A whirlwind 2016 Errandonnee

When MG over at the Chasing Mailboxes blog announced the start of this year’s Errandonnee Challenge, I knew I wanted to join in on the biking and errand running fun! I immediately started to make plans and, after not being able to participate last year, I was super excited to finally complete the challenge.

Of course things are rarely as easy as what we plan. On the first day of the challenge, it started raining. Soon, an atmospheric river settled over Northern California, and flash flood warnings were issued. Then actual flooding started, mudslides happened, and trees toppled over into roads and onto houses. Being a Californian, I already don’t like being out in cold or wet weather, and there was just no way I was going to cycle in the crazy storms that we were having. Though we desperately need the rain, I hoped that it would clear out with enough time for me to complete the challenge. After 7 days, I was sure I was going to miss out on being able to participate in the challenge. Finally, though, after 9 days of rain and with 2 days left in the challenge, the weather finally cleared up. “Two days”, I thought, “can I actually complete all 12 errands in such a short amount of time?” I wasn’t sure, but I was sure going to give it a shot!

Well, a whirlwind 48 hours passed and I’m happy to report that I got in all 12 errands!

On to the nitty gritty!

Bike ridden for all errands: My trusty commuter and general stuff-hauler, a flat-black Trek 7.2 FX. For the challenge, I used a Green Guru Carbon Cooler 22L pannier that I picked up at the REI used gear sale last year for $20. It’s the perfect size for hauling around the stuff I need for work and any purchases I make while on the go.

Total mileage for the challenge: 31.1

Day 1: 3/14/2016

Errandonnee #1: Work or Volunteering

Distance: 6.5 miles

Destination: Bus depot

I rode to the downtown depot to catch the bus to work. This multi-modal commute has been the way I’ve been getting to work during the shorter days of fall and winter, when the 16 mile ride to my workplace is just too far to do in the dark mornings.

Observation: The time change has made it so that this shorter commute into downtown is almost entirely in the dark. I’m looking forward to the longer days of spring and summer when the mornings are light earlier in the day.

No more rain but still cold and windy on this morning’s commute.

Parked outside of Salazar Hall. The bike racks are pretty much empty due to spring break.

Errandonnee #2-4 (Wildcard, Arts & Entertainment, Social Call)

Distance: 10.3 miles

Destination: Sebastopol, CA

#2 (Wildcard) – After work, I needed to chip away at the planning for my upcoming John Muir Trail thru-hike before meeting the husband for his weekly billiards league night and an ice cream date, in nearby Sebastopol. I decided that I wanted to do my hiking research over a delicious pint of beer and figured it would be best to centralize these errands, so after work I rode out to Sebastopol, via the lovely Joe Rodota Trail. I took the long way through town, riding through Florence St., a residential street famous for having Patrick Amiot sculptures in many of the front yards. Having had my fix of art gawking, and wanting a reasonably quiet spot to research for my hike, I rode over to one of my very favorite beer spots in Sonoma County, The Garden. This little gem is the taproom of a local co-op, Community Market.

Observation: All of the rain we got has made for some of the most luscious and vibrant greens I’ve seen in a long time. Also, I love that each time I visit The Garden, they almost are almost never offer the same beers.

Views along the Joe Rodota Trail.

One of the many Patrick Amiot sculptures on Florence St. in Sebastopol.

Reading and planning over a pint of Berryessa Brewing Company’s Rye Ryerish.

#3 (Arts & Entertainment) – Leaving The Garden, I made the short ride over to the Sebastopol Plaza to meet the husband at the Old Main Street Saloon, a little hole-in-the-wall bar. I always have a blast watching the team shoot pool. Husband did ok, winning 3 out of the 5 matches he played.

Observation: The Old Main is, unfortunately, not as divey as one would expect. Having a thing for dive bars, I was a bit disappointed.

#4 (Social Call) – After the match, the husband and I had a late-night ice cream date at our favorite place, Screamin’ Mimi’s, which is conveniently located just across the plaza from the Old Main Street Saloon. I enjoyed a small sundae, which I sometimes think I order just to get the amazing house made maraschino cherry that comes on top of it. The husband enjoyed a scoop of his usual, Mimi’s version of mint-chip.

