jeff has culinary range as wide as his smile. Open 7 days a week from 6:30am to 2:30pm. Entrance to the cafe can be a little confusing if you’re heading east on Route 12. Best bet is to turn left on Farmer’s Lane and follow the curve around to the entrance of the Hillside Inn. 2901 Fourth St., Santa Rosa | 7O7.546.6317
Among the Vines Jimtown Store: Hollywood would be hard-pressed to concoct a country store with as much ambience and yesteryear charm as this Alexander Valley provisioner. But rustic needs vision, and New Yorker Carrie Brown and her late husband John Werner (a Silver Palate partner) have revamped Jimtown into a tourist-friendly Wine Country destination, complete with a 1955 red pickup out front, gourmet local foods, local wines and a top-notch deli/cafe. Best bets: Chain Gang chili, pulled pork and buttermilk coleslaw. 6706 State Highway 128, Healdsburg | 7O7.433.1212
Love the country store vibe? You’ll get a similar experience (charming knickknacks, local olive oils, gourmet sandwiches given a shabby-chic design boost) at the Dry Creek General Store, conveniently located in the tasting room-heavy Dry Creek Valley. 3495 Dry Creek Rd., Healdsburg, 7O7.433.4171
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The salads are fresh and the steaks are sizzling, but in the end, it’s all about the whiskey.
bike bites Burgers & Beer Barley and Hops Tavern: One the few watering holes within a 20-mile radius between Sebastopol and Bodega Bay, this Occidental pub caters to about 85 percent locals on any given night—friends and neighbors catching up over a beer and wings at this quintessentially neighborhood bar. What makes it destination-worthy, however, is...well...pretty much everything. Owner Noah Bolmer is a beer fanatic with an extensive menu of tasty brews. Homemade fish and chips, burgers, onion rings, hand-cut fries and their classic cottage pie with ground beef, porter and mashed potatoes round out the menu. 3688 Bohemian HIGHWAY, Occidental | 7O7.874.9O37
Carbo-load Rosso Pizzeria: With a menu that reads like a Sicilian love letter, Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar ain’t your average pie shop, instead focusing on paper-thin prosciutto, fresh-made tapenades, signature salads, antipasti and bubbling woodfired pizzas. 53 Montgomery Dr., Santa Rosa | 7O7.544.3221
Light & Healthy East/West Café is kind to the meat-free, focusing its omnivorous menu on Mediterranean and veggie-centric dishes with a lighter touch. Plus, it’s conveniently located right near Annadel State Park. 557 Summerfield Road., Santa Rosa | 7O7.546.6142
East-Bay-born Café Gratitude is keen on the raw edge, along with selfaffirmation. Dishes made with all manner of sprouted things carry names like I Am Graceful, I Am Fruitful and so on. Personally, it feels a little silly to declare, “I Am Awakening,” when you really aren’t, but perhaps the cashew cream will help. 206 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg | 7O7.723.4462
Heather Irwin is a food and dining writer for the Press Democrat, a New York Times Regional newspaper. Check out her always-updated and always-opinionated blog, BiteClubEats.com.
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{ bike friendly}
1301 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa 707.280.4658 | dargenziowine.com
C UCINA TIPIC A ITA LI A N A 75 MON TG OM ER Y DR I V E 7O7. 5 79. 26 82 • R I V IER A R IS TOR A N T E . NE T
gran expectations
PHOTO: CARSON BLUME
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gran expectations n the spring of 2009, two friends— one an Italian restaurateur, the other a professional cyclist—met for a training ride in the hills of western Sonoma County. The restaurateur wore a jersey bearing the name “gran fondo,” an event from his native Italy. His cycling buddy asked him about it. The idea, he explained, was to attract hordes of enthusiastic cyclists to a long, difficult and famous course where riders would be timed as they rode alongside cycling’s biggest names. He felt it would surely be successful in Northern California—at least a couple hundred people would attend. The pro-cyclist just gave him a nod and a smile. The pro in question was Santa Rosa’s own Levi Leipheimer, and his riding partner, Giampaolo Pesce, had just planted the seed for the first Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo. With some (very) quick planning, the ride was organized, word went out and, within 6 weeks, it had sold out. More than 3,500 cyclists from all over the world ended up coming to Santa Rosa to ride Levi’s favorite training routes. It was one of the first gran fondo events in North America and has since set the standard for these rides outside Europe. Literally translated from Italian as the “big deep,” gran fondos have long been a part of European cycling lore. They follow the routes of grand tours and cycling classics like the Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold
Race, Tour of Flanders, Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. They are usually more than a hundred miles long and climb several thousand feet, and they are filled with throngs of enthusiastic riders. These are epic events, full of superlatives and designed to celebrate the exuberance of physical
exertion in some of the most beautiful country on earth. Some of the more famous gran fondos outside of the U.S. boast more than 40,000 riders, some with routes up to 140 miles long or with 17,000-foot climbs. Drama is inherent in a gran fondo; anything else would just be a ride.
