Distance: c. 11 miles, two out-and-back forks
Elevation gain: 1049 ft

This is probably the shortest ride in Bestrides. It’s yet another out and back climb up from the Wine Country valley floor, and the climb itself is a whopping 2 miles, so why should you bother, when Bestrides has about 10 other longer similar Wine Country climbs? For a couple of reasons: 1) it’s off the radar—so far off that my treasured Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition cycling map, which has everything, doesn’t know it exists—there’s something sweet in that; and 2) it’s beautifully landscaped and has a delightful climbing contour. It’s just a little gem. So do it three times, or do it as an add-on to one of the longer climbs nearby (see Adding Miles), but I encourage you to do it.

Start at the intersection of Nuns Canyon Rd. and Hwy 12, just north of Trinity Grade. There’s a perfect tiny one-car dirt pull-out just made for you a stone’s throw up Nuns. Ride up Nuns and take the L onto Nelligan Rd. Ride to the “summit” at 2.5 miles in. Enjoy your surroundings—it will be over all too soon. You’ve got a pretty riparian creek’s woods on one side of you and vineyards on the other, but some genius preserved the thin row of woods shielding you from the vines, so you’re in lovely oak forest on both sides. The road is a generous one-lane, which adds to the coziness. At the summit the road does a three-way fork and each fork immediately dead-ends in someone’s yard. Turn around and enjoy the descent back to the Nelligan/Nuns intersection. If you aren’t exhausted from your climb, go L onto NCR and ride it as far as you’d like.

Nuns Canyon Rd. is the mirror opposite of Nelligan. It’s essentially flat, with redwood forest in place of Nelligan’s oak canopies. It soon turns to very rideable dirt. I don’t know how far it goes—I did a couple of miles and turned around. Feel free to explore further. There seems to be nothing in there but driveways to invisible vacation houses, often with gates. I passed at least two gates on the main road—whether they’re ever closed, I don’t know. But it’s nice, easy riding through pretty forest. If you ride it to the end, let me know what it’s like.

Shortening the ride: You’re kidding.

Adding miles: As I mentioned, there are several climbs that take off from Hwy 12 nearby: Adobe Canyon Rd., Los Alamos Canyon Rd., Trinity Grade, Cavedale Rd., Sonoma Mountain Rd. (all in Bestrides—use the search window for some of them), so you could do any one of them, throw the bike in the car, and drive to Nelligan as a cool-down.