Last Day

After a week of saying, what day is this and feeling like we had been on this trip for a month it finally dawned on me that we were going to be seeing some folks for the last time. Regardless of your background, age, gender or persuasion, you cannot help but admire all those that shared this fantastic trip. We had cyclists of every possible category including MJ who set daily, weekly, and lifelong mileage records and will never look at a bike the same again. Karina fine tuned her skills as a “baby possum” and will now need to work on Gus’s drafting since it will not be long until she is pulling him.

As usual the day started with breakfast and I ratcheted down to real life with a bowl of oatmeal instead of the usual blow you face off gluttony of the past week. Our ride today was more ceremonial than anything, 20 miles out and back to Hanna Winery. We also had the first serious auto/bike incident of the week when an a**hole in a Porsche Cayenne blew by all of us and came within micrometers of fouling up our trip. He laid on the horn and I kept thinking how many times this had happened riding in PA and KY over the years. By most standards Californians were pretty considerate of our cycling. As usual, Karina and Gus lit the afterburner and I saw Gus’s derriere for the last time. I hung back with Nace and Rita and we wound up at Hanna 25 minutes too early. The pot of lobby coffee I had consumed was now threatening to damage a kidney. The winery is mid hilltop with not a shred of cover for a nature walk so we amused ourselves with a young Rattlesnake that was really just trying to mind his own business and get some early AM sun.

Nace, Rita and I took in a quick tasting and then headed back to the hotel. Nace had almost nothing to eat and I was thinking about calling AAA (it was too late for AA).

We limped in and my melancholy took a major uptick. I actually spent most of the return leg with my eyes glazed over. I sent Nace to the shower and Nick and I stripped the bikes of our personal gear. I looked at my shoes and realized they were not worth the trip home. The rainy first day ride and a week without a chance to air out made them candidates for a DNR toe tag.

Showered, packed and ready to roll we had lunch next door topped off with a champagne toast courtesy of the two sweetest people you could ever hope to meet, and I am not talking about Gus and Karina.

Gus, jealous of my local fame as most helpful Backroads “suck up” started loading the van with the mountain of luggage that threatened to collapse the lobby.

We hugged the driving contingent goodbye and Nick and Jill made their rounds giving everyone a proper send off. Unable to even speak at this point I ceremoniously turned my shoes over to Jill and Nick, and in keeping with their unflappable style, looked like I had just given them a bottle of Dom.

With the motor coach loaded we are presently heading back to SF and enjoyed a slide-show of all our images as a final tribute to a once in a lifetime vacation.

This blog would not be complete without testimony about how much we missed Jean, Lenny and Bill. There were many silent prayers and glasses raised in honor of our missing team members.

I hope this was half as much fun to read as it has been to live and write.

“I live to bike and bike to eat”

L. Philip Baier Sept 2009

Easy Day Thru Alexander Valley

Thursday we awoke in a bed we would sleep in twice and the lobby had 24 hour coffee.  These two simple things alone would have been sufficient highlights but there was still more fun and miles on our agenda.  My legs were refreshed after the masterful work of my masseuse yesterday.   We ate a hearty breakfast at the Hoffman House directly adjacent to our motel.  Our ride was to be a flat and easy tour of the Alexander Valley vineyards and it was quite lovely with cool and sunny early morning weather.

Our intermediate destination was Stryker Sonoma Winery for lunch and wine tasting.  There were a few reportable incidents.  Sarah, Cathy and Pat had a close encounter with poison oak noted by Nick our guide and medical professional (Gus, Karina and I were as useless as an appendix) as they returned from a hillside nature call.

Our pelaton broke up at one point and after reaching one of the intermediate summits, Karina and I turned back to find Gus.  After five minutes and giving him up for dead, Karina took off to the top of our only real climb of the day and shouts over her shoulder that she will wait for us at the top.  I continued backtracking and, while looking for Gus, succumbed to the urge to pee. I found a suitable tree along a bend in the road and just like clockwork he shows up, flying around the bend and shouting something obscene.  The race was apparently on.  I reeled in my gear and caught him within a few meters of the bottom.  He sucked my back wheel the entire way up, puffing like an emphysemic.  It was at that point I realized the jig was up.  There stood Karina on the yellow center line of the road, camera cocked and egging us to the "finish".  Well, as far as I was concerned we were finished after pulling his sorry ass for the last 1/2 mile.  I hear his derailleur grind and before you could say Eddy Merckx, he was hammering while I was sadly out of gears.

So Gus lays claim to the vaunted "Brown Bike Shorts" points award.

We were just minutes from our luncheon winery stop, Stryker and we settled in the shade of some trees from a vista that overlooked much of the valley.  As usual we enjoyed a gourmet lunch complete with Chardonnay and Cab from the Stryker winery.

By all accounts, I am a lightweight when it comes to the fruit of the vine.  Since we had just 6 miles left on this days ride I decided to cut loose and enjoy some wine with lunch.  The aftermath of this poor judgment is evidenced below.

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As if Gus and I had not already given our gender a bad name on this trip, here comes Nick sweeping the last of the riders and carrying nine (9) wine bottles purchased by the trailing riders.




