interungulate

I planned out a fun little Saturday ride to stretch my legs before going back to school down south, but it would start from Santa Rosa (I live in Walnut Creek/Concord) so I have no idea what to expect. I've had Strava guide me through unpaved road on my road bike before, so I'm a bit wary. Any advice as to what to expect/bring/know for this particular route would be greatly appreciated.

The plan:
Start from Santa Rosa Whole Foods
Fountain Grove and Cross Creek up to Mark West
Old Redwood Highway onto Healdsburg Ave
Alexander Valley Road to Pine Flat
Pine Flat all the way up to Dillingham
Socrates Mine Road to the 175
175 to the 29
29 to 115
That turns into Ida Clayton Road
Franz Valley Road, Porter Creek, Mark West Springs back to Cross Creek
Back to the SR Whole Foods

What I'm concerned about:
I'll be on my hybrid instead of a road bike (Strava estimates 7 hours riding, I know I won't fit into that)
Highways, especially on a more upright bike, don't sound fun at all
To that point, are there a lot of cars on Old Redwood Highway and then going up Pine Flat?
There's a segment after the peak on Pine Flat that's labeled 'not recommended downhill' or something
I've heard part of the road after Pine Flat isn't accessible? I'm not sure that's right
I'll pore over the map, but any particular turns/switchbacks I should be aware of coming down PF or the other side?

I'd really like to do the loop instead of just going up and then back down the same way, but I've never ridden this, so if it's a suicide mission then obviously I'd not do the loop. I can also adjust the start and end points, but not by too much (5 mi any way would be fine). I'm looking to do a lot of climbing and have some fun along the way.

Lanceoldstrong

I am sorry, I do not know those roads or I would advise. I live 1 1/2 hours south of there.

Good luck, have fun, be safe.

Please post back here to let us know how it went.

shotwellian

Not sure if you've already gone, but if you haven't, part of the route is a Google map phantom. Pine Flat Road is supposed to be wonderful (haven't done it myself) but it deadends at private property at the top -- what's marked "Dillingham Road" is a private ranch road / driveway, and it's not possible to make it through to Socrates Mine Road.

interungulate

I ended up trying this ride today. Emphasis on "trying". It was a road-trip type thing, my sister and I drove out to Santa Rosa for the day.

I started the ride very grateful that I'd brought 5 or 6 layers, and it was pretty nice for a while, until Healdsburg. The bridge to get into the actual city (to connect Healdsburg Ave. with Alexander Valley) was closed, and I couldn't find a way around via back roads that wouldn't add 40 miles to my ride. 101 connects, but no bikes allowed on the ramp I wanted to take, and I didn't particularly feel like breaking the law today. So I turned around and went exploring over to Fort Ross through Eastside Rd., Monte Rio, Cazadero, etc.

Some things I learned:
Don't try for Pine Flat if you're biking in from the south, at least not for the next few months.
After Guerneville, you totally lose cell reception. Till, like, the middle of Fort Ross at least (that's when I turned back, it was getting late)
Monte Rio is the largest town until I turned back, as well. And Monte Rio is tiny.
Fort Ross Road is pretty nice, but deceptive. Lots of really short descents on the way west and ascents on the way east, shifting on my hybrid was slightly frustrating if I wasn't paying extremely close attention
Also, there's a statue of a mountain lion off FR Rd that through sunglasses looks almost entirely too real, so watch out for that one

Thank you for the info about Pine Flat; I was thinking it was something like that, but it's very nice to know for sure. Definitely won't be attempting to do the loop when I try this ride again.

shotwellian

Was the Healdsburg Ave bridge definitely closed to bikes? The city had been reporting that during the construction on the bridge it would be open to bikes and pedestrians almost all the time but closed to cars.

interungulate

When I went, it was definitely closed to bikes. Maybe I just caught it at a bad time or something, though.