The ride began with a climb on a tree-enveloped road that took us up over the shoulder of Mt. Tamalpais and suddenly opened to sunlight and bright azure heavens.
The day alternated between cool shade under trees and earthen walls and the brilliant sunlight of a day uncommon to Marin County.
The group was as calm as it was adept at navigating challenging terrain. I felt like I’d been riding with these guys for years.
Fausto gained everyone’s respect by staying near the front the whole day. There is no doubt he rides regularly and with a strong group.
Chad stayed near the front as well, stopping the group periodically to let those with less spring fitness rejoin and enjoy a drink.
The Bissell Team members rode with the relaxed air of guys out for a Monday morning recovery ride. Many remained in long sleeves and leg warmers for the whole of the day, despire temperatures that entered the 80s. More impressive, they would gently slide into gaps allowing lesser riders a chance to catch a wheel rather than get dropped.
After climbing up the long grade of BoFax from Stinson Beach, riders were treated to vistas of rolling hills, the beach below and sheer hillsides.
The rolling terrain gave everyone a chance to enjoy some short decents on which to recover.
In the birthplace of mountain biking, singletrack beckoned, despite the quality of the road.
Gita’s Nicholls, at right gets important feedback on the DMT shoe line the team wears.
The final descent back to town offered the group an E-ticket ride with distracting views and constant switchbacks. Disneyland was never this much fun.
A group with this much skill can make any descent seem effortless.
Morgan Schmitt, who won the crit at Sea Otter days before, grabs a bottle on the descent.
DS Eric Wohlberg was joined by his girlfriend. It was an incredible display of power, grace and gentleness.
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nice sweeping vistas
Does anyone know what helmet Fausto is wearing?
I’ve done some shooting from the saddle with an SLR. I used to use my Canon EOS 1n without the grip and a 28-80mm zoom. On centuries, though, it was a bear to lug around. For the last few years I’ve been using a Canon Powershot G5. At first I really worked hard to make sure the horizon was, in fact, horizontal, but I quickly realized that the off-kilter horizon reflects the perspective we often have when looking out from the saddle. This week I upgrade to the Powershot G10. It’s lighter and shoots 14 megapixel images.
GORGEOUS pics! I too would like to know what camera you’re using. I’ve never seen such sharp photos.
Great pictures ! Just curious, what camera are you using to get such great shots while riding ? I have a Nikon d80 SLR, but wouldn’t dare attempt that on a group ride !
Nice blog and cool movies & pictures i'm fecnh and it's my blog http://fixiescookies.blogspot.com
Let's go fixies
Great pics – thanks for posting. Some of my favorite roads out here!
Wow, brings back memories. I miss riding in Marin. Also great to see Morgan, I remember wrenching for him when he was a junior tearing up the scene in Seattle. Really nice kid.
Seems like a really cool ride. The Bissell team is one of the best, if not the best, domestic teams. Too bad Ben didn’t kill it during tour of california.
As winter is setting in here in Australia and it’s been a long cycling season, great to see that the weather is picking up as is the cycling other side of the world. Thanks for the great post!
Looks like a great ride with amazing scenery. Thanks for posting.
Wow! Flat and cold Chicago is looking pretty lame right now. Those views are amazing.
Pictures look sweet. Well captured.