29
gran expectations In addition to these impressive elements, gran fondos offer finer logistical details like closed roads, stocked food stations, mechanical help, timing chips, route markings, vehicle support and, in some cases, sizable prize money. They typically have an upper time limit within which the course must be completed. The already lengthy route will usually have some climbing incentives, sprints or gravel/cobblestone sections–just to keep things interesting. While the extremes in terrain and physical exertion make for a thrilling event, the value in a gran fondo is in the subtle sense of adventure and camaraderie. You’re brought out to an area filled with cycling mystique. The way is guaranteed to be rough and dif-
ficult. You’ve seen the route on a map, but you’ve also heard stories of these famous courses passed from rider to rider. You’ve done some training, but you still have lingering doubts about how well you’ll do. In the end, you’re asked to push yourself to new physical heights; but, given the massive level of participation, you’re allowed to engage others, socialize, and bask in a kind of temporary community. This sense of community is often strengthened by shorter, less challenging routes within the same event so that all can participate. You would think that popular, successful charity rides in the U.S., like the AIDS or Breathe Easy events, would have spurred the growth of gran fondos, but they’re largely unheralded on
The already lengthy route will usually have some climbing incentives, sprints or gravel/cobblestone sections—just to keep things interesting.
PHOTO: CARSON BLUME
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gran expectations
PHOTO: CARSON BLUME
these shores. For most, a century ride is enough of a challenge; the rest of us wouldn’t dream of participating in a grand tour like the Vuelta d’Espana. But there’s a lot of space in between those two options. Does one need to travel across Spain with the world’s top athletes in order to challenge oneself? Hardly. Does one need something more exciting than a century ride designed to accommodate every cyclist that signs up? That’s a little more likely. There is a significant component of the American bike community that’s been waiting for an event to test its mettle, but doesn’t offer the pressure and distant exclusivity of a classic road-racing competition.
It is in this exciting spirit that Santa Rosa’s own event, Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo, gives it another go in 2010. With all the promise of the inaugural year, the 2010 King Ridge GranFondo will expand to include 6,000 riders from as far away as Australia and the United Kingdom. They’ll all be lining up to experience the best our area has to offer in a new kind of ride that’s distinctly Santa Rosa. Greg Fisher has traveled far and wide on two wheels. He ended up in Sonoma County 10 years ago and is now spoiled for any other spot on earth. Currently, he edits Bike Monkey magazine and helps produce Bike Monkey’s signature cycling events.
34 santa rosa creek RAILROAD SQUARE
TYPE:
SOURCE:
dirt/gravel
janice eunice
DIFFICULTY
SANTA ROSA CYCLING CLUB
• Pierson St., Santa Rosa, CA 95409 Length: Approximately 10 miles Duration: 1-2 hours at 10mph
From Wilson, head west on 6th St., L on Pierson
oakmont loop FROM HOWARTH PARK
SOURCE:
paved road
jim keene
DIFFICULTY
BIKE PEDDLER/NORCAL
•
Take Spring Creek Trail to Channel Drive. Follow Channel Dr. through Annadel State Park to White
LAKE ILSANJO
St., then R on bike path to the end. Cross over the creek on the Fulton Bridge. Take path all the way to Willowside and retrace your route back to Railroad Square. Suitable for families. Trail map: http://go.northbay.pressdemocrat.com/clip/outdoors.
TYPE:
630 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa Length: Approximately 10 miles Duration: 1-2 hours at 15 mph
annadel state park
WWW.SRCC.COM
WWW.NORCALCYCLING.COM
Oak Dr. L on White Oak Dr., R on Oakmont Dr. into the Oakmont retirement community. Oakmont Dr. turns into Oak Leaf Dr./Fairfield Dr., and loops back into White Oak Dr. R on Channel Dr. to Spring Creek Trail into Howarth Park.
