As usual, we invited locals to join us for parts of our ride, and indeed they did.

obrentharris from Point Reyes Station rode out to meet us halfway through our day 1 route yet again just outside of Stinson Beach, and escorted us to our night's digs in Inverness. After we all rested and cleaned up, he came back by car and saved us from having to get back on our bikes after a hard day's riding. We were happy to have dinner with him at the Tap Room

Brent leading the charge

We met up with him again in PRS, then rode together out for much of the Day 2 ride. He helped figure out how to do a temp repair on Marc's bottom bracket as well using a rock and a screwdriver - this was done on April 2, so no kidding! Thanks Brent!

SwimmerMike joined us midway through our second day as well, driving up from his home in the South Bay to Bodega Bay (terminus of day 3), then riding back along the course to meet up with us. Mike spent the night with us in Tomales and Bodega Bay - and brought a car load of tools and a bike stand "just in case." In this case, it was fortuitous, as he had the exact tool to properly tighten the Singer bike lock ring.

mhespenheide recently moved to nearby Santa Rosa, so he drove over to Monte Rio for the Day 3 ride. He's already starting to figure out the fantastic country rodes of Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.

Both were at the front of the peloton on the insanely steep ride up Fort Ross Road.


from left to right, Mike, Neal, and Mark H. For awhile we had three Marks, even if one of them spelled his name incorrectly (Marc).

djkashuba lives just a few blocks from the hotel we stayed at in Monte Rio on the Russian River, and posts drool worthy cycling pics on Flickr. BoltBreaker and I met up with Dave on the TdMIL 2019 at Cafe Aquatica. He was up front on the day 3 ride, then dropped back to keep me company on the next ascent. To live smack dab in the middle of some of the greatest cycling roads in the US...


Dave K. fearlessly descending Meyers Grade

davester has both harbor piloted and been a full member of several tours of ours. He drove over from the People's Republic of Berkeley to Monte Rio and rode with us on Day 3's epic climb and descent.


Looks steep here, but it was a lot steeper further down Meyers Grade, but Dave is unfazed. Note also that we had two vintage Singers on this ride

gaucho777 rode 40 miles on day 5, backtracking our route, met up with us a ways past Nicasio, then rode back with us to Berkeley, where he treated us with some eye candy - a large collection of vintage steel in his garage. Even after 80 miles of riding he appeared unfazed. He's a true hardman.


Couldn't find a pic from this tour, but Randy (gaucho777) follows The Rules. He's the one not riding with the yellow jacket of authority (google it) in this pic

Finally, bikingshearer was smart to ride from the PRB to Fairfax and join us for noshing at the Gestault Haus, a unique beer and brot establishment in Fairfax that allocates a quarter of its footprint for bike hangers. He and Randy rode back to Berkeley with us.


pic of Rich at a rest stop on the 5 day 2023 Touroica ride

Old guys on old bikes, that's how we roll.


Richmond-San Rafael bridge pic

Note that being a harbor pilot is a good way to taste the bike touring life.