Ups and downs - SFR Point Reyes 200k Brevet: 1/24/2009

I wasn't ready for this ride. I hadn't done much riding since my last 200k permanent in December, and that was pretty flat. This was supposed to have about 7000 feet of climing, plus I had been laid low with a cold/sinus thing and hadn't done any riding in a week. But then again, I usually don't think I'm ready for most of the rides I do, then get pleasantly surprised most of the time. This was not quite the case here.

This was my first time riding with the San Francisco Randonneurs. Most of their rides start in San Francisco just south of the Golden Gate Bridge, head north over the bridge and then follow a somewhat involved route through the Marin County communities until leaving civilization mostly behind at Fairfax. As this brevet went into the Point Reyes National Seashore National Park, there was a 100 rider limit, and it seemed that all 100 riders knew the route blindfolded except me. At the start we gathered round Rob Hawks to hear the dos and don'ts, then streamed off over the Golden Gate Bridge. As luck would have it, on the first downhill after crossing the bridge I hit a rock and flatted my rear tire. First flat in over 1000 miles. I pulled over and watched everyone else speed off into the early morning gloom.
Oh well...guess I'll be the caboose.

I was worried that the tire (Schwalbe Marathon Plus) would prove beastly to remove and replace, as they had been very stiff and difficult to mount when new but it actually wasn't so bad. The tires apparently relaxed quite a bit since installation, so it wasn't much more work than changing a normal tire. Eventually I was on my way again solo, with much consultation of the route sheet for the myriad turns and street name changes. Hills always seem longer when you don't know the terrain, so the little climb over Camino Alto seemed to take forever.
Eventually making my way over White's Hill on Sir Francis Drake Blvd., I descended towards Olema and then headed out to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. This involved about 20 miles of rolling hills (trending up in altitude). I really don't like rolling hills. I particularly didn't like them that day. It was even more fun knowing I would have to ride the whole 20 miles back. Did I mention I wasn't ready for this ride?

After a quick stop with the SFR volunteers to sign my brevet card and refill water/fluids I headed back towards the town of Point Reyes Station. The 20 miles of rolling hills were definitely painful, but since I was trending down in altitude it wasn't as bad as it had been going out. Point Reyes Station looked like a cool town to check out sometime when my legs aren't hurting. I kept on rolling towards Marshall along Highway 1, featuring (gasp!) more rolling hills. But it was worth it to get that warm clam chowder and take a break. The weather had been pretty nice for January; cool and a little damp but not cold and wet. I grabbed a Nantucket Nectar for the home leg and headed out.

The leg back from Marshall was my favorite leg of the trip. The rollers back to Point Reyes Station didn't seem so bad, then there was a gentle climb up beside the Nicasio reservoir and a pleasant ride through the Nicasio Valley along (what else) Nicasio Valley Road. Eventually the road headed upwards again, but this was more my kind of climbing, a reasonably long stretch with plenty of trees for company. Nicasio Valley Road eventually swooped downhill ( my favorite part of a long climb - what goes up and up and up usually goes down and down and down and...) and dumped me back onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd, now with lights on.

I was a little misplaced here and thought I was already over White's Hill, only to discover my mistake a couple of miles later, but the climbing was much shorter from this side, which my unhappy legs really appreciated. The route now retraced its earlier meanderings through Fairfax, Mill Valley, etc, with the climb over Camino Alto breaking up the relative flatness. Finally I was back in view of the Golden Gate, with the final chug up to the bridge approach (past the scene of the earlier tire-flattening crime). It was getting chillier at this point so I added an extra layer before crossing the bridge, and was happy for it as the cross winds were fairly strong. After getting buzzed through it was a simple down and around to the parking lot to get my final brevet card signature and a coke, and then load up the bike and head out looking for dinner. I was pretty happy with the day, given the shape my legs were in, and also I had knocked off my 200k for January, putting me halfway towards the R-12. Yippee!