TYPE:
SOURCE:
dirt/single track
trails.com
DIFFICULTY
•• 6201 Channel Drive, Santa Rosa www.parks.ca.gov | 707.539.3911 Length: 10.3 miles Duration: 2 hours
annadel state park LEDSON MARSH LONG LOOP 6201 Channel Drive, Santa Rosa www.parks.ca.gov | 707.539.3911 Length: 16.3 miles
annadel state park WARREN RICHARDSON NORTH BURMA LOOP 6201 Channel Drive, Santa Rosa www.parks.ca.gov | 707.539.3911 Length: 11.95 miles Duration: 2.25-3.25 hours
WWW.TRAILS.COM
This gradual trail passes along a creek under a canopy of bay trees. Circle the lake on dirt roads, then return via a series of scenic and varied single tracks. www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=12365
TYPE:
SOURCE:
dirt/single track
trails.com
DIFFICULTY
••••
WWW.TRAILS.COM
Bypasses Lake Ilsanjo in favor of the high ridge a few hundred feet below the summit of Bennett Mountain, the park’s highest peak. The route leads around Ledson Marsh on the park’s east side. www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=12365 TYPE:
SOURCE:
dirt/single track
trails.com
DIFFICULTY
••••
WWW.TRAILS.COM
Warren Richardson begins at the base of the mountain in a shady grove of pine and bay trees. This challenging loop goes up and around Ledson Marsh. www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=12365
10 santa rosa rides crane creek REGIONAL PARK LOOP
TYPE:
SOURCE:
dirt trail
trails.com
DIFFICULTY
•
Depending on the trail, you find some steep, short hills. You can bypass them for a lighter ride. The 128-acre park offers outstanding vistas of Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa. Parking is $6 per vehicle day use. www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_crane.htm/
5000 Pressley Road, Santa Rosa 707.823.7262 Length: 7 miles Duration: 1-2 hours
santa rosa TO WINDSOR PLAIN
WWW.TRAILS.COM
TYPE: DIFFICULTY
• Youth Community Park , Santa Rosa Length: Approximately 20 miles
From Youth Community Park, N on Fulton Rd., L on Wood, R on Woolsey and cross River Rd. onto Laughlin. L on W. Laughlin, R on Slusser, R
santa rosa TO THE COAST
on Windsor. L on Reiman, L on Starr, R on Mark West Station, L on Trenton-Healdsburg Rd. Cross River, bear L on Trenton, loop under River to a L on River. R on Old Trenton, R on Oakwild, L on W Olivet, R on Olivet, L on Piner, L to Park.
TYPE:
SOURCE:
paved/some dirt
jim keene
DIFFICULTY
BIKE PEDDLER/NORCAL
Pierson Street, Santa Rosa Length: Approximately 65 miles
Take the Creek Trail to Willowside Rd., L on Willowside to Hall, R on Hall to Occidental, all the way to the town of Occidental. Up Coleman Valley
TO CHALK HILL
TYPE:
SOURCE:
paved
jim keene
DIFFICULTY
BIKE PEDDLER/NORCAL
Pierson Street, Santa Rosa Length: Approximately 65 miles
Creek Trail to Willowside, R on Willowside , L on Piner, R on Olivet to Trenton, Trenton to River Rd., out to Wohler Bridge and onto the Westside/
TO GLEN ELLEN
WWW.NORCALCYCLING.COM
Rd. to the coast, up Hwy 1 to Willowside Rd. back into Occidental, down Graton Rd. and return the way you came. An 11-mile dirt climb up Willowcreek—doable on a road bike—conjures up visions of the Giro d’ Italia back in the ‘30s and 40s.
••••
santa rosa
SANTA ROSA CYCLING CLUB WWW.SRCC.COM
••••
santa rosa
SOURCE:
paved
WWW.NORCALCYCLING.COM
West Dry Creek Rds. Dry Creek to Canyon via Yoakim Bridge, on into Geyserville. Hwy 128 to Chalk Hill back into town via Faught Rd. and then Redwood Hwy. Not easy, but never too difficult. Runs through all appelations–a wine lover’s dream.
TYPE:
SOURCE:
paved/uneven
jim keene
DIFFICULTY
BIKE PEDDLER/NORCAL
••••• 6201 Channel Drive, Santa Rosa www.parks.ca.gov | 707.539.3911 Length: Approximately 50 miles
Howarth Park to Channel Drive, cut through Oakmont and onto Pythian, Pythian to Hwy 12,
WWW.NORCALCYCLING.COM
go through Kenwood and get on Warm Springs Rd. to Glen Ellen. Arnold Dr. to Madrone, back onto Hwy 12 heading South. L on Cavedale Rd. for the sickest, sweetest 7-mile climb to the top for an amazing 4-mile plummet down Trinity Rd.
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36 Geyserville
LLEY RD.
CHALK HILL RD.
ALEX AND ER VA
Healdsburg HI GH
YOUTH PARK
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HALL. RD
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Sebastopol
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GUERNEVILLE RD.
Graton
W AY
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PINER RD.
