Late Winter and Spring Riding

Rain and infrastructure collapsing continued through the winter and into the spring. 

I staffed a table at the women-only Cinderella ride with Patt Baenen from the Arthritis Foundation office in San Francisco to get the word out about the Oregon tour as well as the two one-day events in Marin and Pescadero that Patt organizes.

During spring, I also learned how to ride a tandem.  One of my neighbors, Kit, is blind and was looking for someone to captain a tandem for her to do a ride to support Enchanted Hills camp in Napa.  Enchanted Hills runs camps for blind kids, adults, families, and deaf-blind people and is part of the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco.

Being the captain of a tandem means that you are the one in the front.  It took some time and practice getting used to being responsible for another person in the back (the stoker), instead of just myself, as well as getting in synchronization with another person.  Tandems are bigger, heavier, and perform differently than a single bike.  When the stoker is blind or low vision, the captain also has to remember to call out all necessary visual information, such as if there are bumps in the road.

From left to right: me, Mary Norton, Patt, Eleanor Bonifacio, and Beth Miller.  Patt and I were inside all day at the table, part of the expo at the end of the Cinderella ride.  Mary, Eleanor and Beth were riders.  It was a wet and wild day and they came in early, as did many of the riders.  Some riders who ventured on to the long route reported hail, too. 

We continued to have quite a bit of rain during April and although it threatened while Mary and I were out on this day, we were able to complete the ride without getting wet.  In this picture, I am at a pull out/view point on Grizzly Peak Blvd.

Caved in pavement on Mines Rd.  Since it didn't go all the way across the road, it was still passable with all traffic sharing one lane.  Fortunately, this country road is not heavily traveled.  It was a beautiful spring day with wild flowers along the way.

Cows near the Valley Ford Store.  This ride went around the Russian River area.

 

 

 

 

 

Small vineyard at the intersection of Bear Creek Rd. and Alhambra Valley Rd.  We were lucky to have a lovely day, even a bit warm,  for this May ride.  Just out of frame is a very sturdy fence to keep people from riding west on Alhambra Valley Rd. where the collapse is.

Kit, my neighbor with whom I rode the tandem, is in the second row, from the front, on the left side.  The photo is of the group from the Lighthouse for the Blind that participated in the Cycle 4 Site fundraising ride.  This is a fully supported one-day ride in Napa with different route lengths to choose from.  The ride also benefits the veteran's home that is in Napa.  A portion of the route goes through the property the home is on.

Members of the arthritis tour training group relaxing after the Wine Country Century.  The Santa Rosa Cycling Club puts on this annual event.  It also offers different route lengths to choose from.  In the past, I have done the 100 mile route, but this year did the 66 mile (100 km) route.  It was a pleasant day and we got in so early the BBQ wasn't even open yet!

Here's the whole training group who participated in the Wine Country Century.  In case you are wondering, the dog, Broccoli, rides in a trailer pulled by Troy (front right).