wine country century

this past Saturday was Stefan's birthday. he wanted to celebrate it by spending the day engaging in one of his favorite activities, so we signed up for the Wine Country Century. there are options to do 35k, 100k, 100m, or 200m. initially we were going to do the 100m but realized a hundred miles was a really long time to cycle for two people who haven't been cycling much lately. plus we rode WCC 100k last year and knew that it was going to be manageable.

we got to Santa Rosa bright and early and were cycling by 8:20am. the first 10 minutes of the ride was cold but once my body started to heat up, the combination of the cool morning weather and my body temp was perfect. it grew warmer as the day progressed however it was never intensely hot. the weather was perfect for a day of cycling.

the WCC is probably the prettiest ride i've ever done. right at the beginning of the course you pass an area where they launch hot air balloons and that's not something you see everyday. for the rest of the course you ride along vineyards and over a couple of bridges. the course is fairly flat, which was nice for me. there are little rolling hills and one actual hill that doesn't last more than what seemed to be .75 mile or so. the surroundings are quiet and peaceful.  i felt serenity.

the Santa Rosa Cycing Club organized this event and did a great job marking the ground so that wrong turns weren't taken. their rest stop stations were awesome with fresh fruit, pb&j sandwiches, cookies, coffee, gatorade, water, chips, fig newtons, etc. there were three stops for the 100k, which seemed like one too many but i appreciate it nonetheless. at the 30 mile mark, the rest stop there had sandwiches. and i'm talking like giant sub sandwiches. at 10am, it's a little hard to stomach eating a whole sandwich but i figured i paid for it, so i may as well take advantage of it.

1:23pm, sixty-something miles later and 3 hours and 43 minutes physically in the saddle, we were done. for me, this was a perfect way to spend the day. i spent good time with my boyfriend cycling in perfect weather with beautiful surroundings. happy birthday babe!!