Cycling for the Arthritis Foundation: Training Ride 8/30: San Rafael-Marshall-Pt. Reyes Station

This was our final group training ride before taking off for the tour. I was unsure if I should do it because I've had a cold this week. The cold has been on the mild side, so I decided to go and cut the ride short if I didn't feel well enough.

We met at the end of Lucas Valley Road, which is actually called Smith Ranch Rd. at that part. I hadn't done this route before. It was also the last ride of the training season last year, but it was rained out. However, I have been on all the roads before on various other rides with other people or groups.

Although warm already at 8 am, it was also breezy. We took off into a head wind down Lucas Valley Road to Nicasio. Although there are some spots with no shoulder, I generally like riding on Lucas Valley Road. There is a bit of a steep climb in this direction, but it is much gentler on the way back when tired. After about 11.5 miles we arrive in Nicasio for a regroup.

The group taking the shorter loop went from here to Pt. Reyes Station. The group taking the longer loop headed the opposite way on Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Rd. I took the longer loop route, knowing that I could still cut it short if I wanted. We had a short water stop at the Cheese Factory (Rouge et Noir) and continued to Hicks Valley Road and then on to Marshall-Petaluma Rd (toward Marshall). These are nice country roads with little traffic. About 3/4 of the way on the Marshall Rd you climb the Marshall Wall. There was a nice breeze going, not the head wind we had on Lucas Valley.

After reaching the top, there is a nice long descent all the way to the stop sign at "T" with highway 1. Labor Day weekend with nice weather, means lots of people out at the oyster retaurants along the highway, some driving like fools. In general, the ride on 1 was good and the view was great!

We turned off on Mesa Rd. to wind through a residential area on our way to Pt. Reyes Station. We stopped for lunch there. At Leticia's urging we diverged from the route sheet and did not go over to Samuel P. Taylor park but returned via Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Rd, Platform Bridge Rd. and then Nicasio Valley Rd. to get back to Lucas Valley.

Changing the route cut off about 8 miles and maybe 1,000 feet of climbing, but since I was sick, I decided that was fine. I appreciated the shade on Lucas Valley Road since the temperature had been going up noticeably as we moved away from the coast.

I had a new accessory with me on this ride and the last one, a mirror on the handlebars. I haven't used any kind of mirror up 'til now. When I changed to this bike with traditional handlebars from the Bianchi with flat bar, I started thinking that it would be easier to see behind me with a mirror, so I finally got one in preparation for the tour.

John put it on for me in time for last Saturday's ride, unfortunately, it was somewhat loose and it kept slipping out of position, so I spent a lot of time looking at my arm and sometimes my thigh last weekend. John tightened it up for this weekend, which improved things, but it still moved around on its own. He'll tighten it up some more and see if we can get it to stay put.