Observation: The first thing you notice when walking into Mimi’s is the amazing and overwhelming scent of freshly made waffle cones, which the shop makes continuously throughout the day. The scent lingered in my hair after leaving the shop!

Date: 3/15/16

Errandonnee #5-8: Work or Volunteering, Store, and Personal Business

Distance: 6.7 miles

#5 (Work or Volunteering): Another commute to the downtown bus depot. I left extra early today because I had several errands to run before catching the bus.

Observation: Good to see several other bike commuters out on the streets today.

The Humboldt Bike Blvd. is my preferred route on my morning commute.

#6 (Store): I stopped at the Safeway that is on my commute route to purchase a yogurt for breakfast.

Observation: There were a surprising amount of people in the store even though it was a touch before 7 a.m.

Good bike parking at Safeway! 

#7 & 8 (Personal Business): I continued along my usual route but made two quick stops before arriving at the bus depot. First, I headed to the Post Office. My FasTrak transponder had recently stopped working so FasTrak sent me a new one. I had to mail the old one back to them so that I would not incur a fee for not returning it. After the post-office, I headed over to the the downtown branch of my bank to make a deposit through the ATM.

Observations: I don’t usually have time to make it to the post office during their retail hours, so I was happy that the downtown branch has a self-service kiosk. My bank is next-door to a frequently visited local brewery, Third St. Aleworks. When I passed by, I noticed that they are celebrating their 20th anniversary with the release of their 20th anniversary ale. I made a mental note to stop in soon to sample their special release.

Post office. No bike parking nearby but also no people nearby. Felt safe enough to leave the Trek by the door while I mailed my stuff.

 

Errandonnee #9-10: Non-store errand

Distance: 1.2 miles

#9 (Non-store errand) – Today, I didn’t have enough time in the morning to throw a lunch together so, when twelve o’clock rolled around, I needed to actually leave my office (a rare occurrence) to obtain food. Since it’s spring break at the University where I work, almost all of the dining venues on campus are closed. The one venue that was open didn’t sound appealing so I headed off campus, just across the street, to a local Korean/sushi joint.

Observation: I got there a bit after noon, expecting the restaurant to be super busy, but was surprised to find that I was the only person there. Must be because the students are gone for the week.

#10 (Non-store errand) – After packing my to-go order in my pannier, I headed across the plaza for a quick stop at a Redbox kiosk to pick up a movie to watch that night. I found several options but settled on Bridge of Spies.

Observation: I don’t usually see many interesting-to-me options in the Redbox, but I was pleasantly surprised to find several movies that I would like to rent. I debated renting more than one movie, but knew that I wouldn’t have time to watch more than the one.

My to-go lunch order sitting in the top of my pannier, while stopping to rent a movie.

BBQ chicken and spicy tuna roll combo, enjoyed back in my office.

Errandonnee #11: Personal Care

Distance: 0.5 mile

I had an acupuncture appointment after work and not having enough time to get to my appointment after work via my bike, I rode the bus to downtown Santa Rosa from my office and then biked over to my appointment.

Observation: There is no decent bike parking close to my acupuncturist’s office. I had to walk a block over to lock my bike up.

 

Errandonnee #12: You carried WHAT home on a bike?

Distance: 5.9

After my acupuncture appointment, I headed north to pick up some ravioli for that night’s dinner, before heading home. I stopped at Canevari’s Deli, a Sonoma County institution that’s been churning out fresh made ravioli for over 80 years. I picked up an order of cheese ravioli to accompany the chicken I planned to make for dinner.

Observation: Though it was near closing time when I stopped in, there were several customers ahead of me and many things were already sold out. A testament to the deliciousness that Canevari’s serves up.

Cheese ravioli; ready to cook up at home.

Running with Sasquatch

Last month, I ran my very first race of the year – The Rattlesnake Ramble. It was an awesome run out at Lake Chabot  in the East Bay. The course was interesting and challenging and the pre- and post-run festivities were upbeat and just plain fun! And really, any run that offers delicious, locally brewed adult beverages after the race is awesome in my book.

