Willies Wine Tasting

What better thing to do in Sonoma Valley than wine tasting and pairing. On our next to last night in CA, Sharon and I went to Willies Wine. Sharon had the red wine flight; I did the white wine flight consisting of the Ned from NZ; Hall from Napa Valley and Grey Stack of Bennett Valley (seem to be a lot of Bennetts in this trip --Beth, the park, and the wine (and of course, new nephew Bennett!).

Dog Day Afternoon

At Bennett Park, we (Sharon and I) met up with childhood bud, Beth and her pup Romie,and took a 3+ mile hike. For the final event of the year, the park service had a dog day afternoon at the pond. There must have been 200 dogs chasing frisbees, tennis balls, sticks, etc. Little Romie hadn't quite passed his dolphin training so he stuck pretty close to the shore but that said, he seemed to really enjoy being in dog heaven.

Pre-Trip adventures with Katie

Before heading up to Santa Rosa, we hooked up with KatieO who took us around SF including the Embarcarado Wharf area.

Redwood riders

Sharon, Kitty, Susan pause among the redwoods of northern California

Sharon and I got Susan to the bus back to SF then do laundry. Later we headed over to Bodega Bay where Alfred Hitchcock filmed "The Birds" . Our last stop was Goat Rock beach where we had a sumptuous lunch of spicy peanuts, chips and cheese. Our route back to the hotel took us though Guernville, a wacky little town of baby-boomer hippies now trying to sell their priceless beads, Bob Dylan LPs, and tie-dye -shirts at a local yard sale.

- - Kitty

Lucy makes a friend

Friday Sept 16

The Lost Coast

We started in the redwoods for today's route and went to the largest redwood on the park( Rockefeller). After that I started a cat 1 climb of 7 miles , going at a blistering pace of 3 mph at times. The descent was very rough going due to the road surface-- a teeth chattering, bone jarring, and chilly downhill. I was very tired by the time I reached the lunch stop at milemarker 30. Following lunch, we had a couple more climbs and descents before reaching the Lost Coast, a largely undeveloped part of CA coastline. The headwinds were particularly strong so I tucked in behind Sharon for the last 5 miles, which worked out fine until she dropped her chain! I finished with 48 miles and 4273 feet of climbing. I was more wiped out today than any other day-there was no gas in the tank. 2 people in the group (Ross and Stan) completed the full ride which included an 8 miles climb at 18% followed by another 8 mile climb that looked pretty tough. I didn't try- knew I was too tired. Tomorrow is our last day-- I think I will elect to do a hike thru the redwoods.

- Baad Kitty

Giants

These Redwoods are awesome -- 950+ years old, 50 ft circumference, over 300 ft tall. Think of the history that's happened during their lifetime!

It's hard to get the perspective on how massive the trees are. The tiny specks are Sharon and Susan.

It felt like being at the bottom of a green, living canyon.

In the redwoods....finally

Day 3: 9 miles, 415 ft ascent for biking. Sharon joined the 'long hiker' group this morning. Susan and Kitty went on the waterfall hike. Don't have any stats for the hike. This was a transfer day to Garberville at the Benbow Inn.

Vichy Falls

Had a short hike to the falls with Susan, Patrice and Brad. After lunch, we'll get transported to the next stop and do a ride thru the redwoods.

Redwoods archeology

Mystery truck... found in middle of nowhere during our mid-day hike. Can't see how it got to this location.

- Kitty

Healdsburg to Ukiah

We departed Healdsburg after a filling breakfast of eggs, croissants, yogurt and fruit. The route took us through lovely vineyards including Jimtown and Alexander Valley-- saw some recognizable brands like Fetzer, Simi, and others that I can no longer remember because I'm so tired.

Our lunch location was Cloverdale. At that point we had options for the afternoon ride. I decided to take the longer route with three early climbs and 2 later climbs (cat 3 and cat 5). It was a challenging climb but I actually felt pretty good. The final 16 miles were pretty flat until we turned the corner at mile 65 and had a steep stair-step climb that nearly killed me. It felt harder than the 5-mile climb from earlier in the afternoon -- maybe because I was tired.

We finished at Vichy Springs (total for the day--69 miles, about 3300 feet of climbing). The springs had tubs that could be filled with fizzy spring water with a slightly sulfur smell...but relaxing after the long day.

Had dinner in Ukiah's own brewpub and ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. No one was up for karaoke tonight!

In the picture are Stan, me, and Laurie (not pictured is Brad, our support person from BA). Laurie is part of the "biker chicks" group (their name, not mine) who do trips every year-- about 5 or 6 altogether and the rest of the time ride 3-4 times a week at home ( LA area)-- they're quite the lively group! The chicks now have 2 honorary guys-- Stan and the 78 year old father of one of the chicks.

-- Baad Kitty

Day 2: Alexander Valley wineries

Wine tasting

Today's ride was 46 miles and 1358 ft of climbing. Sweet ride of slightly rolling hills through wine country. We ended at the Hotel Healdsburg -- what I thought would be a historic hotel but was actually a quite modern place with a bathroom big enough to go bowling or ballroom dancing...take your choice. After cleaning up (a.k.a. a shower) we headed over to a wine-tasting establishment (safer since we were no longer on bikes) and did wine paired with food. All three of us spent an obscene amount on wine (but we saved 20%!!!) and had a blast doing it. Collectively, we're bailing CA out of its severe economic problems. Brian...you can thank us later!

- - Baad Kitty

Relaxing at Healdsburg

Kitty and Susan relaxing at Healdsburg - overnight of day 1

after buying 3 cases of wine from Williamson winery, we walked away
with only 1 bottle!

- - Susan

Healdsburg lunch stop

Hop Kiln winery near Healdsburg - lunch stop -- 23 miles. Heavy mist at the beginning, lighter at the end. Sampling a little bit of Hop Kiln's Thousand Flowers wine but not too much since we still have the afternoon ride ahead. Ride options include 84 mile loop to the coast, 6 mile shortcut to the hotel, or a 14 miler up one side of the valley and back the other side ( the likely option). Lunch is lox, salad, chocolate ( dark of course).

-- Baad Kitty

'California Redwoods' Bike Ride

Susan, Sharon, and Kitty assembled at Union Square (San Francisco) before heading to the ride starting point at Santa Rosa.

What a great way to start a vacation- slept in to 6am (9am east coast time), met up with Katie O for breakfast on the Embarcadero (for our gastronomic experience--omelet with gruyere cheese and mushrooms and coffee; Sharon had a "just like a diet coke" that wasn't, but we give it points for being sustainably produced according to the wait staff), walked around a bit and landed at the SF Museum of Modern Art (for our cultural experience), checked out late from the hotel (thank you again, Katie), then started making our way down to the bus stop to head up to Santa Rosa. The Golden Gate bridge is still as impressive a structure as it was when built 75(?) years ago with views of a regatta with the balloon sails and Alcatraz below. Looking forward to the start of our ride in the am which promises to be great weather. Good friends, good biking and good wine, let the fun begin!
Entry by Susan, Sharon and Kitty

Prepping for CA Redwoods

Whoohoo, it is T minus 5 days and counting before Susan, Kitty and I head out for our CA biking adventure amongst the CA redwoods and wine country. I am looking forward to another wonderful time with good friends and the excellent hospitality of Bicycle Adventures!  Let the good times begin... see you in San Fran S and K!

--Sharon