Epic Rides: TheCommute Day 5
Photo by James Adamson – dropmedia.tv
Starting last Sunday, a group of three intrepid mountain bike explorers lit out from North Lake Tahoe heading west through hundreds of miles of known and unknown singletrack, double track and the occasional bike lane on their way to the ultimate destination of San Francisco on a ride dubbed simply “TheCommute.” Our very own Angry Singlespeeder (AKA Kurt Gensheimer) is one of those explorers and we will be posting mostly visual updates throughout the week as the group makes their way west with the towns of Nevada City, Auburn, Folsom, Davis, Cache Creek, Calistoga, Novato and finally San Francisco pencilled in on the route.
Below are photos and descriptions of Day 5’s segment from Cache Creek Casino to Santa Rosa, Calif. You can look at their Day 5 Strava Tracks here.
Photo by James Adamson – dropmedia.tv
The Commute Day 5
Day 5 of TheCommute was a brutal 66 miles and 8,700 feet of climbing between Cache Creek Casino and Santa Rosa. The day started with a climb to the top of Berryessa Peak, which had commanding 360 degree views from its 3,000 foot summit. Then we descended Berryessa Peak Trail, a super primitive trail with an abundance of hike-a-bike that should be called “once is enough”. We emerged hours later at the bottom scratched up and non-plussed.
Photo by James Adamson – dropmedia.tv
From there it was a long push of road and some back road dirt through Angwin and over to St. Helena. We were quickly running out of daylight, so we had to shortcut the dirt and climbed the pavement over Spring Mountain Road, an unrelenting kick in the crotch that completely wore us out amidst breathtaking views of the Napa valley. At the top, we met the founder of Ibis Cycles, Scot Nicol, who guided us back to his house in Santa Rosa where his wife Sheryl cooked us an amazing dinner. We are exhausted, and tomorrow we head towards Novato where we will be on the doorstep of San Francisco. – Kurt Gensheimer
View all of “TheCommute” daily entries here.
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