Out the Greenway and back. Made a couple of short side trips to see about photographing walls. Other than that, not much excitement except when the garbage truck stopped in the middle of the road and tried to back up over top of me while I was pinned in place by traffic and parked cars. … Continue reading "Wonderwall to be here"

After my brief interlude in Minnesota — it seemed like a fevered dream, almost a fantasy — I returned to Santa Rosa where I discovered the temperature was not expected to rise above 55 degrees Fahrenheit today. In bone-chilling, life-threatening conditions such as that, my Gopher State host, Greg, never rides his bike. He just … Continue reading "Another brick in the wall"

Today marked the thirteenth consecutive day in Santa Rosa (and the Bay Area) with the Air Quality Index in the “unhealthy” range or worse. That’s a record. However, the weather prognosticators finally forecast the wind would kick up today and clear out most of the smoke ahead of a big rain storm moving in tonight, … Continue reading "Smoke and Art, part 2"

Our smoky air is not nearly as dangerous and destructive as the fire that roared through Paradise (and continues to rage), but it is harmful enough that schools have been closed, outdoor events cancelled, and residents warned to stay indoors. That’s been going on for eight days. By the time I headed out today, the … Continue reading "Smoke and Art, part 1"

The Bear Creek Greenway between Ashland OR and Medford OR was always on the itinerary for this trip north, weather permitting. It rained Saturday night, but this morning the forecast promised the precipitation was done for the rest of the day. Ha! We drove up I-5 from Yreka under thickening clouds. Shortly after my ace … Continue reading "Bear Creek Greenway"

I’ve been meaning to ride out the Greenway for the last couple of days, but various chores prevented me from mounting the Ogre. Finally made it today, and I stopped by the bank building about a half of a block from the downtown terminus of the bike path. I knew the mirror-like windows on the … Continue reading "Greenway reflectie"

Mount Tamalpais in Marin County is one of the best-known—and most visible—peaks in the Bay Area. Anyone who has seen any of my North Bay bicycling photos knows it shows up a lot. I’ve hiked to the summit a couple of times, but I’ve never pedaled to the top. Given that the slopes of Tam … Continue reading "Tamalpais High"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Tenth stop, Grand Junction, Colorado. (Although my … Continue reading "Grand Junction"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Ninth stop, Breckenridge, Colorado. (Although my count … Continue reading "Breckenridge"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Eighth stop, Katy Trail, Missouri. Read more … Continue reading "Katy"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Seventh stop, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Read more at … Continue reading "Rappahannock"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Sixth stop, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Part one. Read … Continue reading "Gettysburg, part 1"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Fifth stop, Blue Mounds State Park, Minnesota…. … Continue reading "Blue Mounds"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That slows my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. Second stop, Antelope Island, Utah. Read more … Continue reading "Antelope Island"

I’m driving solo across the continent, with the Ogre in the back of the Forester. Some days I’ll hop on the Ogre to ride a few miles out-and-back or in a loop. That will slow my forward progress, but enables me to explore some interesting places along the way. First stop, Reno. Today did not … Continue reading "Reno"

Over the years I’ve pedaled beside and across the Russian River in a variety of different places, but today I set out to visit some unexplored territory. Due to the way the river swells and rages in winter, the bridge (generally known as the “Asti summer bridge”) on Washington School Road is seasonal. During the … Continue reading "Russian River"

Given the Challenge of the Month for August—liquid—it seemed appropriate to visit three lakes today. We’re lucky to have three lovely parks that adjoin each other practically in the middle of Santa Rosa, comprising a quiet island of lakes and trails. It’s easy to start at one end of Annadel State Park, ride up the … Continue reading "Three Lakes"

Just another typical cruise out the Greenway and back, but there’s always something new. First, the sprayground was back in operation today after being closed for repairs last time I was at the Big Fish. That enabled me to snap fountains of silver liquid—okay, it was only water—for the Challenge of the Month for August. … Continue reading "Fountains of Silver"

Jeff finally received clearance to ride his bicycles while recovering from rotator cuff surgery. It didn’t take long before we made plans. With the Santa Rosa forecast calling for highs in the 90s and more smoke from fires to the north of us, we decided to head down to Marin County where we expected cooler … Continue reading "Smoke on the Shoreline with Jeff"

Fortunately, we have no fires in Sonoma County right now, but the sky is a murky gray because the rest of California is burning, and all the smoke seems to be blowing over us. Despite less than pristine air quality today, I had to get out on the Ogre after entertaining visitors, which kept me … Continue reading "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"

As of yesterday I intended to get up early this morning to watch the Tour de France, like I’ve been doing for more than a week, then pedal the Ogre up Old Redwood Highway to snap some photos of old farm equipment and vehicles just north of the intersection with Fulton Road. I already had … Continue reading "Punctured and punctured"

