I had mistakenly marked this as Crane Creek, but that’s an adjacent road.
Next time I will come down it, I think – I didn’t like the descent on Sonoma Mountain Road. Narrow, high-traffic, and one SUV almost grazed my elbow with his mirror. I yelled “WHOA!” and extemporized an “I have the right of way” gesture (not that one): right hand like a blade, extended from my chest straight out. Usually it means “I’m going through this intersection.” The driver did pull over, and rolled down his window with a goofy gnome-like smile. He was either going to apologize, or ask for directions. I just said, “that was really close, dude,” and kept going.
Anyway, aside from that, it was a great ride. I rode out Petaluma Hill Road in my 42×15 gear, and then figured I’d try climbing without the second ring. As I was flipping the wheel over to my 42×21 Dingle cog, I was passed by a pair of riders. I saw them again when I stopped at Crane Creek park, but I couldn’t stand the frat-boy chatter of the crowd of disc-golf players. “Douche-golf.”
crane creek, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.
The riders passed me again as I was pouring a small bottle of Guinness into my bidon. “For strength.” Two sips of that, and the fluttering pre-cramp in my thigh muscle went away. I don’t at all recommend drinking while riding, nor admitting to it on a blog post.
At the summit, I geared up to the 42×17 and heavy-legged it down the hill. This is a good hill to freewheel down. Two hours out, 1000 feet of climbing, 23 miles or so. In the bottom-most rung of Strava riders for every segment on the ride… :^) Success!
When I got back to town, I tried out a new cafe and went to the bike shop to order new Koolstop pads.
JOEs cafe, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.