Rides near Sonoma

[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!

[Running Mommy]

[QUOTE=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 know it was prolly just a fluke. I used to run on that trail all the time, but this was a few years ago when it wasn't used as much. Sounds pretty busy now. It just creeps me out everytime I think about that trail.

[Deanna]

That would be creepy. I think that as they've integrated it into a more extensive network since that time the regional park service is paying more attention to keeping it clean and safe (I actually see park rangers on the trail from time to time). Did you know you can now go from downtown Santa Rosa to Forestville with only a few miles of on road riding? It's pretty nice!!

[Trek420]

Running Mommy "it has become so popular with recreational users that I'm more irritated by having to slow down to 15mph so often."

It's funny that (with the exception of horrific accidents like out TE gals and others who've been hit by cars) we're more irritated by peds, rollerbladers than cars.

Anyway, I will head up to Sonoma tomorrow, going to pretty much play it by ear. If I bring the mutt I might stay overnight and ride both days but then I'd be "leashed" because I really can only leave her crated for oh, maybe 4 hours tops, which should be long enough to get a nice little ride in.

If mutt stays home we'll ride Saturday. I plan to concentrate on Bikeless clipping and unclipping in the real world, signalling (watch for her on the ride, she WILL be the one calling out!) maybe find a little hill and do some gearing.

OT to this thread, I plan to meet up with Spazzdog and a friend of mine (who happens to live across the street from her, how handy for me!) after work. PM me if you're in Oakland and want to meet up.

[Trek420]

Just got back home. Bikeless and I did a short ride around Sonoma today, concentrated on clipping and unclipping, she signals calls out we found a short hill and had her do a little descending.

I had not seen her bike and it's a hybrid with knobbies.

The good news is it fits her well. Bad news is the knobbies.

So the plan is that I go back up there, visit Mom of course, get the bike and get slicks on it while she continues to spin spin spin in Madison.