The forecast called for another hot summer day in Santa Rosa. The best way to beat the heat is to head for the coast, where it’s usually 20 or 30 degrees cooler. Last week I pedaled out to Two Rock and Chileno Valley. Today I drove to Two Rock and parked at the church, putting … Continue reading "Searching for the ocean"

I planned to ride today, taking a long loop toward Petaluma, which is only about ten miles south of Santa Rosa. My loop, however, would amount to about 65 miles. Not a direct route! Only about ten percent of the ride would be through terra incognita, but I’d be assembling the pieces of roads in … Continue reading "Petaluma"

As often happens, my ace support crew was playing a gig on the plaza in Healdsburg, in this case as part of the 4th of July festivities. As often happens, I decided to pedal up to Healdsburg for the performance, and then maybe catch a ride home with her. I also had a notion this … Continue reading "Pick, Pull, and Parade, part 1"

I rode my familiar route out the Greenway with a slight detour downtown in order to score a few qualifying pictures for the July Challenge. Good luck today. For the first time ever, the gate at the old cannery was open and I managed to slip onto the grounds, which is usually a big no-no. … Continue reading "Cannery Number 5"

I like exploring terra incognita whenever possible, but I also enjoy returning to some of my favorite haunts over and over again. So it is with riding through the wetlands and sloughs of the Carneros wine region between the towns of Sonoma and Napa. (Those are also the names of the counties in which each … Continue reading "River, sloughs, marshes, grapes, trees, boats, railroad, and bridges"

Three years ago this month, Jeff and I biked 40+ miles on the paved Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail. We started in Sacramento’s Old Town and rode east until we decided to turn around. The trail actually goes all the way to its nominal end at Folsom Lake (although other trails continue onward) for a total … Continue reading "Folsom Prison Blues"

Just the usual quick run out the Greenway this morning before the day heated up. Plenty of other cyclists enjoying the cool morning. No excitement on the trail and very quiet along Santa Rosa Creek, but that’s good. Read more at Bill Bikes

While the hills of western Sonoma County were being systematically denuded of old-growth redwood trees in the second half of the 19th Century, Colonel Armstrong set aside this small area to preserve a few giants. Eventually it became a popular state park, named after the colonel. It’s especially popular in the summer, when the temperature … Continue reading "Armstrong Redwoods"

Warming up today. I wanted to get a few miles on the pedals, but couldn’t roll out until lunchtime. Ended up hitting four paved bike paths. The Joe Rodota Trail has suffered some problems lately: a large tent encampment blocking the trail, bloody assault on a passing bicyclist, trail closure during forcible eviction and cleanup, … Continue reading "Four Bike Paths"

My ace support crew had plans for me today, but I managed to get up for an early ride downtown, to campus, and over the hill through the burned out Fountaingrove subdivision. It felt too ghoulish to pull out the camera for photos of the burn zone where so many home were destroyed and so … Continue reading "Downtown – Campus – Fountaingrove"

The Challenge of the Month for June involves photographing tree(s) and bicycle. Trees? Quite a lot of those at Annadel State Park, adjacent to Spring Lake (where I was a couple of days ago) and just a few miles from home. About half of Annadel was severely burned during the October wildfires that devastated this … Continue reading "Annadel Trees and Fire"

The Challenge of the Month for June involves photographing tree(s) and bicycle. Once again, I’m scouting around for interesting trees for practice before I tackle some impressive timber I have in mind. This kind of challenge is actually quite inspirational. I find myself riding familiar routes, but looking at the scenery with fresh eyes. Today … Continue reading "Spring Lake Trees"

The sun finally reappeared this morning. Seems like it has been hidden by the marine layer around here for a week, although that might be an exaggeration. I need to wait a couple more days before I undertake a ride I’ve been thinking about for awhile, so today I figured I should stretch my legs … Continue reading "One “R” or Two"

A survey of bridges, trestles, overpasses, viaducts, spans, etc to help stoke your imagination for the Challenge of the Month. Read more at Bill Bikes              

It started as a simple ride out the Greenway bike path. Then I decided to photograph some of the Greenway bridges for the current Cycle365 Challenge of the Month. Then I ran into Rich and Sandra. Then I detoured to campus for a quick inspection. Then, the next thing I knew, I was in double … Continue reading "Greenway Bridges & Double Trouble"

The Ogre isn’t really a mountain bike—no shocks—and it’s built for fire roads and gravel and the like, not steep, rocky singletrack. The South Burma trail in Annadel is very rugged and rocky. Rocky in the sense that big, half-buried, immovable rocks practically block the trail and make it impossible to pick a smooth line. … Continue reading "South Burma"