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