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Forestville
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Guerneville
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10 santa rosa rides area map This map shows the general areas of our 10 rides. We heartily recommend purchasing the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition’s excellent map for all your two-wheeled adventures. The map lists bike shops, traffic density, grades, amenities, schools and medical care. The map is durable, waterproof and well worth the investment. www.sonomabike.org
RAILROAD UARE
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CALISTOGA RD.
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ST. HELENA RD.
St. Helena
Santa Rosa 1
Roseland
HIG
HOWARTH PARK
2
Calistoga
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Glen Ellen
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VE CA
HIGHWAY 101
Annadel State Park
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38
cycling resources Tourism
Santa Rosa Retailers & Rentals
Horizon Air www.alaskaair.com
Aria Velo www.ariavelo.com
CALIFORNIA Welcome Center www.visitsantarosa.com
Bicycle Czar www.bicycleczar.com
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau www.sonomacounty.com
www.norcalcycling.com
Wine Country Bikes www.winecountrybikes.com
Cambria Bicycle Outfitter www.cambriabike.com
Getaway Adventures www.getawayadventures.com
Community Bikes 707-579-5811
Events
Echelon Cycle & Multisport www.echeloncycle.com
May Bike to Work Month www.bikesonoma.org Gran Fondo www.levisgranfondo.com Terrible Two www.srcc.memberlodge.com/TT Tour of California www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
the Bike Peddler
NorCal Bike Sport Bicycles www.norcalcycling.com Rincon Cyclery www.rinconcyclery.com Trek Bicycle Store of Santa Rosa www.trekstoresantarosa.com
Hand Made & Frame Builders
Wine Country Century www.srcc.memberlodge.com/WCC
Autuori Cycles www.autuoricycles.com
Organizations & Clubs
Bruce Gordon Cycles wwwbgcycles.com
Cycle Sonoma www.cyclesonoma.com Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition www.bikesonoma.org Sonoma County Go Local www.sonomacounty.golocal.coop HillJillys www.hilljillys.com Santa Rosa Cycling Club www.srcc.memberlodge.com Sonoma Valley Cyclists www.sonomavalleycyclists.org
Inglis & Rentrotec www.ingliscycles.com Rebolledo Cycles www.rebolledocycles.com Soul Craft www.soulcraftbikes.com Sycip Designs www.sycip.com
Publications & Media Bike Monkey www.bikemonkey.net Cycle City 365 www.cyclecity365.com
This is just a snapshot of cycling resources in and around Santa Rosa, California. There are 100s of others—big and small, discovered or not—all for you to find & enjoy.
BICYCLE RENTALS
DON’T WANT THE HASSLE OF SHIPPING YOUR BIKE? WE HAVE A FULL LINE OF TREK CARBON ROAD BIKES FOR YOU WHILE YOU ARE VISITING. - CALL TO RESERVE YOURS TODAY.
DIY TRIPS
WHY PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR A GUIDE? WE HAVE GARMIN 705 GPS UNITS TO SHOW YOU THE WAY. LET US POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION & SAVE YOU MONEY.
SHIPPING & HANDLING 5.4028 in
HAVE YOUR BIKE SHIPPED TO US AND WE WILL BUILD IT UP & HAVE IT READY FOR YOU WHEN YOU GET HERE. DROP IT OFF WHEN YOU ARE HEADING OUT & WE WILL PACK IT UP & SHIP IT BACK FOR YOU TOO! - CALL FOR PRICING.
DELIVERY
STAYING IN SANTA ROSA? WE’LL DELIVER YOUR RENTAL OR SHIPPED BIKE TO YOUR HOTEL, NO CHARGE. CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS.
is ad h t n ntio ceive a e M d re et an E helm FRE ental!! 707-546-8735 R WWW.TREKSTORESANTAROSA.COM 5 1 2 M E N D O C I N O AV E . S A N TA R O S A , C A 9 5 4 0 1
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THE RIGHT FIT?
bout 60 percent of the clients that visit my bike fit and custom bike studio are women. I can only venture a guess why. Recently I’ve wondered if it has something to do with the fact that women are more likely to pull over and look at a map, while many men stubbornly drive around insisting they’re not lost. Whatever the reason, below are some thoughts on women and cycling from one bike fitter’s perspective.
The Bike • Women don’t fit particularly well on men’s bikes, but neither do men. • Women’s specific (WSD) bikes? They work well for some women, but they also work well for some men. I used to maintain spreadsheet of bike geometries that allowed me to sort and identify the best stock bike options for my clients. My male clients would always have at least one women’s bike in their top three–and, often two or all three. • Stock bikes—men’s, women’s or otherwise—are designed based on assumptions, averages, guesses and marketing. YOU are not.
