In Wine Country

The Boyfriend and I spent the weekend biking in the Napa Valley. Saturday we biked along Big Canyon Road which is in Middletown, Lake Country. We drove through Calistoga to get there. Beautiful country. The 30 mile route we rode is one done by Gary Erickson, Clif Bar founder. I learned about this ride in Weekend Sherpa.




Back at our cottage in St. Helena, The Boyfriend discovered a snake in the bathroom. Between the two of us, we managed to sweep it up with a broom into a brown paper bag and toss it into the vineyard. See, no snakes were harmed in the making of this blog....





Sunday, we left early (as in we watched the sunrise) to drive to Yountville for the Tour of Napa which begins at the Veterans Home.





On the way there, we saw lots and lots of hot air balloons either already in the sky or just about to leave the ground. What a magnificant sight! This year, we both did the Metric ride. We started off together riding through vineyards and gentle rolling hills but he left me after the first rest stop. This is a lovely tour with its lake views, the stretch along the Silverado trail and its wineries, and the awesome descent. The tour takes you past Litto's Hubcap Ranch, right before Aetna Springs Road. I surprised The Boyfriend when we ran into one another at the second rest stop. He didn't expect to see me again until the end. The food is wonderful too -- chunks of grilled tofu! Last year, I joked a lot with men and women but this year, much like Marin, the flirting and fun conversation didn't happen. So I had many conversations with myself because you know, I'm so fascinating. :)



Last year, while I did have a cold and I almost froze my buns off for the first 25 miles (it was a cold foggy start), I finished the 65 mile tour in 5 hours with 12.8 mph average speed. This year, my stats were considerably better with a finish time of 4 hr 38 m and 14.1 mph average speed. Descents were the same at 35 mph. The Boyfriend finished an hour earlier with an avg. speed of 17 mph. He amazed me more so when he drove to the Napa Valley Roasting Company Saturday morning to get me a cup of coffee while I slept in.