At this point, I’ve run enough races to have seen it all (bad, good, and great) and I have to say, I was totally enamored with the good vibes, quirkiness, and fun of the Rattlesnake Ramble. I was so stoked, in fact, that when I read that Sasquatch Racing put out a call for ambassadors, I immediately threw my hat in the ring to be considered. Now, I’m usually not the kind of person to try and sell people on products or companies, but I just loved the vibes of this race so much that I wanted to tell everyone about it! Thankfully, I was given the opportunity to become a Sasquatchador!

Sasquatch Racing puts on a series of races each year, and I’m planning to do them all. Next up is the Sasquatch Scramble on April 17. The race looks awesome! It’s being held out at the gorgeous Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills. I’ve hiked in this park before, and I’m really looking forward to running on the trails through the beautiful redwood forest.

The race is going to feature three different courses, 5k/10k/half and will include all of the awesome perks that are standard with a Sasquatch Racing event – technical tee, post-run beverages and snacks, and woodallions for the 5k/10k finishers and medallions for the half-marathoners! The schwag isn’t the only thing that makes Sasquatch Racing events so awesome though. The race also includes a trail treasure hunt and an appearance by Sassy the Sasquatch! After not having scored any of the treasure during the Rattlesnake Ramble, I’m really hoping I have better luck this time.

I’ve signed up to run the 5k course for this race and if you’re a NorCal local, I hope you’ll come out to run it too.  If you want to register, the awesome folks at Sasquatch Racing have offered my readers a $10 discount on the race. Just enter the code SASSY. Don’t wait too long, prices increase on March 31st!

Backpacking the Marin Headlands

Recently, I realized just how long it had been since I had been out backpacking. I was craving the feel of a trail underneath my feet and the weight of a full backpack on my back. I longed to sleep underneath the stars, listening to the sounds of the wind and animals dancing across the landscape. With exactly 1.5 free days, the husband and I packed our bags, threw together a couple of quick meals, and headed south to the Marin Headlands. Although the weather forecast called for rain and temps in the 20s, I was beyond stoked to be heading out. And anyway, as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad weather; only bad gear.

The Headlands are a hilly peninsula, immediately north of the Golden Gate Bridge, in Marin County. Once home to several military sites, the now National Recreation Area is one of my favorite local areas to explore. The Headlands are famous for its many miles of trails, enjoyed by runners, hikers, and cyclists, as well as the amazing views of San Francisco, the many beaches within the area, and awesome raptor birding.

Camping at the Marin Headlands is free. There are 3 campgrounds within the Recreation Area, though each has just a few sites. Reservations are suggested, as the campgrounds are popular and fill quickly. On the weekend that I was there, all 4 sites where I camped were reserved.

Our destination for the night was Hawk Camp, the most remote of the 3 Headlands campgrounds. The network of trails within the Recreation Area allows for hikes of varying difficulty. Though it’s possible to hike just under 4 miles to reach Hawk Camp (which makes it a great trip for beginner backpackers), I wanted to create a longer route as a training hike for the JMT. I plotted a route of about 10 miles linking the Coastal, Coyote Ridge, Miwok, Marincello, and Bobcat Trails.

Up, up, up through coastal scrub.

Cruising along the Coastal Trail with the Pacific in the background.

Miles of hills.

A few miles into our hike, the fog suddenly blew in. It started out thin and wispy but soon it was a thick wall of white. Visibility was greatly reduced, and we found ourselves on top of a ridge, unable to see much of anything. It was almost like being in white-out conditions. We continued walking along the trail but soon realized that, in the foggy conditions, we had missed the junction that we were looking for- we had passed the turn that would have added about 3 miles to our hike and instead continued on the Tennessee Valley Trail. Though I was a bit bummed about the inadvertent shortening of our hike, I was glad we didn’t get too off track in the fog!

As we approached our camp for the night, we were getting rained on, intermittently, and decided that it would be best to set-up our camp for the night and then take advantage of the amount of daylight we had left, to explore the area around the campground.

Approaching camp. The Golden Gate Bridge is barely visible through the fog, in between the two hills.

