Climate Ride Day 3 – The Mendocino Coast

Today was the day when we have a choice.  Most people rode 100 miles today.  I decided to give myself a break and take the shuttle form the 60 miles mark.  Since it was going to be a long day, we had to start riding at 7 am.  We ate a hearty breakfast and we’re off.  It was another incredible day along the Mendocino Coastline.  Of course that comes with more rolling up and down the hills.  There is one treacherous climb where we take tight switchbacks up the side of the cliffs.  At one point, I turn the corner and see the road going straight up.  I put everything I have into it and pedal my way up this hill.  Afterwards while I’m catching my breath, another rider informs me that we just went up a 17% grade.  I’m glad I didn’t know that beforehand or I might not have done it. That’s the thing about impossible things.  If you know ahead of time that it’s impossible you might not want to try.  This whole ride is an impossible undertaking for someone like me.  Taking on the big oil, coal, and energy corporations is also impossible.  But don’t tell those of us on this ride.   We’re too busy proving that wrong.

The wind kicked up fiercely this day.  Gusts were coming in off the ocean; fortunately it was mostly at our backs.  There were times when I was just making it to the crest of a hill when a gust of wind would carry me the rest of the way up.  Other times it was a cross wind which can be treacherous, especially when you have traffic to your left and cliffs to your right. 

We turned inland up the Russian River.  I missed that part since I was in the van.  My hats off to everyone who did the full 100 miles.  I was especially impressed with those who, like me, are not the fast riders.  I cheered Abby Young, of Mill Valley who works for the Air District, and did the full  ride – her first Century.  She is only slightly faster than I am but she rolled in after 10 hours on the bike.  She then got a well deserved massage.  Did I mention that we had three massage therapists as part of our support team?  Yes indeed, we were well taken care of.

That night was Coalition night.  We heard from the executive directors of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Renee Rivera, and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Corinne Winter.  They told us about the Bike Share program coming to the Bay Area.    I’ve see these bikes in Paris and in Minneapolis where I partook of a bike  to ride the great bike facilities of that city.  The bikes are heavy but sturdy and you can use a credit card to take a bike from one location to the next where you lock it back up.  The idea is to have locations at strategic locations throughout the city so that it is easy and convenient to use them.  Not surprisingly, they will be limited to the flatter areas of San Francisco.  There is talk of bringing a bike share program to Marin as well.  Stuart Cohen, executive director of TransForm followed to talk about the amazing work they do in promoting smart growth and transit facilities in the Bay Area.  He brought eight of his staff on the ride – the Carbon Crushers team raised $30,000. 

I have a long standing relationship with TransForm which used to be called the Transportation and Land Use Coalition.  They were promoting mixed use, transit serving development long before the powers that be finally embraced the idea.  And TransForm has a lot to do with convincing the decision makers to pass the laws that paved the way (pun intended) for more walkable, bikable communities.  This, of course, has spurred no end of controversy, as the anti-government people have ginned up the populace convincing them that this somehow will destroy our communities.  Once these types of development patterns go in, however, it’s quite the opposite.  Often this is just what we need to preserve our small town flavor of our communities.  People cry out against density using pejorative terms like “stack and pack”.  But in reality, some of the most beloved towns in Marin have very high density collected around the downtowns of Mill Valley, Fairfax, San Rafael, San Anselmo, and Larkspur.  You wouldn’t know it but there are lots of apartment complexes in these towns and these people, in turn, shop and dine at local businesses which are walking distance from their homes.    If this kind of density destroys a town, you wouldn’t know it from the high desirability of these communities.

A recent study has found that younger people are opting out of driving in favor of walking, biking and transit.  They want to live in communities where people do live closer together and shops, services, and entertainment are readily accessible.  Many of these young people were on the ride with us.  They put us oldsters to shame with their commitment, not only to working for a cleaner environment but choosing lifestyles that ensure their reduction in the use of fossil fuels.  And, yes, they all rode the century this day.   
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