Waves to Wine 2008 Recap
As you may have heard, this past weekend I rode in Waves to Wine, a 150 mile two-day ride from San Francisco to Healdsburg in support of the National MS Society. It was my second year participating in the ride; like last year, I was joined by my constant biking cohort, Chris Marcellino. Erin rode this year as well, no small feat after only getting a bike a month ago! Erin’s cousin Matt and his wife Tadari flew out from Colorado for the ride. And we had Chris’ girlfriend Erin (Borunda) rounding out the pack.
We woke up bright and early at 5:30am on Saturday morning and headed over to the parking lot at AT&T Park, where the hordes of cyclists were pumping their tires and chowing down on bagels and peanut butter. Like last year, we began riding at 7am along the Embarcadero with a wailing police escort, and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in thick early-morning fog. After climbing around Mt. Tam on Highway 1, we descended toward Stinson Beach- my speedometer hit 42 MPH on the way down. As we made our way past Bolinas and Point Reyes Station, the fog began to burn off and revealed some great views along Tomales Bay. After lunch, we pedaled our way inland to Cotati over rolling farmland hills.
At the the overnight in Sonoma Mountain Village we had massages, drank some of my new favorite cycling beer, Mothership Wit, and basically chowed on anything we could get our hands on. I was part of a group photo along with the rest of the Top 150 fundraisers from last year, and had an great chat with a woman named Beverly who’s been doing the ride since she was diagnosed with MS a few years ago.
The second day was comprised of countless cows and endless rolling hills through my home turf, beautiful Sonoma County. Chris sprinted ahead at a ludicrous pace with a pack of fast riders, finishing while the rest of us were eating lunch at the halfway point. Erin continued to impress with her endurance and good spirit, and we spent some quality time riding along with Matt and Tadari. Before we knew it, we had reached the finish at Lake Sonoma.
Thank you, thank you, thank you again to all of you who supported my ride with a donation to the MS Society. Your generosity, friendship and love mean so much.