Speaking of camp, I realized that I didn’t snap any pictures of the campsite (something I almost always forget to do). The campsites at Hawk Camp are pretty luxurious. Each site includes a picnic table, large bear box, and tent pad. The campground also has a relatively clean port-o-potty, though it is a bit away from camp, down a short, steep hill. Though not bad during the day, navigating down the hill at night can be a bit tricky. The only drawback to the campground is that there is no potable water available. You must carry in all of the water you will need. In the few times I’ve camped here, this has never been a problem.

After setting up camp, we hiked for a couple of miles, exploring the hills and valleys surrounding Hawk Camp. On our way back to camp we caught sight of a bobcat – too speedy for us to snap a picture. We got back to our site as the sun was setting and enjoyed dinner as night was beginning to fall. Having forgotten to pack a deck of cards, we entertained ourselves after dinner with whiskey spiked hot cider, conversation, and views of a twinkling San Francisco & Peninsula.

Though the temperatures dropped into the mid-20s, we stayed warm in our tent. The night was quiet, until about 1 a.m. when we were awoken out of a dead sleep by loud noises. It sounded like something BIG was barreling through the brush on the surrounding hillside! I’m not going to lie, I was pretty freaked out! Soon we started to see lights bobbing through the brush next to our camp and we finally peaked out of the tent – – it was bikepackers! A group of three had ridden out to Hawk Camp and were setting up camp. Relieved that it wasn’t a monster of some kind, but too awake from the experience to go back to bed, I wandered down the hill to the bathroom. Chilled by the cold morning, I quickly retreated back to the warmth of my sleeping bag and slept in fits until daybreak.

Morning view from the tent – the fog was back and clinging to and creeping around the hills.

In the morning, we packed up camp and headed out, thoughts of a delicious diner breakfast rocketing us down the trail. The morning was cold and foggy but only briefly – after a half hour of walking, the sun was beating down on us, forcing us to shed all of our layers.

All too quickly, were were back at the trailhead. Though I wish we had been able to spend more time out there, I am glad that this amazing place is just a short hour drive away from my home. It makes for a really accessible place to getaway to when time is limited.

Shite just got real!

Ever since I started backpacking, I’ve been dreaming about a certain epic hike. Over the last year, the desire to embark on this walk has been an incessant, constant thought in my brain. Having a regular 9-5 job, I wasn’t sure how I could ever really make this dream adventure a reality. Slowly, though, I realized that this was something I really, really wanted to do, and so I needed to find a way to MAKE it happen. So, over the summer, I approached my boss and asked to take a month off of work. When she approved my request, I almost burst into tears of joy.

Today, my plans became official.

This coming summer, I will be thru-hiking the John Muir Trail with my husband!!

All of the thinking and planning that I’ve been doing over the last several months are finally REAL! I’m beyond excited. Like, I don’t even know how I’m going to make it through until summer without completely losing my shit on a regular basis, excited! Not going to lie, though…definitely a bit nervous. 7 mountain passes, just under 50,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain, and walking up the tallest mountain in the contiguous U.S., all in the (maybe) biggest snow year since 2011– just a bit scary. Just feeling all the feelings today. Let the planning begin!

2015 Coffeeneuring Challenge Recap

When I started this year’s coffeeneuring challenge, I really intended to post about each individual ride, but, I just haven’t been feeling much like blogging these days and it sort of fell to the wayside. Good thing I had to do some kind of recap of my coffeeneuring rides to satisfy the challenge requirements, otherwise I don’t think the blog would’ve been updated quite so soon!

Well, it was a great season of coffeneuring. I got to visit some new places and some old favorites. I ended up riding a total of 67.5 miles.

On to the rides–

No. 1: 10/4/15

Blue Beagle Coffee

Santa Rosa, CA

Miles ridden: 8.5

Strava Route

I took the long way to my neighborhood coffee joint, cruising along rolling Faught Rd and looping back via Old Redwood Highway. Blue Beagle is located in a strip mall, and unfortunately, the entire complex does not provide any bike parking. The café does have a couple of outdoor tables, so I just tucked my bike behind one, against the front window, while I ordered. Safe enough. Blue Beagle is a really cute cafe with plenty of comfortable seating. They are well known for their pie, but I arrived about a half hour before closing and was disappointed to find that they had sold out for the day. It was a surprisingly hot October afternoon so instead, I ordered an iced green peach tea and relaxed outside for a while before lazily riding home.

