Page 18 - Sonoma County Gazette - June 2018

Backyard Bicycle Tour
By Brettt Roncelli
In the summer of 2016 I planned an over-the-top bicycle camping trip for my
family. I had arranged for a friend to transport the three of us, Renee my wife, Trinity my then 9-year-old, myself,
and all our gear to Santa Cruz. We
had planned to ride down Highway 1
hugging the coast through Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, San Simeon, and finish in San Luis Obispo.
Then an unattended illegal camp fire in Garrapata State park sparked one of Big Sur’s most devastating wild fires. The deadly Soberanes fire burned 57 homes and burned over 132 thousand acres. Hwy 1 was impassable, and
the area was chocked with smoke. A bulldozer operator helping to contain the fire was tragically killed.
All my plans were literally up in smoke. Most weather I could face, but highway closures and smoke-filled skies put a sad end to my plans.
My time off work had been long before arranged so I decided to make a quick shift. The option that we came up with was a spectacular tour of our home county of Sonoma. A tour in our backyard so to speak.
We live in Sebastopol, so it was there that we began.
Out our driveway and a short ride put us on the Joe Rodota Trail. The adventure had begun. We spent the next five days circumnavigating our lovely county.
We started by heading to, of all places, Santa Rosa. Our first leg was a short 15 miles to Spring Lake County Park. The Spring Lake Campground is an oasis of oaks and hills nestled inside the city limits, and bordering Annandale State park. My friend who had planned on driving us to Santa Cruz ended up joining us with his wife and two daughters. The Perseid meteor shower was also at its peak so our first night was spent lying on blankets with friends watching the heavens and seeing our fair share of falling stars. Had we stuck to the coast
we probably wouldn’t have had this opportunity. This was an auspicious beginning to our backyard tour.
From Santa Rosa we made our way via backroads and byways to the Russian river. We stopped at Burkes Canoes for a two-night stay. I had never taken a canoe down the Russian river, so we gave up a day of pedaling to paddle, and meander down the river. It was a delight.
After two nights and a day of river retreat it was time to make our way to the coast. We followed the Russian river to where Highway 1 crosses it just
18 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 6/18
BACKYARD cont’d on page 19