Last Saturday, I spent some of my day standing in the rain at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts at the Finish of the Wine Country Century, a showcase ride of northwest Sonoma County put on each year by the Santa Rosa Cycling Club. My fellow cycling aficionado and I were promoting the return of the Amgen Tour of California (ATOC) (premier professional cycling race in USA) to the City of Santa Rosa. Anyone who has lived in Sonoma County in the past 4 years has had the awesome and amazing opportunity to see the best cyclists in the world, both men and women, race to the Finish line in downtown Santa Rosa one day in February – it’s an honor, a privilege and a heck of a good time!

Each year, in preparation for the ATOC, the City of Santa Rosa “bids” to hold a Stage Start, Finish or both, committing approximately $175,000 to the event. Because City coffers are stretched beyond their limits this year providing essential services, a group of us under the direction of Mo McElroy (Visitors and Convention Bureau) have committed to raising the $175,000 needed to bring the Tour back in 2010! Visit www.keepthetour.com to donate and stay informed. We’ve just learned that in 2010, the Tour of California will be held May 16 – 23!

Cycling enthusiasts have long recognized Sonoma County as a premier destination – it’s hard to beat the combination of spectacular scenery, back roads, variable terrain, and a public that is becoming more conscious and respectful. The cycling community is a dynamic one attracting people, businesses, low-impact use of the environment, creating a health-conscious and highly social subculture.

There is a superb article in the Press Democrat, Section B, Sunday, May 3, 2009, about “joys of riding in Sonoma County.” Whether you’re out for a ride with the kids on the Prince Greenway (Santa Rosa), challenging yourself to reach the top of Pine Flat (Healdsburg), taking a quick hour of exercise in a loop around Oakmont, riding from home to work and back each day, here for “spring training” with your team, or cheering for your favorite hometown elite cycling hero, Levi Leipheimer, at the TOC Finish or, Yes!, raising money in the rain, cycling is one more spectacular reason I treasure living in Sonoma County.

Call me (707-481-3390) for suggestions about riding in Sonoma County.

Posted By: Carolyn Metz