Riding during the winter presents a new set of challenges. Winters in Central California are mild, with the greatest challenges being fog (and valley fog can be pretty thick) and the occasional bit of rain. Dressing for winter rides has been a learning process in general. Last year, I struggled with keeping warm on the bike, and found that a pair of light long-fingered gloves, a cycling cap, and a jacket with a high collar was the ticket. This year, the very warm winter this year has led to the need for a different approach, since rides that would start out at 40 degrees in the morning would end up at 65 by early afternoon. After much consideration, I finally tried the arm warmer and vest strategy. To my surprise, it's been highly successful, and I'll be interested to see if it holds up in colder weather (for this area, that means between 30 and 40 degrees). The gear of choice for me is a set of Garneau Wind Arm Warmers and Vent 2 vest. I really like Garneau gear; it seems to fit my hard-earned reverse taper (tm) body shape pretty well.
With the warm winter season, there's been little reason not to ride, so I've logged some pretty good miles in the routes around town and into the foothills. A lot of these areas look like this:
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| Classic San Joaquin Valley rural foothill road scenery. |
One of the locals took the time to paint a bit of inspiration on a local climb:
Something kinda cool to look at while pedaling uphill at 5 mph.
And I also discovered a challenging climb up Highway 245 from Elderwood to Badger that offers a mid-route stop at Mountain House Saloon. Perfect location for a gargantuan chili size....
The rider in the photo is a former student of mine who has just taken up riding, and we've covered quite a few miles together since Thanksgiving. It took me three years to conquer routes that he's completing in a month. I hate him. Two weeks ago, we took on an 82-mile ride that included the excitement of five separate dog chases, involving close to a dozen dogs. Most were short spurts with mini-dogs in pursuit, but the last one was a serious bit wherein two dogs used a particularly cunning strategy: one dog crossed the road a couple times to get our attention, and then sat on the side of the road demurely while we pedaled by--then his partner barreled out of the bushes just as we crossed his path and gave serious and frenzied chase (head down and snarling) for a couple hundred feet. In three years of riding, I'd been chased by four dogs, and only once in a serious way. In the past two months since I've been riding with this guy, we've been chased on most of our rides. It follows naturally, then, that his team name is Dog Magnet.
On December 31, I rode the metric route for Ride for Life in Santa Clarita. One of the perks for the ride was being able to ride with George Hincapie. I did see him from a distance, and I can say that we rode parts of the same route, but it would be pressing truthfulness to say that we "rode together." The route was challenging but enjoyable, with over 4000' of climbing and strong head and crosswinds. The rest stops, however, were the weakest I've ever seen, with do-it-yourself peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, packets of Gu, and water and only one portajohn per stop. Weakweakweak. Also of note: All of the riders received timing chips, and, as a result, I now have scientific proof that I am Slow.
So: the Tour de Palm Springs is two weeks away. I'm pretty stoked about getting in my first century of the year. I've ridden this twice, one time each for the metric and the century. The terrain is beautiful in a high desert way (the wife thinks it's kinda ugly), there will be a huge number of riders (good and bad, but always entertaining), and the route is pretty gentle and ideal for an early season century.
And I've got to remember to register for the Wine Country Century this week. Missed it last year because I forgot to mark my calendar, and that can't happen this year! I rode the metric two years ago, and it covered some of the prettiest riding that I've ever seen. The Santa Rosa Cycling Club's Ten Great Rides page is one of the things that got me into riding, and the rides pack in a lot of value. If you live near Sonoma County and haven't given some of these roads a shot, these rides warrant five monkeys and are highly recommended! The routes are spectacular, and the route descriptions are brilliant. The wife and I have done the Dry Creek, Alexander Valley ride multiple times, which goes right by the official SockMonkey winery at mile 26, Ridge'sLytton Springs Vineyard, a destination worthy of a visit in its own right.
