Spring Bike Trips - 2009

Springtime brought two great bike trips. The 9^th annual Foothill Bike Trip saw us riding through the wide open foothills between Mariposa and the Central Valley. We ride with our kids’ best friends, and always seem to hit great wildflowers somewhere along our route. Some years we’ve gone for 3 or 4 nights with all the camping gear. Other years we just do an overnight. All the kids are pretty good riders now, and managed a 35-mile day on their own the last couple of years. Lupin, of course, still rides on the “Trail-Gator” attached to Dad’s seat post. After about 30 miles in the seat, her legs weren’t tired, but she asked “Dad, do you know something actually that my butt hurts so much?” At one point she began to fall asleep on her handlebars…. The only way I knew was that she suddenly stopped her incessant chatter. I looked back, and there she was, on her bike, but laying her head down on the handlebars. We had to stop, get off, and do some running around, snacking, and hydrating. I just had to keep her awake for the last 5 miles, as she would NOT get into the little kid-trailer! We always try to conclude with a stop at Marco’s Taco Truck in LeGrand to refuel!

We really wanted to do a longer ride this year, right out our door, across the Central Valley, and all the way to the ocean…. But our school vacations didn’t allow us enough time… this time! So we had amped up the kids for “riding to the beach,” and had to fulfill that promise. We started in Cotati, and spent 4 days camping and riding through Sonoma County and out to the coast. We stayed with friends in Bodega, camped a couple of nights, and braved the narrow busy stretch of Highway 1 from Bodega Bay up to Jenner. It rained on us quite a bit, but the girls had great raingear. Lupin had the option of riding in the Burley Trailer, but refused. She wanted to ride out in the elements just like her big sisters. Some highlights included the livestock along the way, gorgeous rolling hills, and the leisurely wandering pace that only a kid-centered bike trip can offer! If they aren’t having fun, then WE aren’t having fun…. So we stop at every horse corral, cow barn, and banana slug garden. The more stops the better! At this rate we did cycling days of, I think, 30 miles, 20, 7, and 10? Something like that. It was quite mellow, and concluded with an amazing Indian feast at the Sizzling Tandoor in Jenner. And then the wild and windy seal-infested beach at the mouth of the Russian River. Our kids are begging us to return there someday!