I had mentioned in an earlier post that I had a bit of a break from cycling earlier this year, so I’m still in the process of ramping back up to my pre-break mileage. Today’s ride was exciting, since it’s my first ride over 30 miles since sometime late last fall. The ride goes north … Continue reading "Building up the miles"

George Floyd / “I can’t breathe” / Black Lives Matter demonstrators have marched through Santa Rosa every day for at least a week. For the most part the marchers have been peaceful, but on some nights the composition of the crowd alters noticeably. A few of those individuals with a different agenda have been responsible … Continue reading "BLM"

The prospects appeared excellent for a drive down to San Rafael today and a little two-wheeled excursion. And so it was. Warm weather. Some familiar scenery. Some terra incognita. I parked by the local Target and puttered around San Rafael. Crossed the big bridge to the East Bay and back. Pedaled through the tunnel to … Continue reading "Bay Heat"

We’ve had two nights of “I can’t breathe” protests and some property destruction downtown. Nevertheless, I was surprised today to discover, as I was riding my usual route westbound on Sonoma Avenue, the street ahead was being blocked by a mass of protesters coming in my direction. Read more at Bill Bikes

Sonoma County gradually emerges from lockdown. Since the beginning of March, I’ve only undertaken one bike ride that didn’t involve starting at my front door and returning to the same spot. I was about ready to return to some rides requiring a drive to the trailhead, but that was slow to get going. We had … Continue reading "Emerging"

With Annadel State Park reopened—for those who can reach it by foot or bike—I hopped on the Ogre and headed up on a lovely Monday afternoon. A few hikers and bikers on the trails, but not many. Within one minute of arriving at Ilsanjo, I noticed two figures approaching on foot from the other direction. … Continue reading "Ilsanjo"

Another locked down day, another cruise around a nearby neighborhood, just a couple of blocks over (and slightly uphill) from home. Read more at Bill Bikes

Greetings from Lockdown Day 31 and Counting. Due to all the closed parks and bike paths, I need to be creative in order to find safe routes and interesting destinations. Today I worked my way through traffic and pedaled north on Santa Rosa’s main drag, then kept going into the countryside. I swear the streets … Continue reading "Town and Country"

Wandering routes seldom or never visited on two wheels, I stopped by the old, boarded up hospital on the hill. Perfect setting for a horror film. For real horror, I spied this along the street: Read more at Bill Bikes

We had almost zero rain prior to the lockdown. Now that we’re under orders to stay at home, we’ve had several rainy days, which actually seems like reasonable timing. Back to sunny weather today. I was itching to get out for a ride, but our lockdown has been extended and some additional bike paths and … Continue reading "Tour de Murals"

I pedaled out the Greenway and back this morning. Saw quite a few people along the path. This guy is usually very good about social distancing, but it looks like everyone is taking extra precautions. 

I’ve pedaled past Helen Putnam Regional Park without stopping. I’ve pedaled into the parking lot and utilized the restrooms. But never have I bicycled through HPRP. It’s a relatively small, busy park on the edge of Petaluma, known mostly for hiking rather than biking. But I decided to give it a try today in more … Continue reading "HPRP"

I won’t claim this for the Challenge of the Month, because the ride is a couple of years old, but I couldn’t resist jumping on Greg’s challenge for March. Note that in this one I don’t sing or dance. Yet…. The ride The music (on YouTube)

In 2017, I met John from Berkeley when the Mad Marauders terrorized San Francisco. Earlier this year he spotted me while we were both riding the new bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Since then we’ve been trying to get together for a ride, and it finally worked out today. Read more at Bill … Continue reading "Mad Marauders mini-reunion"

Not sure if advertising on side of beer delivery truck counts as a mural. Can we get a ruling from the judges? Little-known fact: Earlier in his life, Old Grumble-Face was sometimes known as the Emaciated Rasputin. Read more at Bill Bikes

In order to repair the dam, the park maintenance crew drained Lake Ilsanjo in Annadel State Park to a level as low as possible. According to Cap’n Will (he and Jeff often swim the lake) if you tried to swim it right now you’d scrape your chest across rocks on the bottom. I suggested he … Continue reading "Ilsanjo"

I should be home tomorrow, so I can finally start catching up on several days of riding, taking photos, and pondering the theme — now chosen, I think — for the month. Meanwhile, here are the last two teases. Valley of Fire and Desert Highway

After today’s ride, one plus and one minus. The bad news. Didn’t see anybody in a corn jerkers t-shirt, didn’t meet anyone from Hoopeston. Bummer. The good news. I have a theme for this month’s Challenge! Yay! I’m way behind in posting rides and photos, but will try to catch up soon and reveal the … Continue reading "A Theme at Last!"

