Riding the BORP Revolution

For the past several years I have participated in the BORP Revolution, riding the backroads of the Sonoma Wine country in support of athletes with disabilities (http://www.borp.org/revolution/). This year was no exception, and I rode the 65 mile route with my VeloRaptor team-mates.  Together we raised around $14,000 for BORP. The start/finish of the ride was at the Trentadue Winery, just south of Geyserville. 

The start of a cycling event is always fun, but seeing the adaptive cycles lined up at the BORP event brings home the fact that we are part of a very special and worthwhile event.  

This year was also special, because our team included Jorge, a disabled athlete, who cranked his hand cycle the entire 65 miles – way to go Jorge! This was no small accomplishment, in fact, Randy (our team leader and Jorge’s minder) was prepared to for a 45 mile ride and had to recalibrate his efforts for the day

 A few miles into the ride we made the first crossing of the Russian River.

Then cycled through the vineyards on the valley floor.

The route did not have any major climbs, but it was not without hills, and here is Jorge leading us up one of the grades.

My blog post wouldn’t be complete without some mention of the baked goods we encountered along the way.  In particular, the  cycling community is trying to accommodate the gluten-free segment of baked goods, and as Kathy is pointing out, gluten free PB&J sandwiches were supplied at the rest-stops (not the first time I have seen this).   Fortunately for gluten freaks like me, there were lots of great alternatives that included plenty of gluten.

The organizers mapped out a nice route this year that included some new segments, one of which was the Joe Rodota Trail in Graton.  A great trail to walk or bike.

The new route incorporated a good many turns, and was a bit hard to follow.  Moreover, they chose to mark the route with paper signs stuck up along the way.  This didn’t work out so well, because as luck would have it, the only rain in months happened to occur the night before the ride and most of the signage ended up on the ground and quite soggy!   We even found a few signs that someone had put back up, but pointing the wrong direction.  Luckily, we had this handsome fellow riding sweep, finding the signage, and keeping us (mostly) on the route.

We crossed the Russian River again on Wohler Rd and took a few moments to enjoy the view. 

This next pic may look like a natural break during the Tour de France, but it is actually a few of our team helping a cyclist that went down after hitting a pothole.  She was not part of  the BORP ride and fortunately only her pride was hurt.

The grape harvest was in full swing, with many vines still laden with fruit.

 The ladies manning the last rest-stop dressed up their fingernails just for the occasion.

 The last few miles of the ride featured the street art of Geyserville:

We finished the day with a tasty buffet and quality libations back at Trentadue.