Do you remember Presidents’ Day back in February, when the peloton rode into Santa Rosa? I had asked in the SRCC newsletter, “What does it take to get tens of thousands of bicycling enthusiasts to mass in Santa Rosa on a Monday afternoon in February? Think of Santa Rosa’s Rosa Parade, and that’s the sort of crowd that will possibly show up to see the finish of Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California!” Whatever it took, the crowds did show up, and the riders, race organizers, and civic officials were amazed and delighted.
Maybe it’s a case of, “No good deed goes unpunished,” but the reward for the fantastic effort and enthusiasm displayed by Sonoma County and Santa Rosa residents is to have more in 2007!
Changes to the Tour
There will be two more teams, for a total of 18 international and US-based teams, with eight riders per team.
As in 2006, this international stage race will take eight days to cover the coastal region of the state. Some cities that were visited in the first race are not on the route for 2007 and are replaced by others, including Sacramento and Long Beach.
Because the crowds were large and enthusiastic and the City of Santa Rosa put a lot of resources behind making this a great event, in 2007 Santa Rosa will again be the finish for Stage 1, and the start location for Stage 2. Unless winter storms cause damage to some roads, the routes should be:
Stage 1: Sausalito to Santa Rosa - Presidents’ Day, February 19
The course follows Highway 1 through Tomales, Valley Ford, and Bodega Bay, then climbs Coleman Valley. There is a three-mile loop in downtown Santa Rosa that riders will cover three times. With a larger Expo area, bicycle parade events, and then the (probable) sprint finish, downtown is the place to be!
Stage 2: Santa Rosa - Tuesday, February 20
If you want to see the riders up close as they get ready for this long stage, then you need to be in Railroad Square! The peloton moves off on Fourth Street at 10:00AM, then Third Street and Santa Rosa Avenue. Just as in the Terrible Two, the course uses Bennett Valley Road to Glen Ellen, then climbs Trinity Road and descends Oakville Grade into the Napa Valley.
We’re going to need the help of all SRCC members. Volunteer! Go to the web site www.amgentourofcalifornia.com and enter your name and a job preference in the database.You need to do that for both days. Expect to be contacted (and thanked!) by the Santa Rosa Local Organizing Committee, and offered a wider range of volunteer opportunities as well as or in place of your initial selection.
If you must be at the top of Coleman Valley and Trinity Roads, then consider some of the other opportunities, such as:
The main requirement, however, is for Course Marshals within Santa Rosa, because we need to guard every intersection and driveway along the course. There will be a training session in early February to show what it takes to keep the race safe.
It’s not just a bike race!
The 2006 race had a huge impact on the awareness of political leaders about bicyclists and bicycling. Again in 2007:
Talk about the race! We need every bicyclist to talk up the event with friends, neighbors, and that guy in the check-out line. This is a big deal for bicycling in California and Santa Rosa. Come on those February rides; help where you can; volunteer to marshal (guard the course in downtown) in particular; and cheer the racers!
—Martin Clinton, Volunteer Coordinator, Santa Rosa
In 2004, club leaders reinvented the annual Holiday Dinner by moving it from a restaurant to the venerable Druids Hall, home to many of our past workers’ dinners. No one was sure whether the reality of the event would match the expectations of the planners, but in fact the evening went very well and everyone was happy. With two years of successful Druids Hall dinners behind us now, it was an easy decision as to how to stage the event for 2006: do it all the same. The “bigger” in the headline refers to sheer numbers. Last year, 150 members attended. This year, over 180 packed the hall...certainly the largest gathering ever of clubsters in one room. The “better” refers to a multitude of subtle changes to the service over the course of the evening, all of the little refinements making things flow more smoothly.
The main meal was a catered affair (and done very well). The appetizers before dinner and the desserts after were the responsibility of club members, and as we have found at many a potluck in the past, our members know how to cook...or at least enough of them do to keep the rest of us fed. In addition, the no-corkage policy at the Hall ensures that all who wish to do so can share their favorite wines with their table mates. Last but far from least, add in the festive cheer provided by the holiday trimmings all around the Hall. (Thanks once again to René Goncalves, Sharron Bates, and all their busy elves for taking most of the day before the party to decks the halls with boughs and bows and dancing bears.)
