Petaluma, Sonoma County, California

Time to location by car from Fremont (Niles):

Approx. 1.5 hours if the freeway flows.

Parking and other info:

The race headquarters is at Two Rock school on Spring Hill Road, about 400 yards from Tomales Road. Two Rock is located about 8 miles to the west of Petaluma. Early starters will get a parking spot within the school. If you arrive later you will need to park along Spring Hill road. No parking is allowed within 300 feet of Tomales Road.

The organizers have provided porta potties in the past because the school does not open up their facilities. There have never been enough porta potties to cope with the number of riders.

Also, registration for this event takes forever. You have to sign a county insurance waiver and they never seem to get the lines flowing, so be prepared for a long wait. These long lines have lead to delay of start of racing the 3 times I have gone to this race.

There is plenty of open road to get a warm up on, but as usual a trainer would be more convenient.

The Course, road by road, mile by mile:

The organizers say that this course is 20 miles per lap with a total elevation gain of approximately 800 feet per lap. The height gain sounds about right but the lap distance maybe be a mile or so longer. The road surface is average to good with one section of excellent on the return to Two Rock along Tomales Road. Lightweight tires and wheels should not be a problem.

The start is on Spring Hill road outside of the school. You proceed southeast for 1 mile, mostly flat to the start of the first climb. The climb is 1 mile long with an elevation gain of approx. 200 feet. The road surface is average to good. Just before the crest of this first hill is the finish line, located about 250 yards just after a bend to the left in the road. (Caution: at the finish sprint riders will be tempted to cut across the apex of the bend and ride into the left lane. This has lead in the past to riders being D.Q'd.) Gearing for this hill is 39x19 but some cat 3 and above go up on the big ring.

There is a shallow descent after this small climb for about ¾ mile and then another climb begins. This is a shallow climb for about 2 miles and then it steepens up onto the steepest climb of the course, about ¾ mile long and a gain of 300 feet. Again a 39x19/21 climb but nothing too monstrous. The top of the climb is at mile 5.5. Then a descent of 1 ½ miles and another small climb of ½ mile and 150 feet gain. Another shallow descent that is fast through wooded roads brings you to the first left hand turn at mile 7.5. on to Chileno Valley Road. Chileno Valley Road has several turns along it's length and there is normally a cross wind for the next 3 miles, so beware of losing contact with the wheels in front. There are several small risers and descents and it is easy to let gaps appear.

At mile 9.5 the road swings northwest into the prevailing wind and becomes more exposed, passing through dairy farm land and very picturesque views. It would be very enjoyable if it were not for the continuing headwind that blunts any speed. In my opinion a breakaway would make good time over the pack along this section of road into the wind. The cat 4 group was never in a mood to hammer this section. You stay on Chileno Valley Road heading northwest (into the wind) for another 7.5 miles. At the end of this road there is a small climb of maybe 100 feet gain, not very hard and can be ridden on the big ring. After the climb there is a left turn onto Tomales Road and the wind is now at your back. The road surface is excellent and it is easy to ride at 35-40 mph for the two miles to the turn onto Spring Hill Road and to complete the lap.

The finish is normally a slow motion sprint, being on a hill of approximately 7% grade. It is two miles from the turn to the finish, so there is plenty of road to get upto the front as long as they are not really hammering along. My advice is to make sure that when you turn onto Tomales Road and the speed increases, make sure you have already moved into the top 15. This way you can spend less energy by defending your position rather than trying to move up at speed, and if they keep up the pace onto Spring Hill Road, you will be ideally placed to maintain control of the front.

Other stuff you might need to know:

As I mentioned above, the hills are not long or steep, but they do come early in the race so a good warm up is advised. No riding yourself easily into the race. Gearing choices for me were 39x19 or 21 in an emergency. I sprinted in 53x19, but I suggest a recce while warming up to determine what gear you may want to use. Also, being an uphill sprint, the early lead out normally expires before the bend in the road. I went into the bend in 5th place and finished 4th. The guy who went in first finished 7th and someone from behind me came past in the left-hand lane at the bend to win. He was lucky not to be D.q.'d.

Although I have never seen it happen here I believe that this is a good course for breakaways to succeed.

I cannot remember exactly where the feed zone is or even if there is one. Suffice to say there are hills aplenty to get a soigneur positioned to hand up a bottle of your favorite goop.

This year (2002) the organizers, the Napa Valley Velo, are also including a hot spot sprint competition. They do not say where the sprint is located so my guess is that it will be at the finish line.

Petaluma has plenty to offer in the way of restaurants, gas, accommodation, etc. So no worries there.

The Napa Valley Velo have a good website with a course map and profile, plus all the usual info you will need, such as start times, distances, directions, etc. Access can be through the NCNCA road calendar.

A map of the area:

Courtesy of NVV:

The vertical exaggeration is about 11x. Distances, start line location, and finish line location are approximate.