by Stephen Herrick

The end of Daylight Savings, and the beginning of dark by 5 o’clock is enough to make any cyclist trade in their Gatorade for a bottle of scotch, but we just might have a way to take the sting out of it. June and I, and another friend took off last Sunday and drove up 101 to Windsor for a ride through some of the premier vineyards in Sonoma County. The leaves were turning their fall colors, the weather was crisp, but not too cold, and the countryside was absolutely gorgeous. I’m from New England, and believe me, I’m not easily impressed with fall foliage unless it’s truly something special. We had such a good time that we have decided to make it an annual event on the Sunday when the clocks “fall behind.”

We started out on Old Redwood Highway just north of Santa Rosa, and climbed up Chalk Hill. (A piece of cake when you’re not coming at it from the opposite direction after 80 or 100 miles on the Wine Country Century!) Then out the back roads to Geyserville, where the local schools were putting on a Fall Colors Festival with antique classic cars, barbeques, and a chicken-poop lottery. We had lunch, and then crossed over Highway 101 and headed back on West Dry Creek, and Westside roads. A quick stop at a couple of wineries, (it is the end of the season after all,) over the Wohler Bridge, and we returned to Windsor. A nice paced metric century with just over 2000 feet of climbing, and of course, the spectacular scenery. We modified it a bit, but a full description of the basic ride can be found on the Santa Rosa Cycling Club’s website at http://www.srcc.com, under “10 Great Rides,” “Alexander Valley and Russian river Valley.”