Late March is approaching, it must be time for the Hopland 400k! Time for me to emerge from my solo-perm shell and ride with (eek!) Other Randos! Covid has shaken up so many things in all our lives, and the local rando scene has not been exempt from this situation. Some familiar faces have disappeared, while many new and friendly ones have stepped or pedaled in. It’s nice to sit by and be witness to the churn though sometimes it makes me wonder why I am still here. I guess I must like it or something!
For this running of the Hopland 400k, my eighth, I was not able to stay the night before at my boyfriend’s and be pampered by him because he had a very bad cold for at least a week before. It’s nice to stay with him because of the pampering, but also because he lives only a short bike ride from the start! Failing that, I decided to do a car share from my apartment in Oakland. I’ve taken the overnight owl bus from Oakland to SF in the past, but the bike racks on the front of the bus can be a little terror-inducing for my Pelican at times. Sometimes we can brave it, but this time I decided to pass the pampering along to my bike and pack it inside a vehicle only occupied by the two of us.
Unsure of where to park the car share in SF, I supplicated my transit expert friend Greg, who assured me that the designated parking lots would not be filled with the cars of late night drunken tourists, and he was right. What I didn’t expect was another car-sharer pulling in right next to me in the lot, right after I turned the car off! I saw a bike on the roof and knew it must be a rando. Turns out it was Tak, full-coverage fender rider from the rainy 200k in December! We unpacked our bikes and rode to the start together. I had planned what I thought was the precisely correct amount of time to arrive, but we barely squeaked by for the formal rollout, even missing the SFR oath.
The start control was mobbed! I have never seen this many people on a 400k. In the chaos of checking in, I missed a greeting from Noah S, who has been creating some amazing new perms! It’s a subject very dear to my heart so I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about at some future time. But at the start I am just keeping my head down, trying to stay out of the fray. I ride with Eric L for a little bit. He tells me about a plan to ride the fleche a day early since his partner has a concert on Easter, but I am already on Bill G and Gary P’s amalgamated teams.
The group starts to fan out on White’s Hill as I am still warming up. I see Rob, Brian, and Michael on Red Hill, and all of a sudden I remember that in the cacophony of the start control, I never started my ride logging thingamabob! Whoawhatttttt!? Of course, I am at a point where I am just tipping the summit and there is no shoulder here, I’m about to start a fastish descent and so it’s all a little alarming. Eventually I manage to start the recording and just hope I can cobble together some credit for this ride in the end. Thank goodness I did actually check in with a volunteer at the start, otherwise it’s a pretty long fun-ride. Honestly it was just important to me to complete a 400k in order to be properly prepared for the fleche and 600k coming up. I guess covid shutdowns are still impacting my behavior in that I don’t actually care whether I get credit for rides anymore! If you don’t get randobucks, you still might get a great bike ride. The converse of this is: if I’m not anticipating a great bike ride, I don’t want the randobucks! Ha. Which is why you will probably never see me on the SFR 300k anymore. I don’t need the credit for anything, and I don’t like the route, so why ride it? However, the Hopland 400k is a route I do enjoy. Something about it strikes a very strong chord with me. My Pelicans are designed to carry a front load, and I am designed for front-loaded routes, in terms of climbing. The Hopland 400k has most of its climbing in the first half, then has a sweet gradual descent for the third quarter or so (briefly interrupted by Chalk Hill Road), then familiar mini-climbs for the home stretch.
In the past I’ve ridden this brevet with friends, different people each time but usually with at least one other person. My first experience of it was with my partner John P. We hadn’t planned on riding it together as I’m attracted to the allure of allure libre riding: riding at your own pace or riding with groups as the situation warrants, as opposed to audax style: committing to stay with one group at all times. However, in the Marin wiggle, I beat him to the city limit sign for Ross, and something in my sprint suggested to him to propose that we ride together (that’s what he told me later, anyway). I was really lucky he did that, because that was the windy year and I got to ride with someone who longago raced on bike teams and understands working together! Yay us! It’s only been in the last few years of watching pro bike racing that I’ve come to appreciate how silly it is for me (or anyone) to ride alone alla time. And yet… the Pelican’s Soul still can select her Own Society. The past couple years I’ve ridden it mostly alone, and although it’s tough in spots, it’s fun enough to keep me coming back.
This year, I rode it mostly alone. I briefly encountered Tom V and his riding partner on 128 out of Cloverdale, I saw Ioannis and his riding partner in Hopland… I didn’t really see too many other randos for the whole second half of the ride until I reached Fairfax, where I ran into (not literally) Arvi S! That was great, we pleasantly chatted and kept each other awake all the way to the finish. Arvi had the fine idea of asking me about pets, which was very effective in keeping us alert. Thanks Arvi!
Here are some snapshots of the ride. As you can see, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. There was still wind in the spots where it’s always windy (Dutcher Creek and that whole valley), but we had a mercifully rain-free day, unlike many times on this route and time of year. Despite this, there seemed to be a vast number of riders who had to abandon this time around. Hope everybody made it home okay and has another shot at a 400k if they need it for something.
Top of Wilson Hill
Stoked on oaks on Chileno Valley
Chileno Valley lagoon like glass
Farmland is soaked from past rain… messes up the SFR color sequence! Green, blue, green, white, blue… what’re you trying to do to me?!
just past Korbel
Russian River looks very different this year!
Have you seen the pictures of soil flowing into the ocean from California’s rivers this year? You can really see that here. In a normal year, you can usually see the bottom of the river from here.
Vineyards + Mt St Helena
Muddy Russian River
I have to admit it’s a beautiful day even though I’m all alone against the headwinds here
allowing myself to be distracted from the headwind by clouds
lines and rows
Mountain House moss goes on and on
Top of Mountain House. A little while ago I learned that trees often flourish when they grow near or on large rocks, since the rocks retain moisture
Hopland Valero windmill classic view
Bucolic vineyards and farms in Hopland
Petaluma Denny’s is finally open again!!! Now with a bright new facelift. If you look at the stone wall inside the restaurant you can see PETALUMA spelled out in lightbulbs. They are really happy to be open again! I didn’t stop there this time in spite of how deeply I mourned its loss the past few years.
As the distances get longer, they get harder to accomplish completely solo. I almost can’t imagine what it would feel like to do this route as a perm. I really appreciated seeing the volunteers at the finish control, and in fact one of them is the course record holder on my Mount Tam to Marshall perm! I think I’m finally, gradually, getting back into the groove of the whole in-person thing and it feels really good. Thank you volunteers for supporting this ride.
mmmmbike! 