sf ibob ride -- century ride -- sunday july 24, 2005
Original Email
Calling all SF iBOBs! Fellow SF iBOBer Mike and I are planning an SF iBOB century ride on Sunday, 7/24/2006. Route is still being finalized, but will start in SF and meander northwards through Sausalito, Fairfax, White's Hill, Nicassio, Cheese Factory, Marshall, Pt. Reyes, Olema, etc. Anyone interested please contact me. Hopefully we'll get a good group! Cheers! -JimG
Ride Info
- Let's meet in the Presidio Sports Basement parking lot at 7:45am. You should be able to leave your car in their large lot for the day -- this is a common meeting point for SF-based group rides across the Golden Gate Bridge (many of the Aids Ride training rides meet here, for example).
- Mike has prepared a helpful cue sheet for our ride -- thanks Mike! NOTE that the cue sheet indicates the ride will start at McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park -- this is outdated, the ride will actually start at the Sports Basement parking lot as indicated above.
- Here's a map of the area we'll be riding -- it's not the exact route, but it may prove helpful.
- PLEASE NOTE: This is an unofficial, unsupported, you're-on-your-own cycle-touring ride! There is NO SAG of any sort on this ride, and I/we assume no liability for whatever happens throughout the day. Please be sure you are capable of riding 100 miles in one day, with a reasonable amount of climbing included. (Don't mean to scare anyone, I just don't want to get sued!) [grin] Bring plenty of food, water, gatoraide, etc. to fuel you along the ride! We will be riding in rural areas where water & food stops are several hours apart, so be sure you pack enough to fuel/hydrate yourself accordingly (e.g., I wouldn't call 3 water bottles excessive)! Also bring cash for snacks along the way, and for a lunch stop (or pack your own). Finally, the SF-Bay-Area is known for it's crazy micro-climate weather: it will likely be foggy and chilly in San Francisco, warm and sunny in Sausalito through Fairfax, and then who-knows-what once we get over White's Hill! Extra layers/arm-warmers/leg-warmers are strongly recommended (as is sunscreen)!
- This is a ride, not a race. Please obey all traffic laws, yadda yadda. The Ross & Fairfax police are fond of ticketing cyclists, so be warned.
- SF weekend weather
- Please RSVP if you haven\'t already
Ride Report
Huge thanks to all (Carlos, Mike, Salim, & Keith) who came out for the SF iBOB Pt. Reyes century this past Sunday! We had a great, glorious, long, and HOT day on the bike, rolling out at 8am and returning around 6:30pm, logging a total of 95 miles (or 105 miles if you count the ride to/from my apartment and the ride start).We departed from the Presidio Sports Basement at 8am, and crossed the Golden Gate in dense, chilly fog...Continued along the usual route down through Sausalito, up and over Camino Alto, and on to Fairfax for a quick stop at the Fairfax Roastery for coffee and danish. It had warmed up quite a bit by then, so we shed some layers before continuing on over White's Hill. Rolled along Sir Francis Drake Blvd. at a good clip, and then hung a right up onto Nicasio Valley Blvd., which climbs a bit up past the San Geronimo Golf Club before leveling out on a grassy plateau of sorts. We stopped for water at the "Town of Nicasio" which is a cluster of buildings around a small square field -- there's a general store and a volunteer fire co., but no post office that I saw. I saw a sign for BBQ and wanted some by now, but I don't think they were serving that early in the day. ;) Onward we rolled, passing the small finger lake of the Nicasio Reservoir, and then made a 2nd right turn onto Point Reyes-Petaluma Road. It was quite hot by now, and we stopped again for more water and shade at the Marin French Cheese Company (aka "The Cheese Factory").
It was far too hot for cheese, so I shall have to return there to sample their wares. Again continuing, we hung a quick left onto Hicks Road, suddenly feeling as if we were in the middle of nowhere -- rolling grassy-brown hills hid our view from the main road and there were virtually no cars. We sped right along on the Marshall-Petaluma Road (a darn fine road for cycling if I ever saw one) until we hit the "Marshall Wall" hill. Not too steep, but a fairly long pull -- I was thankful for the lower gearing I'd installed on my bike the day before!
We were treated to a good fast descent down to Highway 1 and the cooler breezes that the Tomales Bay shoreline offered. We rolled south along the coastline, passing the Hog Island Oyster Co., famous for BBQ'd oysters -- another spot I need to return to, as it was unfortunately still far too hot for BBQ. Shortly thereafter we stopped for lunch at the Marshall Store, famous for their clam chowder. It was still far too hot for chowder, so I opted for a sandwich. Keith did try the chowder, while Salim enjoyed some fresh oysters on the half-shell.
After lunch we got back on the bikes and continued south on Highway 1. It's always tough to jump back on the bike after eating, but within 20 minutes I started feeling good again and was moving along at a good clip. Carlos and I had pulled out in front a bit and were taking turns pulling at the front, when all of a sudden my gas gave out and I had to let up. I had noticed that my knees were getting rather red from sun exposure (did I mention how hot it was?), and realized that I had forgotten to apply sunscreen to my upper legs earlier in the day (I'd been wearing knee-warmers). I pulled off the road to deal with the sunscreen, and when I got off the bike, I realized that I'd overdone things a bit -- I felt a bit light-headed. I generally have a problem with not hydrating enough during a ride, and I guess it caught up with me that day. As the others rolled up, I drank about 1/2 a bottle and ate some food and an ibuprofen, and started feeling a bit better.
We rolled slowly on through Point Reyes and then to Olema, where we made the left turn to climb up from Highway 1 towards Samuel P Taylor State Park. Carlos was waiting for us across from the Olema Inn -- he'd been waiting a while and was worried he missed a turn (sorry Carlos!) Worried about my physical condition, he graciously *pushed* me up the Olema hill -- I barely had to pedal (thanks again Carlos!). We crossed through the park via the somewhat-hidden paved bike path ("Marin Cross-Valley Trail" or similar) which parallels Sir Francis Drake Blvd., stopping again for water halfway through. Emerging from the park, we were back in familiar territory as we scaled the other side of White's Hill and rolled down through Fairfax.
We made a brief and utterly random stop in San Anselmo for a quick phone call, and a pedestrian passing on the sidewalk glanced up and said "Hey, is this the BOB ride?" Sure enough, fellow iBOBer Mark Flaming (sorry if I'm not remembering your name correctly!) spotted vintage steel and fenders and assumed correctly!
We again climbed Camino Alto, and cruised through Sausalito. It had been easily in the 90s for much of the day, but as soon as we hit Sausalito we saw the wall of fog shrouding the Golden Gate bridge, and knew that it was gonna be *cold* going home...such are the micro-climates of the Bay Area. :( There's nothing quite like pulling on arm- and leg- warmers over a sticky layer of sunscreen, salt, sweat, and road-grime, but that's what we did, and I'm sure glad for it -- the temps felt like they were in the 50s as we fought our way across the wet and windy Golden Gate.
I finally arrived back home at 7pm -- it had been a full 12-hour day on the bike (I left at 7am). Not a fast century by any means, but quite enjoyable day on the bike nontheless. The hugely enjoyable end to the day was the fact that my wonderful fiance started dinner before I returned home, so I arrived to the mouth-watering smells of roasting meat and buttery mashed potatoes! I ate a *lot*! :)
Finally, I'd like to apologize to anyone who tried to access my website over the weekend to get/download the info on this ride -- unfortunately the web server decided to crap out at a very inopportune time. As soon as it's fixed I'll post the few photos I took.
Cheers and see you next time!
-JimG
