Martin Luther King Climb

Odessa and I met at sunrise for a Martin Luther King Day ride to Guerneville. It was a cold winter morning (39 degrees) and we were sporting three layers of cycling clothes, gloves, and warm hats. We rode out to Piner High School and began by climbing up Trenton-Healdsburg/Eastside/Westside Roads. We were a little concerned about how the recent floods had affected the West County Roads. After a half mile of turning on to Sweetwater Springs, we encountered a closed road sign due to a landslide. With determination (and total disregard for the Sonoma County public works sign), we picked up our bikes and walked through the muddy barricade. Our bikes and shoes were a dirty mess, but our ride continued. The next 10 miles of Sweetwater Springs got progressively difficult (and beautiful) until we reached the top (and no walking, Wahoo!). We were exhausted, but soon rewarded with several miles of downhill scenic views (and tricky turns). At the bottom, we navigated to downtown Guerneville and Coffee Bazaar for Almond Croissants and Pecan Rolls. Yum! The ride continued and proceeded to taunt us with climb after climb after climb. (Mays Canyon Road, Green Valley Road, Harrison Grade, and Green Hill Road). We made our way through Sebastopol and the roads finally flattened out. We then traveled back to Santa Rosa via the bike trail.

Today we cycled 75 miles, climbed some of the County's toughest hills, and made excellent time! It doesn't get better than this!