No. 2: 10/8/15

Brew Coffee & Beer

Santa Rosa, CA

Miles ridden: 6

Strava Route

Since I was heading out on vacation in two days, I employed the Vacation Rule for this ride. I stopped at this newish spot close to downtown, on my way to catch the bus for work. I rolled up to find that bike parking was available, but it was a rack that wasn’t actually bolted to anything – not very secure. I was able to lock up to a sign post in front of the café, though. I arrived just after opening and was the first customer of the day. The cafe is staffed by friendly folks and has plenty of seating, both indoors and out. I chose a seat in the front window and enjoyed a really solid latte and a good breakfast burrito. +1 for providing packets of Tapatio with the burrito!

No. 3: 10/7/15

Tavern on the Green

New York, NY

Miles ridden: 6

Strava: not recorded, as my phone’s battery was dying

Employing the Tara Rule, I took the opportunity to coffeeneur on Labor Day while on vacation in New York City.  The husband and I had planned to visit Central Park that day so I figured, why not rent bikes in the park and find a place to grab a cup of coffee or tea in the process? Perfect idea!  We cruised around the perimeter of the park, stopping to take in the sights and sounds. It was a HOT day in the city, and after two hours, the crazy amount of hills (not really, I had just expected it to be totally flat) on our route dictated that we find a cold beverage to help us cool off. We happened to cruise by Tavern on the Green and decided to stop in for an icy beverage. There was little to no bike parking near the restaurant but found that most people were leaving their bikes unlocked along the restaurant’s fence, so we did the same. The restaurant was full of people, and not being particularly hungry, we opted not to wait for a table. Instead we headed for the bar and easily found seats. The bartender was genial and recommended several local beers to the husband. Sticking to the coffeeneuring rules, I enjoyed an iced tea. We sat at the bar chatting and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere for a good hour before heading out to our next destination of the day.

No. 4: 10/24/15

Café Noto

Windsor, CA

Miles ridden: 11

Strava Route

First ride of the challenge that actually felt like fall! A few days earlier, I saw that Buff was having a sample sale at their factory near my home. A perfect excuse for a leisurely ride and coffee stop! I rode over to the next town north, Windsor, CA, and stopped at the warm and friendly Café Noto on the Windsor Town Green. The Green features plentiful bike parking near the Café and I was able to secure a spot to lock up, just across from the Café. Noto provided a lovely warm pit-stop on a very brisk (for CA) morning. I warmed up with a Café au Lait and a bacon breakfast sandwich. Delicious! Having satisfied my need for caffeine and food in my belly, off I rode to the Buff warehouse, where I picked up several steeply discounted items for next year’s backpacking and Tenkara fishing adventures. All in all, a wonderful way to start my day!

No. 5: 11/7/15

Downtown Bakery & Creamery

Healdsburg, CA

Miles ridden: 22

Strava Route

On a crisp fall morning, I rode north to Healdsburg, CA to visit my very favorite bakery, Downtown Bakery & Creamery. I have been patronizing this delicious spot on the Healdsburg Plaza for over 15 years! Taking the meandering backroads that the Sonoma Wine Country is so well known for, it was apparent that fall was here. Having been born and raised in Sonoma County, the vineyard-strewn landscapes that this area is known for don’t often catch my attention anymore, however, this time of the year, bathed in the warm colors of fall, the beauty of the vines is impossible to ignore. Needless to say, I cruised north at a leisurely pace, taking in the beauty of my surroundings. I arrived at the Plaza only to find that there wasn’t any decent bike parking nearby. I had to make due with a sign post, just outside the café’s entrance. The morning was COLD so I was eager for a hot drink to warm up. Thankfully, I got there just a bit after opening, and there were few patrons inside and no line. Good thing, because I’ve stopped here before when the line was 10-15 people deep. I love this particular bakery not only because everything they make is delicious, but because it’s not one of those pretentious wine-country cafes; just a nice warm atmosphere, friendly folks, and delicious eats. Normally, I would order one of the delicious baked goods behind the case but today I was feeling a bit hungrier than that so I ordered poached eggs over polenta with ricotta and lemony spinach and a double cappuccino. Delicious! I slowly enjoyed my breakfast while looking out onto the Plaza and watching the town slowly wake up.

