Russian River
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 low flow summer, a road is bulldozed across the dry channel of the river and a one-lane temporary bridge spans the quiet flow in the main channel. In winter, the approach road is flattened and the bridge taken out of service. It’s the only way across the river between Cloverdale and Geyserville; consequently, local residents would dearly love to make the bridge permanent. I’ve never pedaled in that neck of the woods when the bridge was open. I wasn’t even sure it would be open today. But it seemed likely the summer crossing would be in action, so it was worth investigating.
10 response to "Russian River"
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Interesting ride and great photos as always.
The alluvium in the Russian River stream bed could be mistaken for glacial gravels here — quite an assortment of various rock types.
And the bee sting — of all the things we think could never happen, and then they happen. 🙁
A bee crawled up your pants and bit your leg..yikes…could have been worse I suppose. Apparently millions of bees are exported to California from Australia every spring.
Once a bee (a wasp, actually) flew up my nose and stung me while I was cycling. The poison got to my nervous system fast and I passed out – after getting off my bike. Anyway, glad the bee stopped at your leg.
Yikes!!!! So, did you seek medical attention?
The bee and wasp incidents are concerning to say the least.
Rich, I actually didn’t get to seek medical attention, it sought me. As I lay on the curb next to my bike, a doctor drove by and stopped. He somehow got me in his car and took me to his practice where he gave me some shots. I think before I passed out that I told my friend who was with me that a wasp had flown into my nose so the doctor realized it was probably an allergic reaction. That was about 30 years ago and I haven’t had a wasp sting since, but I do have an emergency kit that I am supposed to always have with me. Hard to know how important it is after so many years.
That is a truly amazing sequence of events!
Two days after the bee sting on the back of my right thigh—not sure how the bee got that far up my shorts, but I guess it could have been worse—it remains red, swollen, and itchy, but I think I’ll survive.
This sting reminds me of another bee encounter way back in 1983:
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/europe83/day-13-tunnel-of-gloom-mountain-of-doom/
I had read that day of your journal – what a day! – but what I remembered most was the perilous attempt to ride through the tunnel and your walking back with your torn shorts flapping in the wind.
It was not the best bicycle touring day ever, Suzanne, and the next day wasn’t much better, including a crash going downhill on a wet road. Fortunately, in 1983 I was young and resilient and even dumber than I am now, if such a thing is possible. 😉
That wasn’t dumb, it was just youth! When I compare how cautious I have become compared to when my kids were young, I can’t believe it. If I were that worrisome then, I would have brought up a bunch of neurotics.