Oct 29 2010
Fun times at Russian River
The mother of all paddleboards!
I didn’t meet any Russians, although there was a river. Following the Kona race that was not, Rich and I travelled home via San Fran. We didn’t really have a plan. Rock up, sleep in a motel and go where the wind took us. On day one it took us to Breaking Away Cycles in Ross where Donna fixed Rich up with a bike and kept my bike bag whilst we went travelling – thanks loads. They were fab!! We then ended up at Point Reyes national park, where by complete and utter coincidence we randomly met Rachel Joyce and her other half John (sorry, dunno his second name) loiterning around in the car park (also on their way home from Kona). Seeing as none of us had an itinerary booked we decidied to spend a couple of days together and Rachel’s “close eyes, stab on the map” took us to the town of Bolinas, where, according to the Lonely Planet, visitors are “tolerated, but not welcome!” Nice one Rach. Anyways, it proved to be a top spot for some trail running, walking, biking and paddle-boarding. Not to mention top class nosh at the local cafe.
almost as big as my head and as wooden too!
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We then parted ways and Richard and I headed up to Russian River. We stayed in a little self catering place called Creekside. What a score. The first thing I saw was the folder on biking in the area. Mark, who owns the place is an avid cyclist and had to put up with our constant questioning on where to go, best roads to take and how to avoid near-death experiences with the local “hate bikes” brigade. If you are ever in that part of the world - the biking is awesome: some rides we would see 2-3 cars on the quiet roads and you should totally check out Creekside as a great base for your stay. So we had a pretty relaxing time, some great biking, running, some swimming and lots of indulgences in local food and beer and wine. If you are interested in great nosh then it’s a super part of the world to get your fill. More than anything the holiday away from triathlon made me evaluate what I want to achieve next year and get the first stages of some plans started. I was ready to jump back into racing and get some demons out of my system but having reflected on various things I’m havng some down time, catching up with some stuff and getting healthy before I start training for next season. I’ve got some exciting things on the near horizon including getting back into some local schools to inspire some athletes of the future, a trip to GE in Aberdeen to entertain their staff and coaching at my local club. I’ve been invited to a celebration of Scottish Sporting Success in Stirling Castle and look forward to the results of the Spirit of Scotland voting. The there’s the garden to de-leaf and the garage to tidy……..and some long neglected friends to catch up with.
You can come to our school -it is local. xxxxx
Hi Cat!
It was great to meet you and Richard. Helping you plan a ride was a pleasure; there are few things that I like better than talking about cycling in Sonoma County except riding. We would love to see you again! Our local triathlon the Vineman might be worth hopping “The Pond”.
http://www.vineman.com/
Or if you feel like leaving your TT bike at home and doing those climbs on a road bike, you might want to consider coming out for Levi Leipheimer’ Gran Fondo. (I can’t believe how fresh you looked after riding Skaggs Springs- the hard way- on a TT bike!)
http://www.levisgranfondo.com/
Or if you would like to ride with a smaller group and really get your money’s worth, you might consider the Terrible Two. You get to “tour” Napa and Sonoma in one day. With 200 miles and 16,000 feet of climbing, one of my “suffer buddies” refers to it as a lovely 4 day tour packed into one.
http://srcc.memberlodge.com/TT
We would love to see you again,
Mark from Creekside