Steve's Cycling Page

Click on photo above for a description of the Maui trip May 2007 Sonoma County has got to be one of the best places on the planet to ride a bike. When I used to train "seriously" I was glad to have all the roads for the varied terrain and awesome scenery...Now that I am not so interested in racing, I am glad to know all the local roads, yeah, for the varied terrain and awesome scenery... A while back, I went out on a kick ass bike ride. Just me and my iPod. I really dig riding with that lil gizmo. I bought a cheap set of headphones and cut off the left earpiece. So, when I ride, I only have the right one in. Not the greatest sound quality, but it works AND I have an ear free to hear traffic. It works well. That day, I had 85 glorious miles, with Rob Zombie and Rammstein to keep me company. It had been raining a fair amount up here, but that day was clear. And, with my minimal work schedule, there was nothing to keep me from reveling in the spring-like sunshine that evaporated all but the largest of puddles. The first and last 30 miles of the ride were rather flat. If it weren't for the middle part of this ride, there really wouldn't be that much to write about. But it was the middle 25 miles that made the first and last 30 so worth pedaling. Yep, it was all about the Geysers. OK, up here, people talk about the Geysers. For some, they may be talking about the Geothermal Electric plants located several miles east and a couple a thousand feet above Geyserville, CA. For others, talk of the Geysers may evoke images of the occasional plume of white steam emerging from the rocky crags in that same area. But to cyclists in the area, The Geysers really means riding Geysers Road, from Alexander Valley, up to Mercuryville (The Half Mile High City) and back down to Cloverdale. It is a sparsely traveled road, offering extended climbs, stellar views and unparalled riding covering a stretch of 25 miles of (mostly) paved tarmac. And on that day, over this particular 25 miles, I saw precisely ONE car. It was the kind of day that reminded me, or perhaps just reinforced, why I LOVE riding bikes. The long and steady climbs offered a unique opportunity for quiet introspection. With no traffic, it was just me, the bike and the road. The 39-25 offered a climbing gear of sufficient ease to allow the pedals to turn with no great resistance. Steady pedaling - steady breathing. The tempo itself carried me up the road. The internal focus on rhythm was frequently punctuated by an external focus on the increasingly breathtaking views. The summits arrived almost too quickly, providing the mixed feelings of accomplishment and the desire for more. Any sense of longing for more altitude was quickly replaced by the sheer delight at the well deserved speed that the next 14 miles provided. The descent from Mercuryville starts off steep, but after the initial plunge, the road loses altitude gradually, so that over a period of many miles, sweeping corners present themselves at perfect pace. One is reminded of a feeling of flying and freedom.