Arrived at Spring Lake campground in Santa Rosa at 3:45 pm. I got campsite 17, which was a nice spot at the far end of the campground. I had a view over looking a large family from Idaho located near the washrooms. They had arrived after me in their RVs full of kids. I set up camp and got the trail bike ready. Ken Wells arrived at about 4:35 pm and we rode the bike paths of Spring Lake to the adjacent Annadel State Park.Ken is the President of the Sonoma County Trails Council and an experienced mountain bike advocate. He was involved in the early days of ROMP and IMBA. He works in waste management/planning for Sonoma County so he knows how to navigate the administrivia of big government. He gave me some maps and some information about Sonoma County trails including a great trail user map of parks in the county that they had just produced. The bike advocates seem to have a great relationship with county and state parks.
We hit the trails at about 5pm and started clockwise around Spring Lake, we rode Canyon trail to Marsh Trail past Buick Meadow and around the Ledon Marsh. They have Red Legged frogs at the marsh. We rode down Ridge trail and I was grining from ear to ear. We doubled back onto Marsh and rode along the south end of Lake Ilsenjo. The Spring Creek trail was very pretty - completely shaded with trees - but there were quite a few hikers. We wound our way back to the campsite arriving at 7 pm.
We parted ways and agreed to meet for dinner in an hour. It was a great ride and a great introduction to Annadel. There were some familiar elements in Annadel to trails that I have ridden including Wilder's Enchanted Loop (Ridge trail) and the dry rocky terrain of Santa Teresa.
The campground offered hot showers but charged $1.50 in quarters for 5 minutes. The website didn't mention that there were pay showers. Screw that nonsense! I was going to use my new solar shower at my campsite. Finding a spot for the shower was a small challenge. There weren't too many useful trees and the campsites were packed together. Fortunately, the campground wasn't busy since it was a Sunday night. I strung up the MBOSC banner between a couple of trees as a modesty screen in front of the Idaho family. The screen wasn't perfect but would spare the kids from the trauma of full frontal nudity from a sweaty, dirty mountain biker taking a shower. The screen protected the kids but the lady in the campsite beside me could probably see my ass if she wanted to.
I took the single speed to meet Ken on a busy street near the park with plenty of restaurants. It was a small challenge to find one open since many of them were closed on Sunday night. We found our way to the Texas BBQ where I had a 1/3 lb burger with slaw and mint chip ice cream in a sugar cone for $9.17. Ken and I talked about advocacy and his history of activism. He's a good resource.
I had to ride the road in the dark to get back to the Spring Creek Campground. I forgot to bring lights (not even a blinky light) and I got a little lost in the suburbs of Santa Rosa with the monster homes and well-groomed gardening. Back at the campsite, the Idaho family had a fire and way too much light. The kids were going to bed in the RVs. I finished off the Blueberry and tried the King Kush. John Coltrane was on the iPod and I sipped 10 year old Laphroaig out of a flask that I bought from my brother back in Toronto for CD$20. I was kicking back and loving life while looking at the stars. Looking at the Idaho family made me miss my own and I would love to bring them to this campground for riding and playing in this area.
I went into the cocoon in the back of the car at 11 pm and drifted off to the easy sounds Sarah McLaughlin. This was an awesome start to this trip.
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