No. 6: 11/14/15

Gaga Café at The Santa Rosa Farmers Market

Santa Rosa, CA

Miles ridden: 3

Strava Route

My local farmer’s market is a short 3ish miles from my home. A need to stock up on veggies for the week presented the perfect opportunity to coffeeneur. The husband and I cruised over to the market and found very little bike parking available but made do with a sign post to lock up to. We took our time perusing the offerings from the various vendors and loaded up with groceries for the week. With the chore of shopping done, the husband and I grabbed some some pour-over from Gaga Café and almond croissant from Costeaux Bakery, to share. We found a couple of empty seats at a communal table and settled in to enjoy our delicious coffee and just OK pastry to the soundtrack of some really great live gypsy jazz guitar. We lingered in the sunshine, enjoying the music, long after our coffees were consumed, but knowing that we had a day long hike ahead of us, we had to grudgingly pull away from the great music and cruise back home.

No. 7: 11/15/15

Village Bakery

Sebastopol, CA

Miles ridden: 11

Strava Route

After a failed attempt a week ago, I was determined to ride on the Joe Rodota trail for my final cup. This is one of my favorite routes in Sonoma County. The trail is an old rail line that stretches from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol along the Laguna de Santa Rosa (the largest freshwater wetland complex on the Northern CA coast). This trail connects to the West County Trail, making it possible to cycle 14 car-free miles from Santa Rosa to Forestville! After a lazy morning and catching up on some household chores, I headed out to the trail in the afternoon. Rain had been predicted but was lucky that it didn’t materialize until I was almost all the way back to my car. The trail was pretty quiet, I only passed a handful of people on my way into Sebastopol. I cruised slowly, taking in the colorful vineyards, the oaks of the Laguna, and relishing the crunch of the leaves underneath my tires. I rolled into Sebastopol and made my way to The Barlow, and my intended destination – Village Bakery. Bike parking was plentiful in The Barlow and I found a place to lock up just outside the bakery. Inside, the tables were well packed with folks enjoying the bakery’s offerings. I ordered a coffee and an excellent pear tart to enjoy inside the warm and cozy space. After lingering over my tart and coffee for about a half hour, I headed out to explore a part of the West County Trail that I had never ridden. From The Barlow, I rode north and connected to the trail. I rode it out to the eastern edge of town. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time that day to ride all the way out to Forestville, and turned around at the trail’s intersection with Hwy 116. All in all, it was a great ride and a wonderful way to finish out this year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge.

Coffeeneuring Challenge Ride #1: Lazy Sunday Neighborhood Ride

Sunday marked the completion of my first coffeeneuring ride this year!

Not wanting to stray too far from home, I decided to take the long route to my neighborhood coffee joint. Living in Sonoma County, there is no lack of scenic country roads to ride, and my neighborhood doesn’t disappoint in this respect.

Gratuitous shot of a typical SoCo country road.

Several hot, windy miles later, I arrived at Blue Beagle Coffee and promptly ordered an icy beverage to help cool me down. Blue Beagle is located in a strip-mall style shopping center about a mile from my home. Sadly, the shopping center doesn’t have any dedicated bike parking and i ended up pulling my bike up to the front of the shop, tucking it behind one of the outdoor tables. Thankfully, the shop has big picture windows, and I was able to keep an eye on my bike while I ordered my beverage.

I enjoyed my drink outside while watching the comings and goings of the shopping center patrons, and after a while, made the short trip back home. All-in-all, a great first coffeeneuring ride of the season. Check out my Strava for this ride, here.

