SFR Laguna Lake 200k

I did the San Francisco Randonneurs Laguna Lake 200k last Saturday. The weather forecast was hot, which meant that it might actually be pleasant in the city. I tried to get my friend Lyresa to join for all or even part of the ride but she couldn’t make it work so I went solo. Well, not entirely solo, as there were over 40 starters hoping to enjoy the day.

I arrived at Crissy Field shortly before the 7 am start with plenty of time to get ready. After the usual lecture we got underway.

I didn’t really know a lot of people on the ride but I managed to join what turned out to be the front group a short time after starting to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. I noticed that I knew two people in that group, Eric and Bill. Once we dropped into Sausalito, I was able to chat a bit with Eric, and catch up with him.

I knew this would be a fast group so I just did my own pace up Camino Alto. Even so, I wasn’t too far behind them as we reached the top. I bombed the descent and after a short chase I rejoined the group.

The Laguna Lake route deviates from the usual SFR route through the towns of Marin and turned towards San Rafael and then to China Camp. I still pushed to stay with the group over the short climb before San Rafael and then I was good to keep up as we made our way through town.

Once we got closer to China Camp, I made the decision to fall off the back of the group and do my own pace. As I watched the group pull away I started to look around and enjoy the scenery. China Camp is a lovely part of the Bay Area and it was and it was quite nice on such a beautiful day.

Eventually, I left China Camp and continued on to do the climb on Lucas Valley Road towards Nicasio. I spotted Bill as I was heading up to climb and thought I might catch him, but he was doing a fairly good pace and he pulled off to decide and I just kept going and figured he would catch up to me later which he did at Nicasio.

We did the climb after Nicasio together, although Bill had to stop briefly so I continued on and he passed me after I stopped at the cheese place to get water.

Once I got water and continued on my way, I passed a couple of people and made to turn towards Wilson Hill. At this point, I had settled in to my own rhythm and was enjoying the ride.

There was one rider I was keeping pace with for quite a while at this point, although I was not going to ride at his pace to try and pass him and he wasn’t fast enough to drop me totally either so it was a stalemate so to speak.

Eventually, we crossed Highway 1 and made our way to Tomales. At this point, the mystery rider and I stopped at the store to get more water and food. I was pretty efficient and was on my way soon, and I never saw that rider again for the rest of the day.

Ride along Highway 1 was very nice as there a great views of Tomales Bay and soon enough I was at Point Reyes Station. I stopped briefly to switch out my bottles for the ones that I’ve been carrying that had ice in them and soon enough I was heading towards Olema.

I did a good effort up the Olema climb and passed a couple of cyclists who thought I was going too fast. I offered to help them with the climb by pulling them up with my hand, but they politely declined and that was OK for me too.

Soon enough I was on Sir Francis Drake, and heading towards Fairfax. As I was approaching Fairfax, I hooked back up with Bill who is getting some water at a store. We ended up riding to the finish together.

Once in Fairfax, the ride was effectively over since it was just a matter of getting through the urban streets and then crossing the bridge. The traffic was quite heavy through Sausalito, heavier than I’ve seen it on any of my rides through there. Also, the traffic on the bridge was heavy too. However, on the plus side, the winds were quite light crossing the bridge so that was nice.

Once across the bridge, Bill got a little ahead of me because we were both dodging a lot of pedestrians, but I arrived at the finish almost at the same time as him.

As it turned out, the front group was still there and they had arrived not too long before us so it was a good pace to reach to finish that quickly. And as a bonus, it was quite pleasant and I didn’t to put on any extra clothing to stay warm.

I didn’t stay too long, enjoying a beverage and some potato chips before packing up my bike and heading home. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good ride and I am quite satisfied with my effort. Definitely one of the better SFR rides I’ve done.