Throughout the course of the dinner, the supper-club floor show was provided by our Year-in-Review Awards presentations. The now traditional tag team of club President Martin Clinton and Newsletter Editor Bill Oetinger took turns on stage distributing certificates and awards far and wide.
After his opening remarks about the past year of club life, Martin kicked off the awards disbursement with Rookie of the Year certificates to George Gallegos and Hiroko Lambert. The natural segue from Rookie is to Most Improved, and Bill presented awards in that category to Eric Peterson and Annie Osborn, with an Honorable Mention to Todd Sloan. So...once you’ve been Rookie of the Year and Most Improved, what worlds can you conquer next? One option is to be a demon climber, and the awards for King and Queen of the Mountain this year went to those frisky fliers Kipp Frey and Firouzeh Attwood.
Sometimes cyclists find themselves behind the medical eight-ball, off the bike and nursing assorted aches and pains. But the best of them fight back from that adversity and get back on the bronc that bucked them off. For this pluck, we have the Comeback Kid of the Year award, and for 2006, it went to Gordon Stewart and to Craig Robertson, both of whom crashed hard this year, then went through months of surgeries and rehab, but finally got back out on the road in good shape.
Most inspiring, to be sure. But we have a different award for Most Inspirational. It might involve rising above a medical crisis, but it might also simply honor cyclists who, by their actions, and above all their attitude, have impressed and inspired those around them. For that, this year, we salute Susan Noble, who completed the California Triple Crown of Double Centuries (including the Terrible Two) while in her fifth year of cancer survivorship. And we also salute Donn King, our club’s brevet coordinator. In Donn’s case, the award was not for overcoming any particular adversity, but simply for his consistently positive and upbeat attitude in all circumstances related to cycling.
Martin presented Volunteer of the Year awards to Kimberly Hoffman and Richard Stone, both of whom have toiled long and hard in service to the club and the wider community. Whenever a project needs doing and the call goes out for help, their hands always go up first. In a similar vein, we have an award we call the Leader of the Pack, which recognizes above-average contributions in the field of cycling advocacy. This year’s winners were the husband and wife team of Tom Bahning and Vicki Duggan. (By the way, our newly elected Santa Rosa City Council member, Susan Gorin—wife of long-time SRCCer Joe Gorin—has just appointed Vicki to the SR Planning Commission. Add that to Vicki’s other hats: Vice-President of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and Vice-President of the SRJC Neighborbood Association. You can’t be much more of a Leader of the Pack than that!) While on stage, Vicki took the opportunity to read a letter of thanks from the SCBC to the SRCC for their continuing support of the Coalition’s advocacy efforts.
While Bill and Martin took a minute to tuck into their entreés, Al Bloom and Sue Bennett mounted the stage to present the Lewis and Clark Award, which honors a club member who has made a substantial self-supported tour during the previous year. In this case, the worthy recipient was Phil Grinton, who completed the legendary End-to-End run in the British Isles.
Bill returned to the stage to hand out awards for Ride Leader of the Year. No surprise here: the two who led the most club rides in 2006 have been there and done that in previous years as well: Doug Newberg and Wayne Kellam. Martin continued with the theme of club rides by handing over the traditional shepherd’s crook—symbol of the Good Shepherd Award (for most supportive, helpful ride leader) to Randall Ray. (Watch out Wayne and Doug: Randall may be gaining on you!) And while still on the theme of being supportive, Adrienne Ruggles presented the Golden Shoe Award—for most supportive (or most uncomplaining) spouse—to Kathy Oetinger.
Bill had one more award to hand out: Rider of the Year. This can sometimes honor someone for being supportive or inspirational or plucky. But more frequently, it is simply the hardcore hammer award: the fastest, strongest, biggest dawg on the block. This year’s very deserving winner: Marc Moons, who was just a handful of minutes shy of being the overal CTC Stage Race winner in 2006. On a parallel track to this Big Dawg award is the Gearhead Award, which honors not only being strong and fast, but having done things so far beyond the pale of what normal riders would consider feasible as to seem almost lunatic. The reigning Gearhead—John Staroba—brought the award up on stage with him and made a handsome speech in honor of the newly crowned Gearhead, Bob Redmond, whose long, sometimes rocky season all came together in the best possible way with a strong ride at the Furnace Creek 508 in the fall.
