Mary Davies wrote:

Hi Mike, I don't think I've met you, but I'm enjoying your activist approach to Petaluma infrastructure developments like D St. I want to be sure you're also plugged in to the Active Transportation Plan process (https://cityofpetaluma.org/active-transportation-plan/). What you're doing on  updating and improving our club ride list may be useful there, as well as to all us recreation riders. Thanks for all that! I wonder if your ride list info will include ride lengths at some point? (I'd volunteer to help, but the truth is, I'm usually lost.)

Thanks Mary for the link - very useful! 

Regarding mileage, the simple google sheet I put together isn't really a list of rides/routes - just a list of roads / bike paths that we've ridden or know about that are well paved, bike friendly or recommended.  The idea is that when members are thinking about putting together a ride/route via RideWithGPS, Garmin, Strava, etc., they can reference the list and maybe choose one road over another because one is recommended by PWCC members.  For example, Chileno Valley is a popular route, connecting to Tomales Petaluma Rd to the town of Tomales.  One can also take Spring Hill to Fallon/Two Rock to Twin Bridge to the town of Tomales. By referencing the recommended list, I'd likely choose Spring Hill to Fallon/Two Rock to get to Tomales, because all else equal, those roads are nicely paved, whereas Chileno isn't, and it leads to Tomales Petaluma Rd, which has heavy traffic that whizzes by cyclists, whereas Fallon/Two Rock has lighter traffic traveling slower. 

Since there are many routes/rides we can choose, mileage will vary depending on how far along the road/bike path someone decides to ride.  I figured by identifying the road/path, and providing a brief description, the info can be useful for planning a ride/route.  I hope that helps.

I've copied and pasted the data thus far I've put together, in case folks haven't taken the extra step to click on this link to the google sheet, so that members can get a sense of the info available, and maybe even want to share some of their favorite roads / bike paths and adding to the list:

I've been riding some of the PWCC RideWithGPS routes, and realized that there have been a number of roads recently paved, new/re-opened bike paths, and other that need updating.  When I use the "popular route" feature of RWGPS or Garmin to plan a ride, it doesn't really tell me the quality of the route, only that it's frequented.

I thought it would be really helpful for PWCC members to have a recommended list of Sonoma & Marin County roads / paths ridden by members that fall into 3 categories: 

1. nicely paved
2. bike path
3. recommended (low-ish car traffic, good bike lane, scenic / views, points of interest, etc.)

I created a google sheet which is accessible to edit, view and print by anyone clicking on the link below.  I started to populate it with the roads/paths that I've personally ridden and thought should be on the list.  Please feel free to contribute whenever you ride (or have ridden) something and want to share info so that we can all have a nice, up-to-date, reference list for our members!  Thanks all. - Mike Sarmiento

PWCC Local Recommendations List