The details

Where: Blue Beagle Coffee, Santa Rosa, CA

When: 10/4/2015

Drink: Peachy Green Iced Tea

Mileage: 8.5 miles, round trip

2015 #Coffeeneuring Challenge starts this week!

There’s nothing like a good cycling related challenge to reawaken this long dormant blog!

October 3 marks the beginning of this year’s Coffeeneuring Challenge, hosted by MG of the awesome blog Chasing Mailboxes. If you’re new to the whole Coffeeneuring thing, it’s essentially a 7-week challenge wherein you ride to 7 different coffee spots. You can check out this post for all the rules.

If you read my blog during last year’s challenge, you might remember that I had planned all 7 of my coffee shop visits before the challenge even began (even though I didn’t always end up sticking to the plan)! This year, I’m throwing caution to the wind and approaching the challenge with no plan whatsoever. I will be out of town several times during the 7 weeks of the challenge, which is mostly why I am not planning ahead. We’ll see how that goes.

One of the reasons why I love this challenge, besides the fact that it combines bike riding with coffee (two things I love), is that it provides a good opportunity to explore around my town/county. In this vein, I’m planning to only visit new-to-me coffee spots. I’m excited to see what awesome places I discover through this challenge.

So, who else is joining in on the caffeinated cycling fun? Let me know in the comments if you’re taking on the challenge. I’d love to follow along on your adventures if you’re blogging/instagramming/tweeting about it!

Late, late, late #30daysofbiking update

Yes, I realize #30daysofbiking took place during April and it is now almost the end of May June. Oops!

After getting a really crummy cold during mid-April and missing out on riding for most of Week 3, I came back strong and finished out the month with a ride every day from April 17-30. Though I didn’t successfully ride all 30 days in April, #30daysofbiking got me back into regular cycling and bike commuting. I finished out the month having ridden roughly 260 miles, including the metric-century route of the Chico Wildflower.

I’ve been cycling a ton in May and have done some really fun rides/biking adventures (more on that soon). and have been bike commuting a lot more (either the full 15 miles from home to work, or the shorter 6 miles from home to public transit).

Here are some pics from the last month and a half.

Prince Memorial Parkway in Santa Rosa. One of my regular commute routes.

The husband at the mile 40 rest stop of the Chico Wildflower Century.

Morning coffee pit-stop.

The Peanuts gang is found all over my town.

2015 Brewvet Challenge Starts in 1 Week!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have gleaned that I’m a bit of a craft beer lover. Ok, that might be a bit of an understatement…I LOVE craft beer! I’m not overly geeky about it, but I love trying new beers, finding new breweries, and I commonly plan adventures around discovering new brews.

Imagine my giddiness over discovering the Brewvet Challenge! In short, the challenge is set up to get you out and exploring your area on two wheels, in pursuit of delectable brewed goodness. Check out all the rules here. Bikes + Beers. Nothing better! When I found out about the challenge last year, it had already ended. So, I made it a point to keep it on my radar in 2015. Now, the time is almost here.

Follow along on my adventures via Instagram and Twitter. I’ll also do a wrap-up post here, after the challenge has ended.

If you’re planning on participating, let me know in the comments. I’d love to follow along on your bike and beer adventures!

30 Days of Biking – Week 2

With Week 3 of #30daysofbiking almost over, I figured I should do a quick Week 2 update.

I rode 6 out of 7 days last week, total of about 65 miles. It would’ve been 7 out of 7, but we had a totally out of the ordinary lightning and hail storm pass through early in the week. Also a bummer: I started getting sick early this week. I got hit pretty hard with a nasty cold and ended up staying home from work for 2 days. Subsequently, almost no riding this week.

I did do a little better with my picture taking, though I keep forgetting to snap pics of my bike, doh!

Here’s what my Week 2 looked like.

My usual bike to work route takes me down the Humboldt St. Bike Blvd.

My town was the adopted home town of Charles Schulz. There are many sculptures of Peanuts characters around the county.

One of my favorite buildings on my regular bike to work route.

Cycling behind the husband along the backroads of Sonoma County.

Loving my new bar tape!

Husband riding next to his second home, the local golf course.