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After a good ride at the Del Puerto 200k two weeks ago, I was taking on the Healdsburg 300k with two weeks of recovery. Del Puerto was a bit of an anomaly for the San Francisco Randonneurs, given that it didn’t start in San Francisco, but this ride was more typical with a start at the Golden Gate Bridge plaza. I’ve done the Healdsburg 300k a few times, most recently in 2022, where I had a fairly fast ride and finished in the daylight.

My preparation was fairly normal. I did a few easy rides on the trainer during the week, with a short effort to keep the legs awake. Friday was prep day, fixing up a sandwich for lunch and making sure the bike was clean and the chain lubed.

Because of restrictions at the Golden Gate Bridge plaza, the group was split into two groups, one starting at 6am and one at 7am. I joined the 7am group, which gave me an extra hour of sleep, and also I’d spend less time riding in the morning cold.

I got to the start with plenty of time. There were about 25 or so riders starting at 7, with most of the strong riders opting for the later time. I hoped to find a decent group to ride with that would go at a pace suited me. Once we got started, I let the fast people go and still I wasn’t too far from the front.

The 300k route followed the usual SFR course over the bridge and down through Sausalito before turning onto the bike path. The usual sorting out occurred on the Camino Alto climb, and the group was small while we wound our way through the small communities of Marin.

We left the suburbs behind shortly and before climbing White Hill. At this point I was just in front of a fairly strong rider, and just behind another as I reached the top. I tried to catch the rider in front, but he was strong on the flats and it wasn’t able to make up much ground. Fortunately, I had the advantage on the short rises and eventually I caught up as we made the turn towards Petaluma. We chatted for a bit and it was nice to have someone to ride with. Drew had a nice Ritchey bike, which could manage road or gravel, and he told me about his Orr Springs ride, which is a very tough mixed terrain ride where such a bike would be beneficial. I stuck with him as we did the short climbs before reaching Petaluma. I lost him at a traffic light, which was fine as I decided to stop briefly to remove layers.

I left Petaluma by myself and settled into a nice pace that was comfortable. Eventually I was caught by a small group, containing Drew, who had also stopped in Petaluma. On the front was the rider that I had left behind on White Hill. He was super steady on the flats, and pretty much pulled all the way to Healdsburg.

The group split up when we got there, with some going to a burger place, and the strong rider who pulled us and myself going to the Safeway. I topped up my water and got back on the road, while my companion took a little longer. I figured he would catch me later.

And sure enough as I was cruising through the ups and downs of Westside Road, he returned, pulling a small group of the 6am riders. I joined the group, and did a few pulls myself before we turned onto River Road.

I did a bit more at the front before pulling off to eat some food. The group slowed down as well, as one of the group had dropped their bottle and once back together we picked up a bit more speed.

Being at the back I didn’t have any warning of road hazards, and soon I hit a major bump, likely a solid clump of rocks and dirt. I thought I escaped unscathed, but soon enough my front tire was flat. I watched as the group rode off. That wasn’t too bad, as I was getting a little tired of being in a pace-line.

I pulled off and quickly got to work on the flat. Since it was a pinch flat, I figured it would be a quick repair: pull out the tube, put a new one in, and inflate. The problems started when I tried to pump up the tire, as the it was not retaining the air I was pumping in. I thought there might be something wrong with my pump, so I pulled out a CO2 cartridge and got it filled up rather quickly. Unfortunately, the real issue was that the tube had punctures in it, and I watched in dismay as the tire got softer and softer.

Okay, I said to myself, I’ll just use my second spare tube. I got that in the tire fairly quickly, and hit the next snag, as the valve stem was not straight, and I couldn’t get the pump to seal on the valve and allow the air into the tube. I took out my last CO2 cartridge, and figured the CO2 chuck would seal better if I was careful. The margin for error was tight though, given the stem was bent. Fortunately, it worked and I now had a fully inflated tire.

With that, I was back on the road. However, I had used up probably 20-25 minutes fixing my tire, and I was on my own again. At this point, I started to feel bad. Not seriously, but my heart rate was high for the amount of effort I was expending. I wasn’t sure what the problem was, so I plodded along the river until the turn on Highway 1.

There was a short climb, and I began to feel a little better, and was able to put out more power on the climb up out of the river valley to the coast. At the top, I stopped to admire the view and put on more layers, as it was definitely cooler at the coast. As I was doing that, a small group of riders passed me. There were two groups of two riders each actually. I caught up to the front, and one of the two in that group picked up her pace and soon enough we were chatting.