In betwixt and between all the other awards, and just to make sure everyone was paying attention, the emcees pulled names out of a hat and called members down to collect door prizes...all sorts of juicy bike swag, compliments of the club. Well fed, entertained, and in some cases, carrying awards or booty, everyone went home happy.
Our regular January club meeting doubles as election night: voting in a new slate of officers for the Board. In the past, it also served as the occasion of our Year-in-Review awards presentation. And best of all, the club picked up the tab for all the pizza and beer.
That was then... Now, the awards (most of them) have moved to the Holiday Dinner, and because we were filling our room past its “Fire Marshal” capacity, we have decided to eliminate the free pizza to see if that will hold down attendance just a bit. However, it is our important election night still, and we do want a good crowd there. Furthermore, we hate giving up on giving out the free food. So we’re offering a compromise: deferred gratification. Here’s how it works...
To reward those who attend (and vote), we will be handing out vouchers good for the price of lunch at El Sombrero Taqueria in Healdsburg on the occasion of our Free Lunch Ride (Second Saturday in March). Yes, the famous Free Lunch Ride—the original multi-tempo club ride—is back. The crucial question is this: will folks show up for a Free Lunch voucher (deferred until March) in the same numbers as the folks who showed up for the free pizza and beer? We’re hoping just a slightly smaller crowd will be there...just under the room’s rated capacity.
There are other reasons to attend this meeting (aside from the lunch voucher and the election): Alan Bloom will be holding a drawing for all those who logged their miles at the club’s commute-miles on-line log in 2006 (srcc.com...go to Commute Miles). You must be present to win any of the sweet bike swag he has collected. And there will be a guest speaker (see note in calendar at left).
Happy New Year to you! As we ring in the changes on the season, let’s spare a few minutes to glance backward at the season just past...the ghost of early winter. We pick up the thread of our never-ending saga with Steve Drucker’s latest edition of his Lotsa Hills and Two Rocks ride on November 18. Steve tells us how it went: “For the third edition of Lotsa Hills and Two Rocks, I expected a small turnout. It’s at that time of year when people are doing less bicycling. The ride had a late start was kind of hilly, and was fairly long. Weather can be bad. We often get busy gearing up for Thanksgiving, and there was another ride on the same day. In fact, we had about 30 riders. Some of the B-paced riders split off and took their own route, avoiding some of the early hills. The more C-paced riders hung together for awhile, then split up as a fast paceline formed on Petaluma-Valley Ford Road. The weather was perfect, after some chill and early morning fog. I managed to stay near the front of the pack as ride leader and not have to be leader of the back. Several riders rode from home, myself included, some from as far away as Healdsburg!”
The other ride that Steve mentions was Rich Fuglewicz’ Hopland Hills and Thrills. This is the one I did, and it turned out to be a wonderful day on the bike. And I do mean day: with a 10:00 am start and with the short winter day, we pretty much used up all the sunlight we were given on this 70-miler over the grade and down to the lake...and back. This hilly workout had a tough climb front-loaded into the route before the hop over the grade. That would be the Old Yorkville out-&-back. This is such a jewel of a road! A hard climb, for sure, but it rewards you with one of the sweetest descents in the North Bay on the way back down to Hopland. Then add in two trips over the Hopland hump and you have a day with a full ration of tough climbs and dancing descents (even on damp pavement). Over 7000' worth. And throw in Kelsey Creek for a little added spice...we hadn’t done that excellent little back road in years. Plus a pleasant stop for lunch in Lakeport, with a little prowl along the lakefront thrown in. We didn’t have as many riders as Steve had on his somewhat more accessible Two Rock ride, but we had a surprisingly large crowd, considering the faraway start, the dark and damp season, and the daunting elevation profile. About 15 riders? Something like that, and a lot of them old, familiar faces. All the grizzled old hammers.
