Time in the saddle: Waves 🌊 to Wine 🍷 200km RUSA Perm

Megan's new 200km permanent has been approved.

We have been making an effort to keep our selves in decent riding shape and have been making many small tweaks to our gear while we prepare for the upcoming big ride. And, Megan has been busy honing her route making skills by creating many new RUSA permanents in our (Sonoma County) area. Her latest creation is the Waves to Wine 200k, a 200km (124mi) route that is a:

Sampler combining popular routes in western and northern Sonoma County. Across the Santa Rosa plain and up to the Occidental redwoods, out to the coast on Coleman Valley Road, back along the Russian River and through the vineyards around Healdsburg, Cloverdale and Geyserville. Start/Finish near Santa Rosa Downtown SMART train station. (RUSA)

We both felt pretty good by the time we finished the climbiest bits reaching the Sonoma Coast. But, that's still early in the ride. I was feeling pretty tired when we arrived in Cloverdale and was definitely ready to be done by the time we finished. I used to be able go from couch to 200k without much trouble but those days are over, I think.

After about 12h of riding, we rolled in to the finish under some threatening looking clouds from an approaching storm. It was a beautiful day and lovely route that I'm looking forward to riding again, perhaps as another pre-ride-to-the-big-ride.