Joyce turned out to be a great riding companion, and we talked about the rides we had done and how nice the ride down the coast was, despite the busy car traffic. Even though I was feeling better than I was after fixing my flat, I could tell that I needed to eat something. My sandwich, as tasty as it was, wasn’t doing the job.

That was no problem, as soon enough we reached Valley Ford and I grabbed a bunch of stuff. A frozen burrito, a pint of chocolate milk, a Mountain Dew, a banana, a snickers bar, and a stroopwafel. The clerk was kind enough to heat our burritos, and I started to feel better after consuming most of my purchases. I put the Snickers bar and the stoopwafel in my pocket for later, as well as the banana.

Soon enough we were on our way. However, it wasn’t long before I suffered my next mechanical, when my shifter cable broke. We stopped to see if there was anything we could do, but there wasn’t much that could be done with it, so we wrapped the cable around the frame near my seatpost to get it out of the way. Given that there was about 100k left, this was going to be interesting, as now I had a single speed. Well, technically, a double speed, given that I could still shift in the front. However even the smallest gearing of 34-11 was not well suited for the rollers and climbs we still faced.

There was no sense in crying about it though, and I got back on my bike and started to figure out how this was going to work, especially on the climbs, one of which I had to tackle almost immediately. I’m not too proud to admit that I had to stop and walk a few times when it got too steep and I couldn’t push the pedals. If it wasn’t too steep, I could keep a decent enough cadence, but if it the cadence dropped below 20, I would try to muscle my pedals until I started to feel my leg muscles start to cramp.

I made it up the first climb and resumed a nice rhythm as we passed through Tomales. Soon after leaving town, I got separated from Joyce. I tried to slow down so she could catch up, but that was difficult, as I wanted to keep a decent cadence, but that was too much for her to keep up. And once we reached the real rollers, I definitely had to push hard, taking a run at the next rise in the road so that I would have enough momentum to make it over.

The effort was taking its toll, and I knew I would need some electrolyte drink and made a plan to stop in Point Reyes Station to get some. It wasn’t too much longer before I reached the store there. I grabbed some Gatorade as well as some water for my own bottles. I consumed the Gatorade as I got my reflective gear out, as it was getting dark. I waited for Joyce, but she didn’t actually pass through town the same way I did, as I would find out from another rider, Noah, who arrived at the store as I was finishing getting ready to get going.

I got back on my bike. I knew that my main obstacles would be the climb out of Olema, and then White hill after a long gradual uphill drag. I reach Olema soon enough, and hit the climb. It was steep at the bottom, and soon enough I was walking again. Once the steepness lessened, I got back on my bike and continued. It seemed the Gatorade was doing its job, and I didn’t have to walk again and I soon reached the top. I took it each on the downhill, and soon enough I was on Sir Francis Drake and enjoying the quiet evening as I gradually made may way towards White Hill.

It wasn’t long before I caught up to Joyce, which was nice, as now we could stick together until the finish, as being in a group was better in the dark.

The climb up White Hill was tough and I could feel my right leg starting to cramp up. I unclipped from my pedal on that side, and that slight change in motion helped a bit. I also drank some of my Skratch electrolyte drink, and soon enough the crampiness subsided.

I got to Fairfax and waited for Joyce, as I had to climb faster than her, to keep a decent cadence and not cramp. But now, we had the suburban riding through the small communities that we had rode through in the morning, and so we were able to stick together until the climb out of Sausalito. As usual, I got ahead of Joyce there, but waited for her before we turned onto the east side of the Golden Gate bridge.

By now, it was dark and we had press the call button to have them open the gates. It took longer for them to open the gate at the exit, but fortunately, it didn’t take too long and with that we arrived at the finish.

It was about 9pm, so my ride took about 14 hours. That was a decent result considering the obstacles that I faced. Also, I was a little surprised that I was able to handle the climbs as well as I did. Not that I want to do any kind of single speed riding in the future, but it wasn’t as bad as I had expected.

I think that I need to reconsider my food choices for the future. While the sandwich I made was tasty (prosciutto, provolone, arugula, and a bit of olive oil on a baguette), I think I need more carbs, which I was able to get in plenty when I actually fueled up in Valley Ford. Overall, it was a good ride, and definitely one I’ll remember for a long time.