There was another ride on this day as well. It wasn’t on the ride calendar, but it was definitely a club event...a family affair. It was called the Missing Kathy Ride and was put together on short notice by friends of Kathy Hiebel. Laurie Buettner sent in this note about it: “About 30 of us met on a cool and foggy Saturday morning at Youth Community Park. We quietly gathered together while Jose released his caged doves. They circled above us and then disappeared into the white sky. We rode at a civil pace, for a while, but even when a few riders lost the paceline, no one rode alone. The sun soon burned through the clouds, and gave us a blue sky. The vineyards, carpeted in green from the recent rains, were still bright in their fall golds and reds, and a yellow hot air balloon completed the Sonoma County postcard image. I thought to myself, ‘What more could one ask for? Except to have Kathy here with us, as she has been so many times before.’ But I know she was with us, at least in our hearts. After a leisurely stop in the warm sun at the Oakville Grocery, we returned for a pot luck at the park, where we were joined by other friends and family. There were lots of hugs, tears, laughter, and memories shared. What brought most of us together, also took one of us away. We miss you, Kathy.”
Sunday, George Gallegos was the engineer on the A-train, and he logged this report afterward: “We had 17 bicycles, plus one recumbent and one tandem, which made a total of 20 riders for the trek from Howarth Park to Glen Ellen. There was so much enthusiasm that we added the Henno-Dunbar loop, which added an additional four miles to the ride (35+ in all). It was a brisk, cool, foggy morning, but I did hear some singing from the group. We even had a rider named Frank who found us on the Web and joined us from Boise, Idaho while in town for a holiday visit. Excellent ride with no flats.” George is our newly crowned Rookie of the Year for 2006, but he’s not resting on his laurels. He has now taken on the mantle of ride leader as well. Keep it up George!
That brought us to Thanksgiving week. The early part of the week featured some lovely weather for the season—cool and clear and sunny—but after turkey day, the whole thing fell apart. It rained from the holiday right on through the weekend, presenting us with our first official washed-out weekend of the winter. Instead of doing Randall Ray’s Alexander Valley ride on Saturday or my Ida Clayton ride on Sunday, we all had to stay home and work hard at making the leftover turkey and dressing disappear. But the storm blew itself out after the weekend, and by Wednesday, we were able to get in a good ride up to Lake Sonoma (on Chris and John Mason’s West County Wednesday ride). I have to guess the Wednesday Wanna-B’s also had a good ride. It wasn’t exactly balmy though. The mercury didn’t climb above the 40° mark until a couple of hours into the ride.
The only ride on the first Saturday in December was a short one: just five miles. No, that’s not a typo. It was the club’s official memorial ride for our fallen comrade Kathy Hiebel...a short, silent procession from Howarth Park to the church where her service was held. I’m not sure how many people took part. Others told me they counted to 110 and then lost track, with more riders still filing past. It was a fitting way to honor our friend, and by extension, all of the other members of our extended family who have gone off the front in the past year or so: Greg Godwin-Austen, Carson Boyd, Sandy Karraker, Robert Rand...good folks, one and all, and all missed. The large procession of riders was joined at the church by hundreds of other club members and friends. Many people stood to say a few words about Kathy, but none was as bright and upbeat as Betty Hiebel, her mom. We just received a Christmas card from Betty with this note: “To the bike club: thank you for all you did for Kathy’s service. It was a wonderful day, to remember and see all who loved her. Thanks for all the work you put in.” And thanks to Betty for making us smile when we all wanted to cry.
The clear-but-crisp weather held for the first real weekend ride in December (on Sunday), another of our Century-of-the-Month offerings...a relatively easy loop from Willowside out to Freestone and Bodega Bay, then up the coast and back inland along the river, and finally out around the Dry Creek, Alexander Valley, and Chalk Hill wine regions. The flat-to-rolling terrain was ideal for tandems, and four showed up: Craig Robertson & Jennie Phillips, Andreas Schultz & Ken Holloway, Barley & Susan Forsman, Doug & Deanna McKenzie. If you know these folks, you won’t be surprised to learn that the tempo at the front of the ride was pretty hot. Not C tempo...more like D+. Some of the solo riders were able to hang with the big rigs, but a second tier of riders, including your reporter here, went off the back immediately. No problem though. We had enough folks back there to keep one another company, and we had plenty of leisure for admiring the beautiful scenery. The coast was especially stunning, with big winter surf coming ashore. Eventually though, all of my second-tier companions bailed, so from Wohler Bridge onward, I was riding solo. But I found John Russell at the Jimtown Store regroup, and we motored on in together. It was just about as nice—and as easy—as a century could be. And just so you know: we plan to continue the century program in 2007. Only we’re going to rename it the Century Challenge. There will still be at least one official club century on the calendar each month, but we want folks to understand that any century at all can be logged into our on-line century log at the club website. Solo training rides, big pay-to-ride events, club rides...they all count.
