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Tour of California became Tour of Mt. Tam, which then became, "Let's all get flats", or maybe 3 each, Ornot.We're really lucky that every year a growing protour stage race visits our backyard here in SF. Saturday's Santa Rosa stage was the obvious Tour of California stage to spectate and we had preliminary plans to lead a ride along some dirt roads that intersect one of the more scenic spots on the course. Then the early forecast called for rain and cooler temps so we made the call to have an adventure instead of spectating on the side of the road. Thus, our Tour of Mt. Tam ride was born. Little did we know that we'd also be conducting a #flattimesatridgemonthigh master course. |
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We collectively got eight flats, to be exact.Eight! Sure, flats are part of riding, but we had ridden all of these roads before, nothing was that crazy, and almost none of us were immune. This was just some serious bad luck. We took in stride though and cracked open a couple cans of Champagne while we absorbed the scenery and helped our friends change their tubes, tubeless, patches, stickers, co2 and snakebites, Ornot. |
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After the magic number 8, the universe spared us any more issues, maybe because of the brutally steep climb we were about to tackle.We were only about a third of the way into the ride and now were down 2 riders (they opted to fight again another day). After Lagunitas Lake the route headed straight for the steepest hill in all of northern California (according to us) and at the top, we were greeted with beautiful grey skies and cold whipping winds. Typical summer weather, Ornot. |
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We fought through the chill and made our way down to Pantol Ranger Station. The light at the end of the tunnel was descending Coastal Trail which oddly brought us back into the sun and then to the Pelican Inn for some beer (and more beer) and multiple plates french fries which we emptied the salt shakers on. This ride was by no means huge, but because of all of our mechanical mishaps it was already approaching dinner and all we had eaten was the food we brought (some of us brought pizza though...). Either way, we were hungry and it was good. |
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But we weren't done yet as we were still 2 hours from home.After another dirt climb to engage the french frys and beer we decided a quick stop for some coffee and ice cream sandwiches was mandatory (debatable, but hard to argue with). A big thanks to everyone who made it out. We will definitely be planning another ride to make up for the abundance of stops this round. Keep and eye on our Instagram for details on upcoming rides. This was our route. |
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