What: a 100+ mile bike ride before the holidays (Click here for the link...)
Where: north and west Marin County (northern California)
Who: anyone who wants (this year, Jason, Nathan and Arnold)
When: we start when the sun comes up, finish when the sun goes down
Why: take some time to end the year with friends, talk about successes and dream about the next ones
How: just keep on pedaling!
The start of the Womack Annual Century (this was the 5th one Nathan and I have coordinated) was perfect. It was (I'll admit) chilly outside. However, the sky was clear and we knew that we'd be "under the sun" for most of the day.
(Here we are at our first "coffee stop" of the morning!)
As we had not done much advertising/marketing (except of course the website!) I did not think anyone would join us; to my surprise, Arnold drove up from Los Altos to join us for a portion of the ride!
The route this year was great. The roadways are well-maintained, and the traffic was light (two nice things while riding bicycles). We stopped a few times along the way, and Nate took some fun pictures and video. All in all, the ride was a success. Final tally: 6.5 hours of riding, 109.32 miles under the wheels.
For some of the highlights, continue reading below!
I mean it when I say it, "I hope you'll join us next year!"
(We'll have a 2-hour, 30-mile riding option for anyone who wants to ride a bit less!)
By 7am, there was enough light in the sky to go. The day before (21 DEC) was the shortest day of the year, so we knew we'd have to get going to get our full ride in. I'd planned a "long route" as I wanted to make sure that Nate and I would get to complete the full 100 mile bike ride.
We rode by the "meeting spot" we told people to gather at, and there we saw there was one other rider ready to go. By 7:10, we were off.
So, I'll admit that my toes and fingers were cold (time to get some "winter riding gloves") but the ride, scenery and camaraderie more than made up for that feeling of "chilly."
By mile 8 we were climbing our first few hills of the day; they were welcome, as with a bit of climbing, I forgot about how cold it was outside! We stopped at the Cheese Factory for a few minutes, and then made our way on toward Petaluma.
One of my favorite downhill rides is the hill right before entering the city of Petaluma...nice curves, long turns and a great vista over the valley. As we entered the city, Nathan commented how we were "making good time," and that we could break for a coffee/pastry stop. So, off to Starbucks we went!
It was warm inside, and my soy latte was a welcome treat! A few minutes later, we decided to saddle up, and continue our ride. Arnold bid us farewell, his 20+ miles were done, and he was going to head back to finish the day right around 40+ miles.
Nate and I continued on, and after another 30 miles found ourselves at ANOTHER coffee shop, the Bovine Bakery! This time we enjoyed muffins, some hot coffee and fruit. We "watched the world of Point Reyes" walk by, and at about 1:30pm decided to continue on (knowing we had about 3 more hours of light to ride the remaining 38 miles home!).
Well, after stopping to get some pictures at Stinson Beach, we decided to climb Panoramic Highway - a 4+ mile climb that took almost 50 minutes. It was a tough road, I couldn't believe how steep it was! At any rate, we got to the top to see some amazing views to the west of the pacific, and to the east to the city of Mill Valley...beautiful.
And, the clock minutes were ticking by, now, just two hours of light!
We snaked our way through south Marin, eventually finding our way back to Novato. We arrived back home at about 5:30pm...yes, a little after dark, but full of energy and smiles. It was a great ride!
I mean it, I hope you'll join us next year! (I'll be posting some video shortly...)
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