Riding Sonoma County, California, on a Gravel Bike: Santa Rosa, Occidental, Old Caz, Willow Creek
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Santa Rosa, California:
"Santa Rosa (Spanish for '"Saint Rose"') is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 176,753. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and Redwood Coast, as well as the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont; and the 27th most populous city in California." - Wikipedia.org
Sebastapol, California:
"Sebastopol was once primarily a plum and apple-growing region. Today, wine grapes are the predominant agriculture crop, and nearly all lands once used for orchards are now vineyards. The creation of The Barlow, a $23.5 million strip mall on a floodplain at the edge of town, converting old agriculture warehouses into a trendy marketplace for fine dining, tasting rooms, and art, has made Sebastopol a popular Wine Country destination."
Monte Rio, California:
"Starting in the 1870s, Monte Rio was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito, California ferry. Redwood lumber from local sawmills was shipped to build San Francisco. After the sawmills left, the area became known as Vacation Wonderland with trains transporting San Franciscans to summer cabins and even a seven-story hotel downtown. Portions of the 1942 Academy Award-winning film Holiday Inn were filmed at the Village Inn Resort in Monte Rio. The trains no longer run, and the area now is mainly inhabited by full year residents."
Occidental, California:
"Founded in 1876, Occidental was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry. In return for donating right-of-way to the railroad, a local landowner named "Dutch Bill" Howards received a lifetime railway pass, and the station was named after him. The railway caused a rapid expansion of the timber industry, and by 1877 there were six sawmills in the Occidental area. Trains also brought vacationers from San Francisco."
Cazadero, California:
"Cazadero is the general area from the confluence of Austin Creek and the Russian River at the intersection of California State Route 116 and Cazadero Highway running north to the small town of the same name. The town is approximately 6 miles from Route 116. Cazadero Highway parallels Austin Creek which is a principal tributary of the lower Russian River. Located in the Sonoma Coast AVA, Cazadero can also be considered part of Wine Country."
Duncans Mills:
"The town was founded in the 1870s. It featured two hotels, a general store, a saloon, a meat market, blacksmith, livery stable, and a notion shop. Starting in the 1870s, the narrow-gauge North Pacific Coast Railroad ran through Duncans Mills on its way from Cazadero, California, to Sausalito. After being sold several times, the railroad ceased operation in the 1930s. The town slowly faded, until a 1976 restoration project, associated with the celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial, brought about a period of building restoration and business re-vitalization."
In this video, JOM of the Gravel crew begins a ride from Santa Rosa (no tour of the downtown, sorry), and heads west towards Occidental, Cazadero, and beyond. The towns of Sebastapol, Monte Rio, Cazadero, Occidental, Duncans Mills were traversed during his route. The route takes in some of NorCal's well-known gravel roads such as Old Cazadero, and Willow Creek Road. Unfortunately, a lot of pavement on this route, but the quiet paved back roads made this route a pleasure to ride.
Links of Interest:
Canyon Grizl with SRAM XPLR / Rockshox Rudy (JOM's bike in this video) - wp.me/p4V4se-cTl
SRAM/Zipp/Rockshox XPLR Collection - wp.me/p4V4se-cN3
Gravel Cyclist's Route Library - www.gravelcycl...
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It was pretty awesome watching this video. My old riding grounds as a young lad. Lived off old cazadero road and had ridin that route thru to Cazadero a few times(on a steel road bike on gravel, lare 80s). Road many a times up to occidental from my house. Some of the best riding there is. Didn't realize how spoiled I was until moved away.
100% agree.
“Such is the magnitude of the gradients round here” (Aussie for “f…..g steep”)..great vid Jom…keep it up mate…
Great video! Thank you for making this video in my hometown. I can't wait to see your post of the route map.
Updating my Cali routes page shortly, currently wrapping up another trip, thanks for your patience.
Wow nice place
What a treat you gave yourself JOM! Amazing place to ride. I miss that incredible weather. The California ethos is special. Used to live in Palo Alto near Stanford just south. Boy do I miss it. Times have greatly changed though. Unless you owned before the housing boom in 97. Now way too expensive for us mere mortals. Thinking about your fantastic ride here. Are you doing a loop back to the start or being picked up at some point?
Cool Ride!
Fantastic! I used to ride a lot of those paved sections on my road bike when I lived in Santa Rosa. Have you considered riding Pine Flat road and taking the gravel roads up high to Geyserville or some other loop? I've never managed to do that as I only ever had a road bike there. Pine Flat is an epic climb, over 17% in places but it's worth the suffering. Take Chalk HIll Road out there. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Hi William, I need to return to check these options out. Never enough time!
You rode right past our house on Bohemian Hwy. If you make it back to this area, give me a shout and we’ll ride Willow Creek “the easier way”
Excellent, thanks for chiming in!
You know, the last hippie is probably riding a gravel bike up there these days. :)
Nice route
Need to post it ASAP for those unfamiliar with the area.
Would you please post links to your routes or at least the ones you really liked?
What 2x setup would you recommend for that area?
46/30 with an 11-34 or 11-36 would be pretty handy.
“Murray Farquhar”…
Where Can I find the map of your ride Chief?
I'll be updating my Cali routes page shortly... currently wrapping up another trip. Thanks!