Back to Santa Rosa for another try at a Metric Century

The last time I was in Santa Rosa I considered it one of my biggest failures.  I was there for the 2022 Tour de Fuzz, and I’d spent the entire summer working towards a goal and then came race day and I was climbing the big hill and I was making it to the top and then I was falling.  I was going backwards as my seat post cracked on me and my day came to a premature end at Mile 7.  That was then, a different ride, a different bike, a different life.  

The Wine Country Century isn’t the Tour de Fuzz.  They follow similar routes and go by some of the same stuff and hit lots of the same roads.  So, going back to Santa Rosa was personal for me.  First and foremost,  I wanted to do my first metric century (63 miles).  Second, I wanted to kick Santa Rosa’s ass!  It beat me the year before and I couldn’t help but take that personally.  

2023 has been a strange year.  I’m riding a lot but just not riding a lot outside.  The weather has been weird here.  Lots of rain.  So, I was nervous going into the weekend.  Would I have enough to get me through the race.  The most mileage I had done this year was 40 miles.  I don’t think I’d climbed much more than 1000 feet.  So, 63 miles and 2600 feet of climbing scared me.  I even toyed with the idea of calling it off.  David and I even spoke about last weekend while we were riding.  However, our die was cast.

I did try and get out of the ride one more time though.  When I woke up on Saturday morning in Santa Rosa I heard rain.  What I thought was a monsoon style rain storm outside.  So, I texted David and said hey, it sounds like it’s pouring out there.  He texted back and said it would be done by 7 and to get up and get ready.  We both were wrong.  What I heard wasn’t rain, it was the gutter making it sound like a real storm.  He was wrong because it rained until about noon.  

There was nothing for it other than to get up, get dressed and get going.   So, that is what I did.  The metric start time was 7:30 a.m.  and we were there and ready to go right in time.  It actually stopped raining for a bit before the start.   

I took the chance to get a photo opt at the race start:

Then we were off.  We had just started out and made our first turn when the rain started again.  It can down in bunches and it came down cold.  Luckily, David had told me to pack a jacket the day before and I did.  My jacket was water proof and that helped.  However, I forgot the think to keep water out of my helmet.  Also, my feet felt like they were frozen.  David was muttering under his breath about how much this sucked and I had to agree with him.  It wasn’t the way I’d expected the ride to start.  I’d love to tell you even riding in the rain the scenery was lovely, but I can’t.  I couldn’t see anything because my glasses were covered with rain.

We made it through the first 11 miles and got to rest stop 1.  It was a sea of mud and port-a-potties.  Everywhere you stepped it was a mess.  Every rider had steaks of mud up there back from the tired spitting mud and dirt all over.  It looked like we all had a case of the runs.  

The encouraging thing was the rain appeared to be easing up a little.  Also, the spread at the rest stop 1 was great.  PBJ’s, cookies, coffee, chips, you name it they seemed to have it.  It was fantastic.  

We mounted and peddled on.  We crossed a bridge and the Russian River.  David asked if I wanted a photo but I just kept pedaling all I really wanted at that point was to push to the end and get out of the rain.  I sort of regret not stopping now.  It would have been a good photo opt.  I have to remember to live in the moment.  To enjoy the surroundings even if it is a little wet outside.   

The weather would get better and then worse.  It was sort of on and off.  The sun tried to come out and that was nice.  David had to take a bio break road side and I used that time to tell everyone who came by that there was nothing to see here and that it wasn’t a free show.  Doing my best onto embarrass David and make people laugh.  

We pushed on and things were going well and I tried to have a goo and succeeded but when I tried to put my bite guard back in I dropped it.  I had to stop and run back after it.  I decided to apply the 5 second rule and washed it off with some sports drink and I popped it back into my mouth.  Sometimes you just gotta role with things.

We road on and the sun did start to break the clouds.  Things were starting to get fun.  You felt good going downhill.  Every time you pumped your breaks things didn’t squeak at you.  It was this time I tried to put one of my water bottles away and I dropped the thing.  Again, I was parking the bike and cursing and running behind me to get something.   

Next came the 33 mile mark and the rest stop 2, also know as the lunch stop.  This, this stop was fantastic.  I mean well organized.  Good signage telling you where everything was.  They had made to order deli sandwiches, picnic tables, and snacks, so many snacks: Oreos, nutter butters, m and m’s plain and peanut, chips of your choice, roasted potatoes with salt, and fruits.  

I took a Turkey Sandwich and had half of it.  Half bag of bbq chips, and a few butter butters.  I refilled my camelpak and one of my water bottles.  We hung at the stop for a while.  Gearing up for the back half.  

I’ll say this whomever designed this course, AN ASSHOLE!  They totally back loaded the climbs.  The last 30 was all rollers.  Of the mileage I enjoyed all but 1.5 miles of it.  Chalk Hill you can kiss my shiny metal ass!  

It was 16 miles from rest stop 2 to rest stop 3x. They were good miles.  We took off our rain jackets and had them taken back to the start / finish area.  The sun was out.  The riding was good.  Rolling but not terrible.  I felt great. 

Rest stop 3 was awesome!  I know I ate way to much sugar there but it was awesome.  I had so many strawberries with Nutella.  No to mention the bananas with Nutella and an m and m on top.  Wonderful.  Just wonderful.  Then I stopped by the bike mechanic and had my seat adjusted.  Finally, she lubed my chain for me.  Then it was off to battle Chalk Hill.  

Chalk hill is where Mr Fuji broke last year during the Tour de Fuzz.  We were going to ride Chalk in reverse.  It was a fucking monster.  David was waiting for me in front of a sign for Chalk Hill and asked if I wanted a photo and I said no and went on.  It was a nice down hill then.  However, I had this odd feeling we hadn’t done the final climb and I was right.  The final push up chalk was a bastard.  So much so, I lost all my momentum and ended up going over on my side into a sticker weed.  It was a bitch to get myself back up, but I did it.  What I couldn’t do was get back in the bike and finish the climb.  

I just didn’t know the road and when I got on the side of the road and tried to I just couldn’t get momentum to start.  So, I walked.  I’d didn’t walk very far or much but to a place where I could regroup and get myself dusted off.  It was 3 miles to go and I was going to do finish.

So, I mounted up, and I headed on.  The last three miles were small little rollers and I was so happy when I got back to civilization.  While I hate riding through stops signs and neighborhoods I do like the fact I was getting close to the finish line.  

When I saw Bad Ass Coffee I knew I was a stone throw away from finishing my first Metric Century.  I pushed on from the last stop light and rounded the corner and road for the finish!  

It was great to celebrate with David, Mark, and Emily afterwards!  I celebrated with two chocolate chips cookies, an it-it’s ice cream and a coke!  It was a great day and a great personal victory!!

Kona was happy to hear we finished and was ready for me to get home :D