Pedaled for more than five hours today. Constantly thinking about a theme. I think I need some suggestions. Let me know if you have any ideas. PS: TRUE STORY! When I stopped to take this photo, a couple about my age politely inquired if I knew how far it was to the dam. One thing … Continue reading "Need help with theme, plus a true story about Minnesota"

Gotta come up with my own personal theme for the February Challenge. Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm…. Four serious teases for themes

Rocks, sand, and sweat. I’ve been to Death Valley, so I know what bicycling is like in that environment. I’ve lost track of the total number of times I’ve visited the biggest, hottest, lowest National Park, but I know this was the fifth time I’ve done some pedaling there. Read more at Bill Bikes

Quick spin for last day of the year. Ran into John, a former colleague and fellow retiree. Stopped by Bud and Marsha’s on the way home to learn how she broke her toe. Now to guzzle hard cider tonight in preparation for early morning hike up Bald Mountain tomorrow. Read more at Bill Bikes

Late this morning I drove down to the former Hamilton Army airfield—now a pleasant residential neighborhood with old hangars transformed into tidy businesses and offices—where I’ve pedaled a couple times before. Having already explored some of the trails through marshes and wetlands along the Bay in that area, I wanted to revisit some of that … Continue reading "mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful"

Yesterday we received the first serious rainfall of the season, which means fire weather might be behind us. Also thanks to the rain, our creeks are flowing again after the usual dry summer. And the rain brought cooler weather. The high today only reached about 50° F. I almost decided to phone RJ, Rich, and … Continue reading "Oh, summer"

When I bicycled the grand opening of the new bike path on the Richmond – San Rafael Bridge last week, I expected to be able to photograph some interesting views from the top deck on the summit of the structure. Along with several hundred (maybe a couple thousand) other cyclists, I enjoyed the inaugural ride, … Continue reading "Bike the Bridge, again"

Marin County might be the wealthiest in California, but you wouldn’t know it from this odd little pocket east of Novato. After riding nearby last week, I consulted a map to double-check my route. It didn’t take long to notice this hidden—practically remote—area along the Petaluma River and the northwest shore of the Bay. The … Continue reading "Black Point"

I haven’t been up to the burn zone since full containment was attained a couple of days ago, but I’ve certainly bicycled through the area on multiple occasions in the past. Here’s a collection of some of my photos of locales as seen before they were consumed by the Kincade Fire…. Read more at Bill … Continue reading "Fire Tour"

Around here the official rainy season begins on 1 October. Based on annual averages, by now we should have received some significant rainfall. Not the case. Not a drop has fallen, and we’re dry. Dangerously dry. Santa Rosa and northern Sonoma County just survived—barely—the impact of multiple days of “public safety” power shutdowns, mandatory evacuations, … Continue reading "Rush Creek Open Space"

We had been having some very cold days that made one take pause before actually taking a bike ride ;’-). I did bundle up against the cold a couple of times and got out for short jaunts around. But this day was a perfect day for a ride. The numerous Heron that were out thought … Continue reading "A BEAUTIFUL FALL BIKE RIDE"

And I don’t mean Normal, Illinois. Still some smoke in the air, but trying to get back to usual routine. Slipped out the Greenway. Spotted new, “unauthorized” artwork along the trail, but in an awkward location where I couldn’t get into position to photograph the entire piece without a wide-angle lens. Vineyards turning autumn colors. … Continue reading "Back to normal?"

Two years ago Santa Rosa suffered major loss of lives, homes, and property when a wildfire swept across the northern part of town, just a couple of blocks from us. This year the fire was a couple of miles farther to the north when it was finally stopped — we hope — last night. This … Continue reading "Deja vu all over again"

I’ve been enjoying plenty of off-road riding with the Ogre lately, especially on trails in our local parks. Today, having almost beaten a never-ending computer project into submission, I decided I needed to get out and stretch my legs for a few miles on pavement. Off I went into the wild west county, where they … Continue reading "West County"