The Body • W hile the discussion of women’s fit is usually focused around how a woman’s body compares to a man’s
women’s specific design (since bikes and cycling gear have historically been designed, at least in theory, for men), the reality is every body is unique. With so many exceptions to the rules, the rules have been rendered useless.
• Women’s saddles usually do work better for women.
• Common assumptions about a woman’s body: wider hips, narrower shoulders, relatively short arms, smaller feet and hands, shorter torso and longer legs. (Most of these assumptions developed out of anthropomorphic data from military studies, most notably Anthropometry of United States Military Personnel, 1991.)
• Being seated properly on your sit bones is more important than a hole in the saddle. It lifts the soft tissue away from the saddle.
• There is not a shred of data to support the “short torso” idea. None. Dr. Andy Pruitt and Gale Bernhardt, two of the most well-known and well-published names in cycling fit and performance, disagree with the assumption. In fact, recent studies suggest that the anatomical differences are much less than once thought (data assessment using The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design, 2001).
The Saddle • It’s definitely harder for women to find comfortable saddles; they sit directly on the most sensitive part of their bodies. • Most women tend to stand less than men when riding, exacerbating saddle discomfort.
• Saddle cutouts work for many women, but for some it creates two painful edges right smack in the middle of the saddle.
What does it all mean? Watch out for the marketing. Question any generalization (don’t believe anything I wrote is or isn’t true for you). In short, keep pulling over and studying the map, and you can make cycling work for you. Rand Libberton is the owner of Aria Velo, a fit and custom bike studio in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square. Aria Velo offers one of the more sophisticated and comprehensive fit processes in the industry.
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42
the daily biker a primer for two-wheeled living s the weather warms up in Sonoma County, it can be hard to resist the lure of sunshine, fresh air and blossoms. Even if you love your job, you might be tempted to play hooky and spend more time outside. It’s easy to give yourself some mini vacations and turn that time you normally spend cooped up in traffic into the best part of your day. How? Bike to work. It’s good for your health, your mood, your budget and the environment. And, there’s more: studies show that people who bike to work are more productive and miss less work than their car-commuting counterparts (read: bike commuting could help you get a merit raise!). It’s easier than you think, and the payoff is huge. Below are tips for addressing some of the most popular bike commuting questions.
How do I get my kids to school? Make it family time. Get a trail-a-bike, tandem, kid seat or trailer. Learn great riding skills and teach your kids. Have fun with it. Bike the kids to school, then continue on to work.
How do I clean up? If your company doesn’t have onsite showers, advocate for them. In the meantime, stow toiletries in your desk and bring a shower in a coffee cup (a warm washcloth in your portable mug).
How do I transport my clothes? Get a wardrobe pannier. This is a wardrobe bag that attaches to the rear rack on your bike. Your suit will be crisp as can be.
How do I find the extra time? If your commute is just a few miles, you might find yourself getting to work more quickly when you bike. If it’s a longer commute, deduct the time you spend biking to work from your regular workout schedule.
How do I ride on the road with all those cars? This can feel intimidating, but with a little education, biking on the road becomes second nature. Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition’s monthly Street Skills for Bike Riders class is a great resource.
a primer for two-wheeled living How do I carry what I need? Bike commuting is hot, and the bike industry knows it. New racks, baskets, bags, trailers and cargo bikes make it easier than ever to tote everything you need on your bicycle.
How do I ride in the rain? Get started in spring and summer, and you’ll be ready to don rain gear come January. If not, don’t worry about it...you’ll start again when the weather clears up. Remember to wear layers and bright colors, and to have lights on the front and back of your bike for night time riding.
The key is to give yourself a break. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to bike every day. For long commutes, drive part way and ride the rest. Try it once a week for starters, and build from there. And, most importantly, have fun (OK, this part is involuntary). Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition (SCBC) is a nonprofit organization that promotes bicycling for transportation and recreation. Visit www.BikeSonoma.org to learn how SCBC is making Sonoma County a better, safer place for everyone who rides a bike.
who makes the best bike map in the county?
WHO ELSE? 750 Mendocino Avenue, Suite 6 Santa Rosa, CA 95401 (707) 545-0153 www.bikesonoma.org
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WINE COUNTRY BIKE TOURS The best way to explore wine country! Cycle along scenic vineyards, sip amazing wines, enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch, and learn about wine making.
