Touring the Orr Springs 600 Randonneuring Route

The Orr Springs 600k is a 380 mile loop from San Francisco north to Ukiah through some of Northern California’s most beautiful and remote roads. Creators of this route, San Francisco Randonneurs, have this to say about the ride:

 “The GPS claims 383 miles and 29,029 feet of climbing, but the numbers are reductive. The Orr Springs 600 is much more: three-hour stretches without a car in sight; ripe blackberries by the fistful; long dirt climbs in the shadow of Douglas firs; the Milky Way aglow over a pitch-black landscape; dawn over the Mayacamas; the feeling of coming home after having been far, far away.”

Earlier this year my friend Will mentioned that he wanted to do this ride, only instead of doing it in one go like the rando folks, we would spread it out over five days. He wanted to go at “vacation pace”, taking our time to enjoy the roads and stopping after a good day. In other words: credit card touring, where instead of camping we’d be staying in hotels. Not carrying camping gear means you can pack a whole lot lighter, and you also get a shower and sleep in a bed each night. That sure feels like a vacation to me.

As plans came together, a group chat of bike nerds emerged. A handful of us were joining from San Francisco and about half the group from Southern California as well. We all compared bikes and chatted setups. Will works for Rivendell and rode his cool upright road bike. A lot of the crew falls into that camp too, and they were mostly riding drop bar bikes with 35ish mm tires. I thought about bringing my road bike, but I wanted something a little more upright and chill for touring so I put 40mm slicks on my SuperSomething and that did the trick. I already had racks and panniers set to go, so getting packed was easy.

After a few months of occasional group chats and loose planning, the time was near. We had booked a few hotels but we kept the last few days open. The plan was to go 80 miles day one to Monte Rio, 60 the next day to Gualala, another 50 the day after to Philo (just north of Boonville), and then 60 again to Ukiah. The following day we would either do a 60 mile day down to Windsor and hop on the Smart Train back home, or if we were feeling up for it, do a big 130 mile day all the way home.

The good thing about putting a trip like this on the calendar is that it is committing. You’ve got pals to hold you accountable and have set up your calendar to be gone. That made it so that we were all on the same page for rolling out even though there was heavy rain in the forecast for the first few days. As we left San Francisco there were clouds in the sky but the rain was holding. It was the perfect temperature for riding out. We cruised the familiar miles over the Golden Gate Bridge, bike path to Mill Valley and then headed towards Fairfax where we met up with the LA crew and got some snacks at the fancy grocery store. Spirits were high as we rolled out of town just in time for the sky to open up. Rain pants and jackets were unpacked and as we huddled under a tree for a moment of readjustment, I think we all knew what we were in for. Luckily we also knew there were hot showers in a hotel waiting for us, and that made the wettest day on a bike a lot more doable.

Riding 6 hours through a downpour is actually a lot of fun. I think one of the best parts about bike touring is that it gets you out there at times you otherwise would not be – early sunrises and late sunsets, funky connector trails you didn’t know were there, all-day rain storms. It really did feel like a treat and we all noted how it made it feel like way more of an adventure.

As we hit Highway 1, our rainpants and shoes were heavy and saturated and the storm lifted a bit. We noted that the riding was pretty amazing – the Cross Marin Trail is a carless path through giant redwood tunnels, with only 2500ft of climbing over an 80 mile day. What a nice ride. We rolled into Monte Rio to a cool historic hotel. Showers were had, wet clothes were hung next to heaters and hair dryers, and we went to the little restaurant and bar for a pint and some really good German food. That place was awesome.

The next day still had rain in the forecast, but a lot less. Things mostly dried out. The road reflected the morning light and the verdant foliage as we rolled out of town. Everyone was feeling grateful for a break in the rain. Today we were heading to King Ridge, a well-discussed road in the cycling scene here. I had ridden a small chunk of it on a few other rides but I did not know what a sweet ride we were in for. We hit some rollers and started climbing out of the dense forest and into rolling grassy hills. I found myself now and for most of this trip lacking the words to describe how beautiful it is out there. The photos don’t do it justice and neither can my words, so I suppose you will have to go check it out yourself.

The rain held as we made our way towards the coast. We were treated to a nice long descent over fresh pavement for the last 20 minutes or so. We had just regrouped and were riding in a nice pack as we careened towards the coast, popping out of the trees to a clear sky and bright green grass. It felt like emerging into a technicolor world after our two grey days and marked a change in the weather for the rest of our trip.

We hopped off the highway at Sea Ranch for a quick stop at the lodge. That spot was pretty cool. I think architecture is neat, so it was fun to stop by and see some cool structures. Will’s boss and famed bicycle thought leader Grant Petersen happened to be staying nearby with his family. He met us on the road with some sandwiches and his 35mm film camera to snap a group photo. We parted ways and pedaled the last 5 miles to our hotel in Gualala where I ate almost a whole large pizza by myself and we bunked down for the night.

The next couple days blend together in a whir of beautiful green rolling hills, phenomenal climbs and incredible descents. The highlight of the whole trip for me though was Fish Rock Road. I had heard about this road for years but the hype did not do it  justice. We started with a huge climb up super-smooth dirt. It was hard, but not soul-crushing hard. Once up on the ridge, it just cruised along with stunning views of the rolling California hills. Some clouds would clear and light up certain hills bright green in contrast to the dark ones in front and behind. We finally made our way down a 30 or 40 minute ripping descent to more slightly downhill cruising through wide-open meadows dotted with oak trees, back to redwood tunnels, and finally to more sun-drenched rolling green hills. I hate to go ranking things, but that was definitely one of my top days on a bike ever. So, so stunning and fun. Since we’re talking about road biking here, I should mention that we didn’t see a single car on that road. So amazing. That night we stayed in Philo and got cheeseburgers and tried to watch Robocop but the hotel TVs were being funky.

The next morning was the first where we all agreed we felt a little tired but we had a chill day. The road from Philo to Ukiah was rolly and nice. It felt like that perfect ratio of climbing to descending and again, we were surrounded by so much beauty that it’s hard to describe. We rode down into a canyon along a beautiful river. Some of us stopped for a dip and lunch before climbing back up the green hills for a ripping descent into town. The next day would be our last on tour.

We didn’t have to say it out loud. We were feeling tired, and the 130 mile mega day was not in the cards. In fact, we decided to get off of the rando route here and head a little more directly to the train station. It turns out the direct route was another banger though. We went on Old Mountain Road, which we later found out is on some bike cycling routes like Levi’s Gran Fondo. It was gorgeous and rolling and fun. From there we got back on Highway 128 which we were nervous about but it was downhill, we were going faster than cars at many points and we were off of there before we knew it.

From there we stopped in Cloverdale for a coffee – that town was cute, I think next time we would stay there instead of Ukiah. Then we took side roads to Windsor to catch the train, got off the train and onto a ferry and then we were back in San Francisco.

This trip had me feeling incredibly lucky to live somewhere so dang beautiful. The whole time I was saying to myself, “I can’t believe we rode here from home.” Also the riding itself was super, super fun, some of the best I have done – and it was road biking. Crazy. The feelings that always last on a trip though, for me at least, are those ones of connection. I have so much more context now for the place that I live which makes me feel more connected here. I got to make some new friends and hang more with some that I already had. Bikes are cool that way and I hope you get to go on a trip like this soon.