Rides near Sonoma

[Trek420]

Bikeless in WI will be "Bikeless in CA" briefly soon, well, she's bringing her bike. Anyway we're planning a short ride in or around Sonoma on the weekend of the 11th. Just something to get her used to a ride with a group, hand signals, clipping and unclipping outside of the climate-controlled enviornment of a spin class.

Natch I'm lobbying for her to come down to a Lunachix Sunday ride, or maybe even Velo Girls melo-velo ride. But depending on her and our mutual Mom's schedule, Saturday may be it.

Any suggestions/routes?

[Running Mommy]

what part of Sonoma are you going to be in? Sonoma the town or Sonoma county? I lived up in Windsor and had some great rides through the wine country of Healdsburg and Geyserville.

[SadieKate]

I was looking myself awhile back.

The Santa Rosa Club has a Favorites ride list.
http://www.srcc.com/

The Press Democrat has a kind of cool little map database.
http://go.northbay.pressdemocrat.com/clip/index.cfm

[Trek420]

Running Mommy "what part of Sonoma are you going to be in? Sonoma the town or Sonoma county? I lived up in Windsor and had some great rides through the wine country of Healdsburg and Geyserville.

we started out thinking with the Joe Rodota trail network from Santa Rosa or Fulton Rd. area and are now looking more are town of Sonoma probably some that SK has suggested.

[Running Mommy]

OMG! I got attacked by a homeless guy on a mtn bike on that trail! YIKES! I was running, he grabbed my butt, I took him down w/ pepper spray- then RAN! Called the cops, they found some fellow runners (ladies) "helping" the guy.. They had NO IDEA what he had just done...
Anyhoo... I would NOT recommend that trail. Not much in the way of scenery anyway.
My favorite ride starts in the town of Healsburg. I park at the plaza and ride up to Geyserville. It's a great ride and has a few options. If you take canyon road west you can ride back on Dry Creek Road, you can also hook up on a side road from dry creek road and ride West dry creek road. You can make a really nice loop. There are a TON of small wineries on west dry creek road and hardly any traffic. It really is my favorite ride. And the best part is that it ends back in the lovely town of healdburg w/ some FAB dining options like Bear Republic brewery, the Healdburg Grill, and my FAVE post ride carb reload... Cousteaux french bakery!! YUMMMMMM!
Let me know if you would like me to give you a point to point so you can mapquest it out. I prefer to ride Healdsburg/Geyserville for the traffic- there is LESS than in Sonoma. Though I'm sure sonoma has some good side roads. I SHOULD know them as my family is from Sonoma. In fact my Great Aunt is a famous artist in Sonoma. Her name is Helene Minelli. She is well into her 80's, has Parkinsons, and still get's wine label commisions to paint!
Oh btw- if You've never been to healdsburg the square has the same ambiance as Sonoma's. Though maybe a tad less froo froo.

[Trek420]

Running Mommy "OMG! I got attacked by a homeless guy on a mtn bike on that trail! YIKES! I was running, he grabbed my butt, I took him down w/ pepper spray- then RAN! Called the cops, they found some fellow runners (ladies) "helping" the guy.. They had NO IDEA what he had just done... "

Oy, so glad you are ok. That was a quick draw on the pepper spray. Glad you are ok.

"Anyhoo... I would NOT recommend that trail. Not much in the way of scenery anyway."

I'm getting that impression.

"My favorite ride starts in the town of Healsburg. I park at the plaza and ride up to Geyserville. It's a great ride and has a few options. If you take canyon road west you can ride back on Dry Creek Road, you can also hook up on a side road from dry creek road and ride West dry creek road. You can make a really nice loop. There are a TON of small wineries on west dry creek road and hardly any traffic. It really is my favorite ride. And the best part is that it ends back in the lovely town of healdburg w/ some FAB dining options like Bear Republic brewery, the Healdburg Grill, and my FAVE post ride carb reload... Cousteaux french bakery!! YUMMMMMM! "

I love Healdsburg. Off the subject but one ride I wanna do again is the Harvest Festival century. Even though it was 102 I liked that ride a lot.

"Let me know if you would like me to give you a point to point so you can mapquest it out. I prefer to ride Healdsburg/Geyserville for the traffic- there is LESS than in Sonoma. Though I'm sure sonoma has some good side roads. I SHOULD know them as my family is from Sonoma. In fact my Great Aunt is a famous artist in Sonoma. Her name is Helene Minelli. She is well into her 80's, has Parkinsons, and still get's wine label commisions to paint!"

would not be surprised if my (and Bikeless's) Mom knows her or of her.

"Oh btw- if You've never been to healdsburg the square has the same ambiance as Sonoma's. Though maybe a tad less froo froo."

Yes we know the area pretty well but not all the ride routes.

[Deanna]

I have never experienced anything like the incident Running Mommy had on the Joe Rodota trail. In fact, it has become so popular with recreational users that I'm more irritated by having to slow down to 15mph so often. It also now connects up pretty well with the West County trail, which makes for a nice loop up to Forestville and along some of the river roads. You can even ride into Healsdburg for some great eats.

I must put in a plug for the new Sonoma County Bike map that the Sonoma County Bike Coalition just published. It was very well researched by one of the founders of the bike coalition, as well as one of the first members of the SRCC. It even provides locations of cyclist friendly bathrooms and water sources! Information can be found on the website www.bikesonoma.org.

I don't do a lot of riding in the Sonoma area as it usually involves Hwy 12 to get there, but I'm pretty familiar with the rest of the county if you want some of my favorite loops. You will probably want to check for remaining storm damage also--at least two popular cycling routes, including the preferred route from Healdsburg to Geyserville, are still closed!

[cindysue]

Bikeless in WI will be "Bikeless in CA" briefly soon, well, she's bringing her bike. Anyway we're planning a short ride in or around Sonoma on the weekend of the 11th.

darn, I'll be in Canada that weekend. Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

try http://home.comcast.net/~prathman/Sonoma.htm for a list of rides. You can just shorten the distance as appropriate.......