#old caz

[bikeit]

Old Cazadero local loop

I think I first heard about 'Old Caz' (Old Cazadero Road) when reading a recap of someone's 300km (yes, 180 mile) randonneur ride that included it. That's... ambitious.

I haven't been biking much due to pandemic sluggishness and malaise, but I was going up to Guerneville for the weekend with friends, so I brought my bike and set out to do a much smaller loop that included the mythical Old Caz. I've been gradually biking on more gravel and forest roads (just with my normal bike) and enjoying it...

I started up a fairly steep dead end road in some pain, ill-prepared on a hot day just riding in jeans and a t-shirt -- I almost turned back but someone at a stand set up to support a local race that day gave me energy drinks and snacks. I'm glad I persevered-- then it was curving paths down on gravel and dirt through the woods and through a stream-- only 10 miles from town but it felt like the wilderness.

I didn't really know what I was doing on dirt :), so I took it easy on the downhills (I passed someone who'd crashed during the race and broken a bone-- thankfully I read later that they'd healed well), and then had a relaxing flat ride on Austin Creek Rd through the redwoods back to Guerneville.

The route (about 25 miles roundtrip from Guerneville). I'd recommend checking it out if you're in the area (though I'm not going to go out of my way to do it again, we'll see).

[bikeit]

Biking on Old Caz

[ridebyshooting]

Last weekend, Rita, Olivia and I went and did the Old Caz grasshopper ride up in Occidental. It was a toughie! While Rita is capable of winning an event like this, she decided to hang back with slow ol' me and we three decided to try win the "most fun" division. I think we did. 

I was totally spent after it - the dirt was challenging at times - but holy smokes, the pizza in Santa Rosa afterwards was Epic! (Russian River had a 45 minutes wait, so we went down the street and found this place, which was amazing). Also, beer never tastes better than when it's freezing cold after you've had a hard day on a bike. 

[eatrideworksleep-blog]

50 miles of mixed terrain Sonoma County goodness at the Old Caz Grasshopper today. After getting dropped up the first climb I was happy to reconnect with Walton and Rainier later in the ride to grind out the miles.