Rental Bikes
Day tours*
Ro a d Bi k e s
• Specialized Tarmac • Specialized Allez • Specialized Sequoia
• AM: 20-Mile Road Ride • PM: Lunch/Wine Tasting
Hy b r i d Bi k e s
• Marin San Rafael
new! vELO & VINO
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S I P & C Y C L E
• Specialized FSR XC
• Visit 4 Wineries, Easy Flat Route
Multiday Tours
& Wineries
Pe da l & Pa ddle
• 4- or 6-Day Premier • Bike & Kayak • 4- or 6-Day Classic Hi k i n g To u r s • Multi-Sport Vacation k aya k tours • Luxury Weekend • Classic Weekend *SAV E $10! MENTION CODE 365
bike gangs of santa rosa
New to cycling or new to the area? Looking for a group of your own to fall in with on a Sunday ride? Whether you’re a serious racer, a weekend warrior, a commuter or a fair-weather rider, you’ll find a plethora of options in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County. Let’s take a look at all of the factions, clubs and race teams here in Santa Rosa to see which one is right for you, starting with racing opportunities.
BMC Racing team You’ll need just a wee bit of a racing pedigree to gain admission to this team. BMC is based here in Santa Rosa and was just accepted as a wild card entry into the Tour de France. You’ll need an international professional racing license for starters and a top-100 world UCI ranking for them to even consider your application.
PHOTO: VERONIKA LENZI
www.bmcracingteam.com
Bissell Pro Cycling Team Again, you’ll need a pro-racing license, but you’ll only need a domestic pedigree—the top 100 pros racing in the U.S. to qualify for membership. www.bissellprocycling.com
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bike gangs of santa rosa All Sport – Team Swift Team All Sport is a nationally recognized junior developmental racing team that has launched several Sonoma County kids into pro careers since its inception more than 10 years ago. Must be eighteen years of age or younger to join. www.teamswift.org
Team Norcal Bike Sport This regional powerhouse has three different squads within the team structure, supporting a women’s team, a men’s club team and an elite team racing in the pro/am categories. www.redpeloton.org
Imperial Bobators This is a racing squad comprised entirely of masters-age racers, meaning that you must be at least 40 years of age to qualify. They’re an invite-only squad, so it’s all about who you know with this bunch. www.eteamz.com/FightinBobas
Colavita/Sutter Home Racing Team Colavita is a regional club team based in Sonoma County with club teams all over the country along with a domestic pro team. Their motto: eat well, ride hard, live long. www.colavitaracing-norcal.com
open to all Not into racing? Then you might want to think about joining the Santa
Rosa Cycling Club (SRCC). SRCC is a purely recreational and social cycling club that has approximately 1,200 members. They’re also the best resource to check out if you are visiting the area and are looking to ride with an interesting, local group. www.srcc.org
You can also check out CycleSonoma www.cyclesonoma.com, a site that touts itself as “a social network meant to be a central starting point for finding and exchanging information about cycling in Sonoma County.” If this site does not have what you need, you can link to one of the many bicycling resources in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County right from their page. But what if you’re just looking for a way to get through town a little more efficiently? Or you need to brush up on your skills before hitting the roads as a bike commuter? Visit Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition to help you navigate the best roads. They have a wonderful map that can be found in most Santa Rosa bike shops. www.bikesonoma.org
Jim Keene is the general manager and a partner at NorCal Bike Sport and the Bike Peddler in Santa Rosa. With more than 28 years of bicycle retail experience under his belt, he feels that he’s been “ delivered” to the promised land of allthings-cycling by moving to Santa Rosa nearly 15 years ago.
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PHOTO: SONOMA COUNTY MUSEUM ARCHIVES
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ride of passage
ride of passage wo friends, two bicycles, $5.65 and a indefatigable sense of adventure. In 1909, Vic McDaniel and Ray Francisco, just out of high school, set out from Santa Rosa on second-hand bikes bound for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. They toured 54 days (from August to October) on unpaved roads—often on no roads at all—pedaling, pushing and walking 1,000 exacting miles. Vic and Ray reported their adventures to their home-town newspaper—The Press Democrat, of course. They met their share of characters, from a shady hustler to a grizzly bear; they slept in haystacks and depended on the kindness of strangers for food; they kept in touch with family through postcards (what are those?); and they had little idea, from one day to
the next, what to expect in terms of weather and “road” conditions. They traveled paths unfathomable to most of us today— again, on secondhand bikes built in the early 1900s. In other words, they tackled a hardcore venture under gonzo circumstances. So, here we are in 2010. Human ingenuity has changed the way we move. It’s changed our environment and our systems. It’s changed the speed and the way in which we make our goals become reality. But, while technology continues to evolve, there is one thing we can all count on: the passion and spirit of the pursuit will always be part of the human condition. From the Amgen Tour to little league, it is in the thrills, spills and setbacks, the Cinderella stories and the comebacks, that we feel and understand the journey.
