8th Edition of the ABC Rides-Spring 2009 (Full pictures here)

We have reached the final dates for our 8th edition of the Tour de Trash. The A-Ride will head out from the downtown Petaluma Helen Putnam Plaza on June 13. The B-Ride will be headed out by Jonathan Lee on May 16 from the Norcal shop.

We are reverting back to a format that includes longer rides for the Spring edition in order to get back to the Tour de Trash roots and focus only on large litter items. In addition, given the efforts by Sonoma county to keep I-Street litter-free, there is now a lack of "safe" littered roads for our kids to ride on.

The good news is the Petaluma A-Ride route will include plenty of turn-offs back into Ptown for those riders with little time on their Saturday hands.

The even-better news is that I-street has been free of large waste ever since the Sonoma County Grant Efforts has added signage and cameras to our would-be criminals warning them of law enforcement. The Spring rides will uncover whether these efforts are effective or whether our "trasholes" are just getting relocated to another area.

A-Ride Petaluma June 13 (9:00AM)

The A-Ride promises to bring back some excitement to the route itself other than finding the large items amassed by the road side. We will have 5 KOM's and 2 Sprint's in which the winners will collect swag. The route itself will also include plenty of turn-offs for any of our fellow cyclists that need to head back into town earlier.

• Out I-Street from Helen Putnam Plaza
• San Antonio Road towards D-Street
• Up Red Hill onto Hicks Valley Road
• Up Wilson Hill and onto Chileno Valley Road
• Take Petaluma-Tomales Road up to Alexander Road
• Climb up Carmody and onto Valley Ford Road
• Climb up Gericke Road and onto Fallon Two Rock Road
• Continue on Whitaker Bluff Road and turn onto Middle Road
• Take Marsh Road and onto Valley Ford Estero Road
• Climb up Valley Ford Franklin School Road
• Dillon Beach Road into Tomales
• Take Tomales-Petaluma Road and onto Twin Bridge Road
• Back onto Fallon Two Rock Road
• Valley Ford Road onto Walker Road
• Pepper Road towards Bodega Avenue

1. One group takes Spring Hill Road back to Petaluma
   
2. Other group takes Middle Two Rock Road back to Petaluma

King of Mountain:

1. KOM#1 Crest of Red Hill-(Brand new pair Kaenon Gauge)
   
2. KOM#2 Lookout on Wilson Hill-(Clif Bloks)
3. KOM#3 Top of climb to Dillon Beach-(Della Fattoria Breakfast Gift Cert)

Sprints:

1. Sprint #1 Chileno Valley Road (section after pond)-(CamelBak Hydration Pak)
   

"Smells like victory..."

We had a group of 10 eager trash hunters collect at Helen Putnam Plaza last Saturday as we waited well past 9:00AM for the stragglers to roll in from their groggy Saturday morning rituals. Even a call from Eric Schleth claiming to have forgotten his riding shoes did not deter the zeal for the day's mission. Last to arrive was a pale looking Red Neck that succumbed to the virus for a brief period but through his dedication to our "Tour de Trash" managed to put his physical weakness in the parking lot.

