Almost a Fist

Days 161 & 162, September 9 & 10, Almost a Fist

Route – from campground to Duncan’s Mills on River Road, then east on River Road to Martinelli Winery

47.3 miles, averaging 13.7 mph

Worst Moment – The bridge near Forestville is scary to ride across.

Best Moment – I was able to shift with the left hand.  I know that things are getting better. 

Even though I’ve been able to bicycle the past couple of days, my left hand is still pretty swollen, stiff, and sore.  It is uncomfortable to put too much pressure on the handlebars with it.  I am however nearly able to make a fist, so there is progress.

So the past few days, I’ve ridden around the area on fairly flat easy rides.  On Friday, I rode out to Duncan’s Mills, a very small town on the Russian River.  It used to have a railroad depot and lumber mill.  Now it has an RV Park, a few shops, a bakery, and the rodeo grounds.  It was a nice gentle ride along River Road, nearly to the ocean.  And while there weren’t lots of cars and trucks, what traffic there was, was quite unnerving.  I was glad to be able to ride on the much quieter Moscow Road (on the other side of the river) from Duncan’s Mills to Monte Rio.

Today, Neita and I decided to ride to Martinelli Winery.  This is one of our favorite tasting places.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic since it was Saturday.  The bridge over the river near Forestville has no shoulder to cycle on, nor does River Road for about half a mile after the bridge.  Again this was unnerving and very scary – especially for Neita. 

There is only one climb on the road, but it is a decent uphill.  This is where Neita’s gears stopped working.  After tasting some very delectable red wines, we were able to get Neita’s shifters to work properly and headed back to Ruby for some river time. 

Across the river from the RV Park, there are some gravely beaches where it is fun to view the canoeists, kayakers, and other river floaters from.  Duncan loves to retrieve his ball from the river as long as it is thrown up river, in an area where the current isn’t too swift, and the ball will float down to him. He is one tired puppy tonight.

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.