We enjoyed a bit of wine education and tasting at Stryker before heading up the road.

We were finally starting to get the hang of this bike riding/wine tasting theme which is a good thing since this would be our last real ride of the trip.  We encountered one more winery before reaching our hotel and sampled again.

Finally, back at our hotel we dismounted and got ready for our private sunset tasting and blow out finale dinner at Santi in Geyserville

Our winery owner  (Churchill) , Ken, provided some education on Pinot Noir and his products were quite delicious. 

Ken held our attention and we enjoyed three exceptional pourings.

The only reportable incident at the tasting was Ken's inability to hit the wine glasses and he managed to dribble his delicious product on Rita and Sarah.  Ever ready to come to the rescue, Nick produces a bottle of sparkling water and begins immediate advanced life support on Rita's white pants (Bill take a deep breath, this picture looks way worse than the actual incident!)

Dinner at the Italian ristorante, Santi was over the top which is saying something since we have spent the entire week over the top.  It was somewhat dark inside and I was unable to take any decent photos, however, stay tuned for the link to the You Tube download of Gus's farewell speech.  It should bring a tear to your eye but may also damage Canadian/USA relations for the foreseeable future.

We are off for a short leg warm up after breakfast then packing and heading back to SF for the night.

We have had an incredible time and a memorable journey.  Jill and Nick were beyond category in their pampering, ever present smiles and indomitable energy.  From deep in my heart, thank your both for making this experience a true highlight of our lives.

To all those who we had the good fortune to meet and journey with, best wishes for a great and happy life, lots of safe miles and living like there is no tomorrow.

Philip

Bodega to the Redwoods

Wednesday we awoke to the sea lions barking and waves crashing on the coast.  The fog that obscured our view yesterday was gone.  Another day of blue and sunny skies.  We returned to the Inn at the Tides for breakfast and I loaded up on a crab omelette and shared Naces, lighter than air, apple pancakes.  We were able to get a load of wash done yesterday which improved the olfactory experience for those downwind of us.  Nace, Rita and MJ were anxious to get back on the bikes and we took off North along the rollers of US 1.  Before I could say "have a nice day" Nace and Rita were over the horizon, towed by Gus and Karina.  Gus, however had to deal with some minor bike seat adjustments, evidenced below:

I looked back in my mirror and saw MJ walking up the first roller.  I was either going to be a friend or a pain in the ass, for which I am world famous, but I was determined to help her take full advantage of the bicycling technology.  As I pulled alongside and gave a few simple directions it was obvious that I was in need of some schooling since she was riding a touring bike with handlebar twist grip shifters.   At the top of the first roller I had her dismount and I took a spin on her bike to figure out how this thing worked.  Left hand I-2-3 for the front chainring and 1-9 on the right for the rear cassette.  We remounted and into the next uphill roller MJ was finally in full granny mode, spinning like an egg beater.  Perfect; at least she could ascend the hills without the off and on bike option.  She was still somewhere between tolerant and annoyed with me as I hung alongside shouting out shift commands but by God I did not see her walk the bike again that morning.  The weather provided awesome coastal views .

It was about this time that Jill cruised on alongside and she unselfishly tried to shoo me along and bring MJ  with her.  I felt I still has a bit of work to do  so the three of us had a little bike clinic and I think that MJ was getting the hang of the bike.  

We turned eastward and rode along the Russian river.  Unllike the Napa river a few days hence, this one had some water in it and the riverside views were beautiful.  

 As is so often the case, once a person achieves a new social height they are disinclined to look back at the little people who were there helping along the way.  Here is MJ shooting me a half-hearted Canadian acknowledgment as she sported her new, non-walking cycling technique. 

 

 

 

 Being a good host, Jill continued to flash her mile wide, 400kw  Julia Roberts smile.

I got the message and took off catching up with Nace , finishing our 25 mile ride for the day in the redwoods.  We had another gourmet picnic lunch among the shade of these towering giants.  

 

Gus and Karina getting ride briefing on the next leg to Healdsburg. 

 

 

Nick gave a brief educational talk on the redwoods after lunch.

This was the final stop of the day for Nace, Philip and Sarah, The Spa at Hotel Healdsburg. This, of course, is the after spa picture since I could barely stand or walk going in.  Magic!

We  hobnobbed around Healdsburg for the remainder of the afternoon awaiting our shuttle ride to our hotel in Geyserville.  We were on our own for dinner tonight and enjoyed wood fired pizza at Diavola with Gus and Karina.  Rita and MJ took the shuttle option to Healdsburg for another gourmet meal but the four of us were happy to eat a casual dinner, walk back to the hotel and hit the hay.  Day 5 is a flat ride around Alexander Valley so we may actually have a chance to stop at some wineries.  I just got back from the parking lot, letting some air out of Gus' tires and reversing his front and rear brake cables, just to spice things up a bit. 

We stay in the same hotel again tonight which is a real treat since the daily packing and unpacking is a bit of a grind.  Dinner tonight is at Santi in Geyserville, sadly our last with our wonderful guides and hosts.