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a’roma roasters beyers | costin blissful home carolina & cº. cast away yarn shop cellars of sonoma daredevils & queens S A N TA R O S A’ S PA S T & F U T U R E A R E A L I V E I N
ART | M USI C | DININ G | F ASHION | V ITI C ULTURE
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lococo’s cucina rustica toad in the hole
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PHOTOS: SUSAN PEDERSEN PHOTOGRAPHY
jackson’s bar & oven
ride of passage Laurie Gibbs is the editorial director and cofounder of Ranch7 Creative, LLC. Visit ranch7.com for more information about this award-winning advertising agency’s design, writing and project management services. More about the story and author: Evelyn McDaniel Gibb, daughter of one of the cyclists and an award-winning author, has drawn on her father’s recollections, using his voice in her nonfiction book Two Wheels North: Bicycling the West Coast in 1909. Her stories and articles have appeared in dozens of magazines and in the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. She lives north of Seattle, Washington. Information and images from Oregon State University Press used with permission. Our thanks to Evelyn McDaniel Gibb for loaning us these materials. Photos courtesy of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
55
on the trail
magine a tranquil setting that has been described as one of the few easily accessible locations that still has elements of primordial lichen and plant life, flowing creeks surrounded by ferns and redwoods, open meadows with an artist’s palette of wildflowers, distant views of mountains and forested hillsides, and quiet introspective spots just waiting to be discovered. Now imagine you are driving through the middle of an urban setting—city life buzzing, sounds of cars, horns honking, buildings and concrete. Two distinctly different images, yet here in Sonoma County they, for the most part, coexist harmoniously. Welcome to Annadel State Park, 60 miles north of San Francisco on the eastern edge of Santa Rosa. Sonoma County is graced by this beauty of a park—more than 5000 acres—a resplendent reminder of what Sonoma County had in vast abundance before the first houses and businesses began to populate this biologically generous piece of earth. Prior to the 1980s, mostly hikers and horses visited it; bikes were not quite
on the radar yet. But with the birth of mountain biking, slow-but-sure pilgrimages to this and many other parks across the nation and world began. Now on almost any weekend, Annadel is bustling with the activities of runners, cyclists, hikers and horseback riders. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy Annadel State Park for almost 35 years, starting in my junior high years at Slater Middle School just down the road. It was a popular spot for afterschool walks with friends. A dip in Lake Ilsanjo at the top of Canyon Trail would be the reward. Luckily for me, and some of you reading this, my interests grew to include mountain biking. Annadel is an ideal spot for mountain biking (it’s awesome for hiking and horseback riding, too, but this is Cycle City 365 after all). I can attest to this after years of riding all over California and beyond. In fact, on at least one spring break, I can recall setting out to prove otherwise. With the variety of trails to accommodate everyone from the beginner to the most advanced rider, this well-maintained,
57
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on the trail well-defined trail system offers the kind of challenges that make mountain biking truly a dream. Actually, a state park that even allows mountain biking to the extent that Annadel does is a treat unto itself. The state park system is notorious for discouraging bikes in general. Most state parks require bikes to keep to paved roads and to a limited number of trails–very limited. Having this expanse available in an urban setting, accessible to and used by so many people, makes this park a unique gem. Annadel State Park offers a respite from our busy lives—just a bike ride or walk away for many of the local residents. And it’s such a versatile recreational area, with its easy and seamless flow from Howarth Park—horse rides, a duck pond, BBQ areas and climbing structures for the kids—to a paved trail system that leads without interruption to Spring Lake Regional Park—fishing, a swimming pond and a boating lake—to more than 40 miles of pristine and awe-inspiring single-track trails.
As the County grows, the use of this park has increased. But so far, from my perspective, the impact is very hard to detect. Some of the changes I’ve seen are welcome; with more use, the park and its surroundings have become safer. Admittedly, I am a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to being alone in the woods, but with my fellow cyclists sharing the trails with me, I can get the right balance of solitude and comfort. It works. This is an amazing natural resource protected for the use of its citizens in this growing urban setting. Get out there!
Claire Fetrow and her husband, Chaz, have owned and operated The Hub Cyclery in Cotati for more than 20 years. She enjoys road and mountain bike racing, ultra-distance adventures and bike rides with her dog, Mathilda. See more at www.thehubcyclery.com.
