Am I a cyclist now? During Covid I purchased a refurbished 1992 Trek bike and finally had a chance to put it to the test. With no cycling experience I decided to try the Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley Russian River Valley Cycling Route. I got his route from the Santa Rosa Cycling Club’s website.
In the past, I have taken my mountain bike from town to town on Old Redwood Highway. I once went from Healdsburg to Petaluma on a mountain bike. Prior to this video I had only ridden a cycling bike around 3 times.
With my “skinny tire” bike I figured everything would come easy. Things I can do on my mountain bike should be twice as easy on a skinny tire bike right?
I was wrong…kind of.
While “skinny tire bikes” do let you go faster, you’re still putting in a similar amount of work. The difference is that you’re moving and covering more ground faster. Steep streets are climbed faster and miles are covered faster. These bikes make it possible to climb higher mountains and because of this, you will find some very steep hills on cycling routes.
Wohler Bridge
My favorite part about this ride is how many bridge your cross over.
The Ride Begins
This adventure started at Spoke Folk in Healdsburg. At Spoke Folk I purchased my first cycling shirt.
Why did I pick Spoke Folk?
When I was younger, my mountain bike’s brakes got stuck when I was riding from Cloverdale to Healdsburg. I was about a block from Spoke Folk and decided to see if they could help. At Spoke Folk they used a tool to loosen up the disc brake from my cheap mountain bike. The staff at the time (this was 12 years ago) ended up tuning up my bike and didn’t charge me for it. I never forgot that so getting my shirt there was my way of paying them back years later.
Where did I find this route?
After purchasing my shirt I started looking for routes to take my bike on. I stumbled on the Santa Rosa Cycling Club’s “Ten Great Rides”.
There I found the Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley Cycling Route. I picked this one because it was long and also because it could start it close to my home. Technically you are supposed to start it from Esposti Park in Windsor but I chose to modify it a bit and instead started at Lytton.
True to the Route
I still stayed true to the route. Everything on their map was covered and some extra mileage was added to get to the route and back. Being from Northern Sonoma County, I was very familiar with most of the roads that this route covered. 43 miles did not seem so challenging but the hills on Chalk Hill were no joke.
Would I Take the Ride Again?
If I keep cycling I will probably purchase actual cycling shoes. Everyone that I saw on my ride had cycling shoes. It seems like riding would be a lot easier with cycling shoes so it is definitely something that I am going to look into.
Cycling in the Future I really enjoyed my cycling trip. By the end of 2021 I would like to make a vlog for each of the “Ten Great Rides” by the Santa Rosa Cycling Club.
Am I a Cyclist Now?
You decide, according to my wife I became a cyclist as soon as I bought that shirt 😂.
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