We rolled out of Petaluma on I-Street where we posed for our victory picture after confirming that Sonoma's county's efforts in using signage and video surveillance has indeed had an effect on the would-be trash holes. With nothing to log into the failing GPS (due to overcast skies), we upped the pace in preparation for our first KOM climb up Red Hill. We unfortunately lost our more casual riders along the roads leading towards the first climb but suffice it to say that rumblings about "taking it easy on us" were churning at the rumor mill. Once the prem was announced, the riders had no lack of motivation as we set a high pace up the climb just like the well oiled professional teams over in Europe. Meanwhile, the objective of the ride was not lost as the early pace setters settled into a sub 200 heart rate pace and tracked the trash strewn on top of the hill for Marin county public works to come collect. KOM winner up Red Hill was Jason Mathies who battled hard with Charlie and a handful of other riders to lay claim to a brand new pair of Kaenons.
Around the bend and onto the base of Wilson Hill found the "gruppo compatto" and the second KOM was underway before we could even recover from the last blistering climb. Again the tempo was set high and only the Red Neck and Charlie from the Red Peloton could launch away from the rest of the pack with catapult force. Clearly the sick Red Neck showed no signs of weakness as his urge to win the Clif Blocks prem was well merited. Before the wheels got spinning too fast down the hill, a quick look over the side of the road proved that the classic trash sites are just that. More work for the Marin county public works and we were off to Chileno Valley Road where a sprint for the next prem awaited us.The "Cipo Soul" train was rolling hard as we neared the straight section of Chileno Valley Road and the prem was announced. Camelbak Hyrdation pack, hydrate or die...We sweeped up some Petaluma Chicken Pluckers along the way who were totally confused by the erratic pace we were setting. They looked for the Race Marshal's Audi A4 but found nothing of the sort. The tree trunk legs in our gruppo took over as the front of the train had riders popping off like rivets shearing off an airplane's skin undergoing extreme de-pressurization. By the time I got to the front all sprinters were spent as they went off too early except for Jason Hoorn who easily claimed the win and just as quickly donated the prize over to Demolition Derby Vanessa's High School MTB team.
Back to work after a couple of squids on their motorcycles distracted us, the Chileno Valley Kemmelberg hosted the usual trash sites with evergrowing litter added to the rusting rot in the ditches. This time we have a jet ski added to the pile.
Getting back to a more reasonable pace was a welcome change as we exited the backroads from the valley and headed towards the coast. But the "El Conquistador" who just turned 50 years old on the same day would have none of it. He constantly monitored his Polar watch in preparation for the Terrible Two this weekend but upped the pace nevertheless. And then, just like a mirage in the desert, a rider appeared in front of us with the unmistakable silhouette of a real Soulcraft rider. It was none other than Eric Schleth himself. He made it afterall, just in time to help track the usual litter at the top of Carmody Road.
Onwards towards Dilon Beach was no small task as every rider's legs were starting to feel like lead reminiscent of Grasshopper rides. Attempts to break early were teased upon us as we neared the HC climb of the day but ended up nowhere. This time Norcal Velo's Patrick found his rythm and dropped everyone like they were standing still claiming the prem to a breakfast for two at Della Fattoria. Well done.
Back into Tomales and after some local delicacies from the Bakery, everyone agreed to take the short way back home without losing the opportunity to track the usual litter on Spring Hill Road. As expected, we were not disappointed.
Most of the riders showed up for a BBQ at your's truly place except for the Director Sporty (of course). Nonetheless, we had a screaming time and it was great to see everyone smile and enjoy themselves after a hard day's work. Amazing how a few beers in the body makes one forget all about the lactic acid bubbling in the legs. See you in Fall for the next Tour de Trash.

B-Ride Santa Rosa May 16 (9:00AM)

Jonathan Lee will continue to lead this ride out of the Norcal Shop. Jonathan will be awarding cyclists who stick it through until the end of the ride with swag from CLIF, Marmot and Taylor Maid coffee.

Post Ride Comments from Jonathan Lee
Full pictures here

"Well the 2nd abc trash ride for this year went off very well this past Saturday morning.

We actually had more gals than guys at the start with Hilary Bartels, Renee Coverston, Emily, June, and Catharine Grace rolling out with Tom Buckley, Alex, Dale, and Patrick zahn. While on the road we met up with Jim ( out local Look regional manager) Jim Whitford of 2wheel racing, and then our very own Joe Feng.

Clifbar, Marmot, and Taylor Maid had all kicked in some serious prizes, so the eyes were on the road ways and road shoulders as we headed out up West dry Creek.

Jonathan and Renee won the First Dump Site of the day prize by simply picking up where Pzahn and Joe Feng failed in being the two front riders yet passing a huge furniture dump site :)

Then while rolling quite speedily along Westside Rd, Catharine Grace made a terrific spot on an appliance way down next to some vineyards.

Some times when you do these rides you get a lot of trash sites but this day all the usual dump sites seemed bare with the exception of Chalkhill rd.

Jim told us of a secret climb off of West Dry Creek called Mountain Home. He described it as a 'little thing" and very pretty. well of course it was way too steep for conversation but still nice to find a new climb in our own backyard nonetheless. the road was very smooth and quite a few steep sections.

On our way back to civilization, Joe feng won the Geyserville sprint for the Marmot Backpack. Jim Whitford would have won the Redpeloton Sprint ( at the southern end of Chalkhill right before it meets Faught rd) but he crossed the white line and was relegated :) so Patrick Picked up 2 boxes of clifbars and some Clifblox for a nice 2nd place.

Tom Buckley and catherine Grace picked up a cool Marmot Jacket and Taylor Maid Gift box for their work in spotting the Chalk Hills Dump sites.

All in all Great day, fun group and an even better cause!

Not a huge day for trash sites but 5 major dump sites were found and will be removed within the next few weeks

Special thanks to Clifbar, Marmot and Taylor Maid farms for their amazing support

Their additional products are going to the other ABC ride that are going on in the next few weeks."

Full Detailed Pictures