Fleche photos from Boyz On The Hoods

[Ian Kizu-Blair]

Great Fleche last weekend, congrats to all the teams and thanks so much to Roland and the volunteers for putting it on. 

Here's some pictures from our ride and a brief ride report.

We rolled out of Guerneville on cloudy roads surrounded by redwoods and vivid green hills. The coast flew by thanks to a warm tailwind and receding fog, and a short detour to pray to Les Dieux Ancien des Randonneurs in the old Russian chapel at Fort Ross didn't delay us much. After lunch, we left the ocean behind and turned towards the mountains to the east, climbing steeply up the paved portion of Fish Rock. Gentle rain cooled us as we climbed, and soon we were over the first ridge and onto the dirt. A lone motorcyclist passed us on his own mixed-terrain adventure, and the sound of his engine switchbacking into the distance above us foreshadowed the climbing to come.

Granny gears engaged, we crawled up the side of the mountain slowly but surely, stopping from time to time to eat chocolate. Eventually, we got onto a high ridge that rolled along and opened up to mountain vistas of the terrain we had just traversed. Back on paved roads, we flew down an inspiring descent to Hwy 128 and turned southeast towards Mountain House. The old oaks draped in spanish moss on that road haunted us under an increasingly threatening sky, and the hi-vis orange of our vests stood out prominently against the grey-green landscape. In Hopland, we enjoyed a big dinner, filled up our canteens with coffee, and rode out into the sunset and rain.

Darkness fell as we exited Hwy 101 and turned onto the backroads from the 400k on our way towards Petaluma. The rain was light but continuous, and red LEDs and reflectors played tricks on my eyes. In Petaluma, we ran into Quarrel At Sunrise and joined them in draping our garmets  to dry all over the booths at Denny's, creating a medley of neon yellows, oranges and pinks on our half of the restaurant. As we left, I noted that the weather was remarkably warm for 2am in that area, and was thankful for the rain - I dislike being cold much more than being a little wet. We rode onwards into the dead of night, and the time passed quickly on familiar roads to Corte Madera. One last cloudburst soaked us on the outskirts of Mill Valley, but sunrise on the path into Sausalito warmed us for the last few miles. Brian's tire exploded in Sausalito, but luckily we brought a spare for Fish Rock on Andy's advice and made a quick change. We made it to the finish a little less than 24 hours after we started, and enjoyed the hot tea and breakfast with everyone. Knowing that I'm part of an event that many teams are sharing pushes me to ride further and adventure more, and seeing all these accomplished riders at the end brings the experience full circle.

Ian

[Jenny Oh Hatfield]

Great photos and it looks like it was a beautiful route!

Cheers,

Jenny

[Brian Oei]

I too was very happy about the Fleche route (designed and routed by Ian). It had spectacular vistas, challenging climbs and descents during the day, and familiar territory at night. 

Here is a video from the ride! Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/user15978812/fleche

-Brian

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