59
201 Center Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448 707.433.7171
OKEFOLK.COM
62 endo: flying unexpectedly over the handlebars, thus being forcibly ejected from the bike. engine: the rider. attack: a sudden acceleration to pass a rider or group of riders.
enscarfment: a food break at the edge of a cliff.
auger: to crash head first. baby heads: small boulders about the size of a baby’s head. bacon: scabs on a rider’s knees, elbows or other body parts. bagging out: canceling a ride for something other than a death in the family. beta: insider information about a ride. bonk: to run out of energy midride. boost: to catch air off of a jump. brain bucket: helmet. carve: (from skiing) to ride with great speed around the corners of a twisting fire road.
excedrin descent: bone-jarring downhill that rattles your brain. fixie: a hipster’s main form of transportation: a fixed gear, the simplest form of bicycle, one gear with no coasting/ freewheeling mechanism. forcing the pace: to increase the speed of the race to the point that other riders have trouble keeping up. fred: a person who spends a lot of money on his bike and clothing, but still can’t ride.
cashed: too tired to ride any farther–bonked.
giblets: sexy little add-ons or upgrades to your bike.
cheese grater: to grind off your skin against gravel, asphalt, bike parts, etc.
gonzo: treacherous, extreme.
chunder: to crash.
gutter bunny: a bicycling commuter. hardcore: word of praise and amazement, or impressive or requiring devotion. mantrap: a hole hidden by autumn leaves and effective at eating the front wheel of the unsuspecting rider.
clean: to negotiate a trail successfully without crashing. crayon: to leave skin and viscera on the asphalt after a crash. dab: to put a foot down in order to catch your balance on a difficult section of trail. death march: a ride that turns into a test of your endurance limit. door prize: a term used when a rider collides with the open door of a parked car while cycling.
OD: off day. peloton: the large, aerodynamically efficient, and extremely fast pack of riders near the front in a road race. pimp: a bike store guy always trying to sell stuff while on the trail. portage: to carry your bike. powder run: extremely dusty trail. prune: when a rider’s bike or helmet removes leaves and branches from the surrounding flora—unintentionally for the most part.
bike talk: a glossary rag dolly: to wreck in a way that tosses the rider like a flimsy scrap of cloth. rally: to ride exceptionally well, especially on normally difficult routes. retro-grouch: a rider that prefers an old bike with old components.
tea party: when a whole group of riders stops to chat and nobody seems to want to ride on. train: a fast moving paceline of riders. vegetable tunnel: a singletrack so heavily overgrown with foliage that a rider must duck and bend to get through it. velo-porn: full-page, four-color advertisements of giblets in cycling magazines. wall: a road that looks like it goes straight up, because it probably does.
roadie: a rider who considers trails to be for the weak. rocket fuel: pre-ride coffee.
wheelsucker: a rider that sits on other riders’ rear wheels, enjoying the draft but not working. wild pigs: poorly adjusted brake pads that squeal while in use.
rookie mark: chain grease on a rider’s pant leg. screamer: a very, very high drop-off. shelled: when a rider has extreme difficulty keeping up with a fast-pace race in a way he or she did not anticipate. skid lid: helmet. slipstream: the area of least wind resistance behind a rider. spuds: Shimano Pedaling Dynamics (SPD) clipless pedals. squirrel: an erratic and squirrely rider in a group.
wilma: the female fred. winky: a reflector. WSD: women’s specific design. yard sale: (from skiing) a bad crash that throws your wares—water bottles, pump, tool bag, etc.—everywhere. zonk: same as bonk. Selection of terms are from the following sources. Please check out these sites for more complete (and somewhat hilarious) definitions: www.abc-of-mountainbiking.com/ dictionary.asp
steed: your bike. stiction: when friction makes a suspension fork travel sticky. superman: a rider that flies over the handlebars and takes awhile to hit the ground.
www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/ Peloton/glossary.html www.bicyclesource.com/bicycling_ glossary www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ bicycling
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For Ted, a break from running the family winery meant time to pursue his second passion: cycling. So, when knee pain threatened to take that joy away from him, he turned to St. Joseph Orthopaedics at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Ted’s highly skilled surgeon understood that it wasn’t just about Ted’s knee pain, but rather the freedom to enjoy life his way. In the end, direct access to advanced technology and expert specialists meant Ted was back in the saddle faster than he ever thought possible. For more information, or to find an orthopaedic specialist in your area visit Ortho.StJosephHealth.org, or call 1-866-436-5009.
I am more than a bad knee. Designated as a
Center for Knee and Hip Replacement
File Name: BDC KHR V.eps
Designation as Blue Distinction Centers ® means these facilities’ overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians’ and leading professional organizations’ recommendations. Individual outcomes may vary.