Another day riding -- but this time we threw in a few hills for good measure. Alan had ridden this loop several years ago & funny how the uphill section got shortened with the passage of years. Alan: "I really want you to see this road. It is not so steep and quite lovely in and out of trees."
So off we go: out to Olema, down highway 1 along the coast, and then UP to the Bolinas ridge, down to Alpine Dam, UP to Pine Mountain and Meadow Club with the last bit of down to Fairfax. Ummmm. A whole lot of UP and DOWN on the last half of that ride. Maybe a total of 45 miles.
My confidence began to waver along route 1 as we found plenty of headwind and a few rolling hills. And the ridge road. About a mile up the ridge road, I ask (not so nicely) "how far to the top?" Alan: "oh we are about half way there already." I realized this was the optimistic voice of my husband as about a mile later there was one of those traffic signs with the squiggly line and note: steep, winding road next 14 miles.
Well, about 3+ up hill miles later..we are now close to the ridge. A steep descent to the dam where it is level for a few hundred feet and then immediately up hill again. Alan: "it is not so steep on this section." Me: "!@#$%^&*!
But we got home mostly in one piece. I am totally sore, especially my arms and hands from riding the brakes down the switch backs and on the steep Fairfax hill in traffic. This loop was way out of my comfort zone, but I guess you have to push at times.
The ridge was a climb of 1500 feet, which is a lot more than we'll see down the coast in September...and hopefully by then I will not be too sore for the saddle.
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