From b25285a65a1d9c63c674d9a9c9172cf0f3b4bede Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "R. Tyler Croy" Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 09:14:34 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] West-ish was in fact the correct direction --- _posts/2018-12-04-which-way-is-up.md | 52 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 52 insertions(+) create mode 100644 _posts/2018-12-04-which-way-is-up.md diff --git a/_posts/2018-12-04-which-way-is-up.md b/_posts/2018-12-04-which-way-is-up.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c0c1dc --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2018-12-04-which-way-is-up.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: "I generally know where I'm going" +tags: +- alc +--- + +With a clean air and a good bit of weather out in the big blue room, I decided +to take advantage of the opportunity and continue some of my [AIDS/LifeCycle +training](http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/rtyler) _outdoors_ for a change. If +you have never been to Sonoma county, you may not be familiar with some of its +absolutely fabulous hills, valleys, and vistas. This past weekend I joined the +numerous cyclists out there charging about on our beautiful county roads. + +This marked the first real ride since getting more [properly fitted on my bike +for ALC](/2018/11/16/fitted-for-alc.html), and I had planned it to be a quick +jaunt from Santa Rosa west towards Sebastopol and back. There are two trails +which head west out of downtown Santa Rosa, the [Joe Rodota +trail](https://www.sonomacounty.com/outdoor-activities/joe-rodota-trail) and +the Santa Rosa Creek trail. This past weekend I learned the difference between +the two. + +Riding westward into the countryside, I began questioning my memory: "I could +have sworn this trail ran parallel to Highway 12?" With vineyards surrounding +me, I couldn't much complain, and rode onward. That was until the asphalt +turned into gravel and rock, which my road bike made clear was not a suitable +direction to continue riding. Stopping to pull out my phone and consult a map, I was +bemused to learn that I was much closer to Graton than I was to Sebastopol. Not +entirely lost, but not entirely going in the right direction either. +Turns out the Santa Rosa Creek trail heads northwest out of the city, and the +Joe Rodota trail, which heads due west, had branched off 7 or 8 miles prior. + +Luckily enough, I was _generally_ heading the right direction, west-ish, so I +reoriented myself, found asphalt, and kept rolling, following a couple of other +cyclists on their spiffy looking tandem road bike. + +After climbing _much_ more elevation than I had originally planned, as the due +west path between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol is very flat, I rolled into +Sebastopol and finally ended up on the _other_ end of the Joe Rodota trail. Following +the correct trail, albeit in the opposite direction, returned me to Santa Rosa +where I made note of the fork where I should have originally turned right, +in case I want to go direct to Sebastopol in the future. + +All said and done, it was a chilly, comfortable, and enjoyable 20 mile ride. +Roughly 1/6th of what I will need to be prepared to ride, for five days straight, +as part of [AIDS/LifeCycle](http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/rtyler). With my +indoor training setup, and my increasing familiarity with riding the roads of +Sonoma county, I'm not too worried about making it the 545 miles between San +Francisco and Los Angeles next June. + +So long as somebody is keeping me pointed in the right direction. +