Wednesday, October 27, 2010

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For today’s ride, the group meets up in Healdsburg at the public parking lot on W Matheson and Vine Sts. There are no time restrictions for parking. Water and restrooms are available.

We head SE on Vine St and take a right on Mill St which eventually becomes Westside Rd.

The next turn is on West Dry Creek Rd. For the next 8.6 miles, we are riding on flat to rolling terrain through the many vineyards and wineries in the area. What a great time of year to be out here enjoying the beautiful scenery and landscape. It’s nice to see the foliage change colors upon the arrival of the fall season. You can smell the burning of the cuttings and see some of the vineyards already plowed over and ready for new plantings.

We continue on Yoakim Bridge Rd to Dry Creek Rd and Canyon Rd. The climb on Canyon Rd is under 2 miles and isn’t too steep. Once you see Olive Hill Cemetary, you’re at the top! It’s a fast straight shot down to Hwy 128.

We head south on Geyserville Ave/Hwy 128 for a regroup at the Geyserville Deli. Water and restrooms are available.

The route continues south on Hwy 128. The next 8 miles on flat to rolling terrain is just fabulous for being on a tandem. Once again, we’re surrounded by more vineyards and wineries. The cloud formations above us are pretty spectacular too!

 

After lunch, we get back on Hwy 128 and head south for the next 3 miles. The road is pretty flat with a few short climbs as we near Chalk Hill Rd.

 

 

We take a right onto Chalk Hill Rd at the Y intersection. The next 8 miles will have us on flat to rolling terrain with one initial short 6% climb and then a 1-1.5 mile, 6-9% climb in the middle. Once you reach the top, it’s a fast downhill with a couple of little humps along the way.

The next turn gets us on to Faught Rd. From there, we turn on Shiloh Rd to
Windsor, Mark West Station, Trenton Healdsburg Rd and Eastside Rd. We continue with the short little climb on Wohler Rd to Westside Rd. Westside becomes Mill St which will then take us on Vine St back to the parking lot.

The battery for my camera ran out and I forgot to bring a spare one. So, no pictures were taken along Westside and beyond. The terrain is more of the same; flat to rolling and the scenery as you can guess; more vineyards and wineries!

Thanks to Debbie for leading today’s ride! We got back to the finish right before it started to rain.

~40 people in attendance with 4 tandems including a recumbent

54 miles with 1963′ of elevation gain

Weather: Cool and sunny in the morning turning to overcast cloudy skies in the afternoon. Starting temp of 55 reaching a high of 67 for the day

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>GREAT DAY TO BE ON A BIKE!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>