Resources and Reflections

So, Thursday the 8th of October I dragged out an old tire to replace the second one I’d ridden through on the rear wheel, I patched the tube for the fourth time, packed a full overnight load into my Arkel panniers (the BEST panniers ever) and took a long 48 mile ride through the slightly chilly breezes and blustery sunshine on one of the last dry days of fall. First a few errands 10 miles south in Ukiah, to recover my  Camelback from where I’d left it on my last trip there, picked up a new tube and a patch kit, since the goathead thorns had taken a toll on my glue supply in the last couple weeks, and then put my teeth into the wind and rode west up the long low climb of Masonite Road.

This is a private road owned by the Mendocino Redwood Logging Company but its easily accessible by bicycle via one of the three open gates in the cyclone fence along the south side of Orr Springs Road just west of Hwy. 101. Masonite Road originates at the old Masonite mill site, the development of which is the focus of much current sturm und drang currently roiling local politics and the upcoming ballot measure “A”, meant to circumvent local planning authority and create a zoning change there, written by the developer, is being hotly debated in bars, on the air and on street corners all around Mendocino County. The road itself however, is wide, mostly smooth asphalt, and virtually un-trafficked. It climbs, much less steeply than but basically parallel to the first sharp ascent of Orr Springs Road, winding for six or seven miles at the base of the Mann Ranch property just to the north of the road, 1800 steeply rolling oak forested acres that is more fully described in the post linked to here.

As I rolled along in the quiet folds of the hills, savoring the chilly sunshine, I was able to settle my mind into that peculiar receptive state that  can come over you when everything is just right, when the sense of connection with and wonder at the world around you, in all its many parts and pieces, somehow plays a harmony in both brain and body. This state of mind is what brings the tour rider, distance runner, endurance athlete back again and again for more punishment. I’m sure that the yogi have a Sanskrit word that translates loosely as “bliss in action”.  That is the word that best describes the sensation of nearly effortless flight that brings this seeker back for more and that was how the 9 mile out and back along Masonite Road can be; no traffic, good surface, turkeys, cows, hawks and lizards all looking slightly startled at the sudden appearance of  the nearly silent cyclist, ruffling the feathers of their quiet pond.

About seven miles in, the road climbs more steeply in several sweeping switchbacks as it approaches the first locked gate at about the nine mile mark. Its easy to go around the gate with a bike, and the road meanders on for another 25 miles or so, mostly through MRLC reprod, all the way to the coast. Or, for the very adventurous there’s a little backwoods shortcut over to Running Springs Road which then connects to Orr Springs Road just a couple miles east of the Orr Hot Springs. Since it was getting dark fast, I turned around and took advantage of the relatively good surface and long nine mile downhill, a fled back through the twilight like a shadow, taking care to watch out for the bright patches on the road where, for some unknown reason, the pavement simply ceases, in a sharp line, changing to rough rock and then just as suddenly changing back to smooth asphalt fifty to on hundred feet on. It definitely will keep you on your toes, ass up off the seat in anticipation of the sharp jolts to the sitz that these rough patches can produce from too speedy a passage.

A three legged tour
At the bottom of the hill, I got back on North State Street and headed for Redwood Valley and a quaff and a few games of pool at Vic’s Place before heading back to the shop with a gratuitous 8 mile moonlight loop through the vineyards along East and West Roads.

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