Resources and Reflections » Ft. Bragg

Sherwood Road backcountry cycling

Cyclo-monger — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:18:16 +0000

Sherwood Road is a county road, but for most of its length you would never know it. The track shown on the map below begins at Columbi Market in Ft. Bragg and ends at Hwy 101 in Willits and the geo-tagged photos give a pretty fair idea of the conditions along the way; Pudding Creek “peanut butter” clays, named so both for their color and consistency when wet, which is a very good reason to ride this in the dry (May-October) season. The road runs more of less paralell to the Skunk Train route but offset a few miles to the north and several hundred feet in altitude.

Columbi Deli and Grocery, Ft. Bragg

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 21

An excellent stop for carbs before tackling the long climb, this market seems unchanged since the 50's and is an institution in the neighborhood.

Having ridden it both from west to east and east to west I can say with certainty that its always an adventure no matter which direction you ride. The track shown here was hand built in kml format and shows a total ascent of 6388′ and a total descent of 5208′ for a net ascent of 1180′ over a distance of 40.1 miles. That gives you some idea of the amount of up and down rollercoaster type terrain you’ve got to cover no matter which way you ride. Later this summer I’ll ride it with the Garmin GPS running and post the recorded ride below as a comparison of the estimated versus actual numbers, but experience tells me that these numbers are pretty good.

Sherwood Road

Rally for State Parks Saturday, June 20

Cyclo-monger — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:00:21 +0000

Please join Mendocino Area Parks Association’ s Carolyne Cathey and other park supporters and visitors 1:00PM today – Saturday June 20 – at 1:00PM beside the Ford House on Mendocino Headlands. The issues may not be clear to all of us, and this is your chance to hear what is going on with the state parks funding and how critical our voices are right now.
Enjoy some music and stop in the Ford House for a tour of this historic house on the headlands.

The only hope we have left to keep the parks open is to encourage all the voters in the state to contact their Senators, Representatives, and the Governor and ask for their “Yes” vote on a new funding stream to support our state parks — a $15/year per vehicle State Park Access Pass added to our car registrations. The Republican Caucus in both the Senate and the House, and the Governor, oppose this concept. With a SPAP, any of us with a California registered vehicle will have free day use, no matter how many times we entered the Parks.

To her credit, Assemblywoman Patty Wiggins not only supports funding for state parks, but she had already taken a salary cut, and reduced her per diem reimbursement for living expenses in Sacramento. Senator Wes Chesbro is also a strong support of parks.

Without some funding mechanism in this budget round, Parks will close. Businesses will be hurt when visitors stop coming because the campgrounds are closed, the restrooms are locked, the litter piles up and the roads are barricaded. Park properties will suffer right here where we live
and all over the state.

Please come and listen, and lend your support to help keeps our
parks open.

I am only a member of one MCN community list, Fort Bragg. If you would be so kind, we would appreciate it if you would send this message to the other local community lists as well.

Thank you,

Marilyn Boese
www.mendoparks. org

Willits to Usal Beach (almost)

Cyclo-monger — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:46:07 +0000

June ‘08 – A true wilderness adventure to one of California’s most remote stretches of coastline; The Lost Coast. Beginning in Willits, we ride north on Hwy 101 to Laytonville where we head west on Branscomb Road through misty redwoods and down to the coast at Rockport. From there its north along the Pacific Coast Highway to where it veers northeast to skirt the Sinkyone – Lost Coast wilderness. There’s a great climb up into the coast range and then a brutal gravel/mud swathed trip down to Usal Beach. See the Route Map here

I could have gone on and slogged on down to Usal, but as you’ll see on the map, I wussed out, turned back down to Hwy. 1 and headed south with a 20 knot wind at my back to Ft. Bragg where I spent the night at the beautiful and historic (and bicycle friendly!) Williams House B&B in Ft. Bragg. On Sunday morning I put my bike on the Skunk Train Back to Willits, glad to be home and even more glad to have gone.

I’ll be adding a lot more detail to the map in the coming days after I get my local routes sketched out. I’ll also be adding in my favorite routes around Kauai, Fairbanks, Eugene and Portland and even a couple in Vicenza, Italy, so stay tuned.

Route map and elevation profile

Ukiah to Ft. Bragg Bike and the Skunk Train

Cyclo-monger — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:43:54 +0000

Ukiah to the coast via Orr Springs Rd 50 Photos	This is a world-class ride through the Mendocino County back country. After climbing up from the Ukiah valley, you can take a break at the top of the Coast Range at the Mann Ranch, a 100 year old, 1600 acre piece of paradise. In future we will be working with the family to plan events centered on their location and to make the spectacular private campsites ther available to our guests. In the meantime it is a fantastic spot to catch your breath after the long climb.
From there we will take the steep narrow poorly maintained road through eight hairpin switchbacks down to Orr Hot Springs, where we spend the night in one of their quaint old cabins and take in the waters. Next day we ride down to the coast to Mendocino town where we have dinner and spend the night in a beautiful B&B and enjoy the sights sounds and flavors of this gem of the coast.
Next day we ride the final 12 miles to the Skunk Train Depot in Ft. Bragg where we take the train back up the hills to Willits.

Route map and elevation profile

Willits – Ft. Bragg – Willits Loop

Cyclo-monger — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:12:37 +0000

Sherwood Road Ft. Bragg to Willits

These photos were taken on my first ride up Sherwood Rd. in early summer, '08. I've since ridden it the other direction; downhill, and it's almost as tough going down as it is going up.

21 Photos

This is not a ride for those made nervous by narrow shoulders, variable road conditions, windy headlands or 35 miles of uphill slogging from Ft. Bragg back to Willits via Sherwood Rd. On the other hand, for those of sterner constitution, this ride will thrill chill and make you feel alive. I first rode this route on Memorial Day weekend in ‘08 and have riddn various sections of it in different combinations many times since. The Ft. Bragg to Willits Section, via Sherwood Rd. is a really exceptional backwoods experience and a challenge for any rider.