Gino posted to the RBW List "Hey let's go ride" so I hopped on my RB-1 and joined in the fun. Had just shy of a dozen riders set forth for Bovine Bakery. A couple of flats were had, a chain got jammed, but it was all in the name of good fun and I returned home with about 85 miles on the clock, tired and hungry. First ride on my 650B-ified RB-1 in over a year (since building up the Kogswell, in fact), and while I still think it's too small for me, it just FLEW over the dirt section in SP Taylor Park. And, call it planing or perhaps it's just the lack of low gears, something about that bike just encourages me to ride hard.
Sunday's ride was quite good. About 7 riders rolled out from the Bridge just after 9am, and we picked up two more in the Conzelman parking lot. We picked up another pair at the parking lot next to Mike's Bikes along the path. Getting to Fairfax was fairly uneventful, except for the Larkspur police who seemed to be lying in wait, as we've seen before. No one got pulled over, though. The group decided to stop for coffee in Fairfax before hitting White's Hill, and instead of Java Hut (which I'd recommended) we stopped at the Roastery. I didn't get coffee because I knew Bovine Bakery wasn't too far away, but I did get a nice-looking muffin to tide me over. We got a bit split up going over White's Hill and cruising through the valley towards SP Taylor park. We waited for a bit at Inkwells for everyone to regroup, and then hit the dirt path through the park. Most of the group hadn't been through the park before, and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. After the climb over Bolinas Ridge and the drop to Olema, we regrouped again, and then rode Bear Valley Road into Point Reyes Station for the "official" refueling point at Bovine, which was quite busy. Trying something new, I got a savory tomato-olive-cheese scone thing and some coffee. Unfortunately, I can't recommend that flavor of scone -- I'm going to stick with the tried-n-true from now on.
After a quick restroom stop at the playground, we crawled back on the road, looping out over Platform Bridge Road to get back to SP Taylor Park. I was riding my RB-1, and the plump 650B tires allowed a quick pace as I led the group back over the dirt section to once again cross Inkwell's Bridge. I dropped back a bit once we hit the pavement again, and near the back of the group when I flatted just before the White's Hill climb -- I'd picked up a staple in my rear tire. I was grateful that it happened there instead of on the fast descent down the other side -- as we were climbing over White's Hill earlier that day, a fast-moving cyclist narrowly escaped injury when he sped down past us with a hissing sound coming from his deflating front tire! I had a bit of trouble repairing my flat -- my spare tube was a 26x1.5-inch MTB tube that was a tight fit into my 650B wheel -- so when I finally caught back up to the group, they were already enjoying beers and French fries at the Iron Springs Brewery across from the Java Hut! We languished there for a while longer before completing our journey back to the city. Another rider jammed his chain at the bottom of the Camino Alto climb, and I waited with him while he repaired his bike. Unfortunately, he then flatted upon reaching the bottom of Camino Alto, so I waited there with him while he fixed his rear tire. We got split up from the rest of the group at that point -- I made my way back across the bridge and on home, returning around dusk.
