Calistoga to Bodega Bay

I shot this pic of Bodega Head at the end of my ride...

The variety of the type of rides available to Napa Valley roadies is amazing. On this ride I decided to leave the warm valley behind and head for the cool coast, which is much closer than you think. This Sunday morning I headed both North and West to finish my ride in Bodega Bay, roughly 44 miles (70km) away. I made it a one-way trip as my wife and Jade would meet me at the bay for lunch and a sight seeing trip. Then with the bike safely on the bike rack we would drive North and work our way back home by driving next to the Russian River.

You have a couple of choices on getting over the hills that separate Calistoga with Santa Rosa but I don't recommend most of them. The most direct way is via the Petrified Forest Road all the way down to Calistoga Road as it enters Santa Rosa - this was the route used by stage one in the '09 Tour of California. But the pros had the advantage of a closed route; you don't. The Petrified Forest Road is narrow, steep, and has a lot of traffic that does not want to give up an inch of space, especially to a bicycle rider. With this said, I decided on taking Franz Valley School road to leave the Napa Valley. This road is right off of the Petrified Forest Road as you are leaving Calistoga. You're only on this road for less than a mile and you make a right turn onto Franz Valley School road. You can check out the route, as usual, below via MapMyRide and the data provided by my Garmin Forerunner 305 unit.

Franz Valley School road is the first major climb of two climbs you will face on this trip. I could also do a Napa Valley Hills post on this road. It is a sustained climb of around 2 miles with a grade higher than 7% at times. At just over 9 miles you come to a T-intersection with Franz Valley road, make a left turn and you immediately start the 2nd major climb of the route. You crest this climb at around mile 11 and face a 8%, technical descent for around 1.5 miles - be careful here. I locked up my rear wheel on a nasty right hair-pin turn and almost got myself in trouble. Thank goodness that no car was coming up the road as I needed the whole road to save myself.

You now descend into Santa Rosa and here I took Fulton road to travel South to Highway 12 and the trip West. The 12 has a lot of traffic and you can avoid it by taking a bike path just south of 12. I did take the path after riding the 12 for a short time. I'm not sure I would do it again as the bike path is loaded with recreational riders and people walking their dogs. The path is limited to 15mph and going any faster would be hazardous due to the above mentioned traffic. In the future I would probably stay on 12, where the bike lane is wide and you can keep your speed up all the way into the town of Sebastopol. You now have several miles of light climbing as you leave Sebastopol. The climbing actually surprised me as I figured I would have a gradual descent all the way down to the coast. The grades are light but you will certainly notice them. Your other problem as you get close to the coast is the traffic, so watch out for the huge motor homes that will pass you a foot away!

Eventually you'll see a restaurant with picnic tables on the left side of the road just before you enter the actual town of Bodega Bay. I swung left here and patiently waited for the wife and kid - lunch of fish & chips tasted great and we had an enjoyable trip back home via the Russian River - enjoy.