A St. Patrick’s Day therapy session
In the forty days and forty nights
since they worked on my debrided right knee, Northern California had
experienced rainfall that would cause Noah pause. Because I couldn’t heft the big Triumph, the fact that the
weather was marginal for riding didn’t cause similar pause for me.
But then, the weather turned nice. Highs reaching the 70s. Skies purely blue or only dotted with fluffy, white
clouds. Sonoma County’s network of
curving roads cresting verdant rises, dry and ice free. The California poppies would be
blooming. And the doc said I
should “spend time on a bike” to rebuild strength in my knee.
In the garage, then, I straddled the Triumph and pushed the
starter button. If the thing fired
up – it had been six weeks since last I’d ridden it – I’d give some thought
into taking a short spin to test out my repaired joint. That “some thought” took about a second
and a half.
Dang! The ‘Bird
looked good when I pushed it out to the street.
I headed south on Dutcher Creek Road toward the Dry Creek
Valley, Lake Sonoma and beyond, stopping many times for photos, as, I figure,
getting on and off the cruiser would be good therapy for my knee.
The paper reported that just last week, the growers in the
Dry Creek area were enjoying bud break.
In the parlance of viticulture, the term “bud break” has nothing to do
with half time during the Super Bowl.
No, it means that the growth cycle has been renewed and we sure as hell
hope there won’t be a late season hard freeze.
Dry Creek is dammed at the west end of the valley. Lake Sonoma provides irrigation and
domestic water as well as miles of hiking trails and a little used 14-mile dead
end called Rockpile Road, a route that crosses the reservoir on a massive
bridge.
Rockpile Road threads the ridge that separates the two arms
of Lake Sonoma, passing through the Army Corps of Engineers administered
recreation area and into a viticulture area identified as – surprise – Rockpile.
The road is little used – it is gated about twenty minutes
in – so traffic is generally limited to the ranchers and farmers who work out
that way.
The pavement is grand with sweeping curves and sections that
arc over one summit, then the next, reminding me a bit of Montana’s Beartooth
Pass, only more temperate, less traffic, and with better wine locally
available.
But, with ample warning, it ends.
Abruptly.
I pedal the Big Blue backwards on the pavement, arranging
for myself enough space to hoist the thing around. This is when I discover that one knee works and the other
knee works not so well.
Using the guardrail to flex and relax said knee, I view the
green hills – St. Patrick’s Day green hills – that lie beyond the pavement’s
end. Credited to Luther Burbank is
the statement, "I firmly believe, from what I have seen,
that this is the chosen spot of all this earth as far as Nature is
concerned."
Today’s ride out and back on Rockpile Road
supports his contention.
It’s been an hour and a half on and off the Thunderbird and the
bum knee feels not so bum. I’m
torn between making a longer day of it, risking fatigue, and just heading back
to the barn.
What could I do to enhance this already
glorious day? Then, at US 101 and Lytton
Springs Road, a solution presents itself.
Tacos al pastor and a beverage perched on the
seat of the bike. Just like lunch on a real road trip. What could be better?
A Modelo
Especial sounded particularly good; if only I’d not been on the bike.
Catching the freeway north, I
settle in for a ten-minute blast toward home. I’d been out of the saddle too long, but the
big Triumph remains as comfortable and forgiving as I’d remembered it. I was glad for today’s glorious weather
and thankful that the Biblical rains we received happened while I was under in-house
confinement orders.
o0o
Note: Upon returning home, I reviewed notes from the doc who
worked over my knee and discovered that when he said “bike,” he meant:
not:
o0o
Today’s Route: Exit US 101 at South Cloverdale Blvd,
head west. At the first
intersection (landmark Starbucks, Sinclair Gas, liquor store, abandoned antique
store across S Cloverdale) turn left heading away from town. Somewhere
along in here, the road becomes Dutcher Creek. Pass the Fritz Winery two miles
southwest (stop in if you have a moment) and continue for a total of about six
to Dry Creek Road. Right on Dry
Creek to the end of the valley. At
the spillway, turn left – your only choice – on Stewart’s Point Skaggs Springs
passing Lake Sonoma the Visitor Center (stop in if you have a moment). Continue up the hill about three
miles. Stewart’s Point Skaggs
Springs will exit left, but you’ll want to continue on what is now Rockpile
Road, over the big bridge and west for another dozen miles or so. Return? Retrace.
Consider following Dry Creek Road six or seven miles east into
Healdsburg where you can hang out at the town’s square like the area glitterati.
© 2017
Church of the Open Road Press