For those who didn’t hanker after a whole century, or even most of one, there was another option on this day. (No, not staying at home and watching football.) That would be Wayne Kellam’s Franz Valley-Chalk Hill ride. Wayne sent in this report on the ride: “The Franz Valley loop started clear and crisp. I was glad for the 10:00 am start. It was cold enough that we weren’t too hot climbing Franz Valley, and it felt easier than usual. Dave Batt pulled us along through Knights Valley. We were going 25 mph+ at the north end. We waited at Chalk Hill for one of our riders who had fallen off the back because he was low on glucose. I offered him a Hammer Gel; Dave offered a Power Bar. He downed the Power Bar and was a new cyclist in a few minutes. The return on Chalk Hill was still pretty cool so that there was no sweat on the big climb to the summit.”
One week later and it was Second Saturday time again. I was the C ride leader, and I didn’t show up. Hey, it was raining at my house. But others were more optimistic (or delusional), as evidenced by this note sent in by Steve Drucker. “Ten souls were there at 9:00 am with no ride leaders. Susan Nobles acted as de facto leader. The course was changed to a safer route through Oakmont and over Lawndale to Warm Springs and Arnold Drive and Glen Ellen. This avoided the narrow sections with freeway-speed cars. Two riders were off the front, never to be seen again. One was off the back with a flat and later rejoined. All riders rode basically the A route with a brief stop in Glen Ellen in the hope of avoiding the rain. Alan and Sue came prepared with touring bikes, fenders and raincoats. The rain began on the return through Oakmont and mercifully stopped by the end of Channel Drive. We made the final miles on wet streets but without rain.” I was sorry to have missed the ride and so I did it the following Monday, including the “freeway-speed” sections of Hwy 12, and I felt safe through all of it. Not a problem.
Sunday, Bill Dunn listed a Point Reyes ride. But bad weather again kept everyone away...except for that hardheaded Tony Lee, who not only did the ride but rode there from his home in Petaluma, logging about 120 miles in the process. Tony loved Pierce Ranch and saw lots of elk. I rode down to Pierce Ranch from Sebastopol mid-week (after the weather improved), with the specific goal of seeing elk, but I didn’t see a single one. I did however have a big bobcat lope across the road right in front of me, so that made up for the missing elk. A clear, dry, mid-week day in mid-December out in the National Seashore...not a tourist to be seen (not on Hwy 1 either). Everything as green as could be. Can’t ask for much more than that...
On December 16, Denise Prue and Annie Osborn had scheduled a BC ride from their new office in Santa Rosa. Let Denise tell it: “Kudos to the mighty 16 who showed up for the inaugural ride yesterday from our new healing center. Annie and I are grateful to Bill Shaffer and Charlie Rowell, who substituted as our leaders, since she and I are still recovering from the Crud. We will revisit this ride again in February or March and promise to add hot cocoa and tea to the yummies provided at the end of the ride. I set out munchies we had left over from our grand opening party and the group descended upon the buffet like a small swarm of locusts.” Well...not much news about the ride itself, but at least we can see the riders had good appetites.
On Sunday, Nikola Farats had the helm for his River Rambles C ride. I did this one, and it proved to be absolutely fantastic, all day. Rain had been predicted, but it never showed up. On the other hand, it was wicked cold at the start: 32° when I left home; frost riming the grasses and ice in the puddles. But blessedly dry, so that if you had dressed right, it was really very pleasant (and it did warm up later). We had a dozen riders early on, but that number was whittled in half by mid-ride as folks implemented shortcuts here and there. Although not as long as the century on December 3, the route had some similarities, leading to a curious sense of deja vu for me: dumped off the back of the fast group through the rollers on Westside, then all of my second-tier companions bailed by Wohler Bridge and I rode solo to Jimtown. This week, instead of John Russell, it was Lou Salz I met at the store, and we rode in together. This was one of those crisp winter days when it just feels good to be out there, alive and on the bike. Puffy little clouds decorating a bright blue sky. Everything looking as fresh and as green as Ireland after the recent rains. No winds. A dream ride. May we have many more of the same in 2007!
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