Well Diggers Ass

For those unfamiliar with the term, this is how wet things got today. Who said the weather is great in CA this time of year. But let us not dwell on the negative. Our morning in San Fran started with early coffee before setting out for 7:30 AM mass @ St Patrick's Cathedral. After a quick bagel breakfast we gathered our gear for the shuttle ride to Robert Young winery for lunch and to get our bikes for the week. Our BackRoads hosts, Jill and Nick were exceptional and provided a truly gourmet lunch pictured above. Also Gus Karina and Nick at lunch.

We got our bikes adjusted and headed out for an "easy" 20 mile ride. As we departed the heavy gray skies began to yield a misty drizzle. It was not exactly a group start and the group personality dynamics were already becoming apparent.  Nace, Rita, MJ and I took up the rear so that we could get the ladies acclimated to the equipment. We were barely underway when we took a wrong turn to a winery only to wind up in a private driveway. We retreated and found our first and only winery of the day, Alexander Valley Vineyards.

Nace and I kept a pretty steady pace and I was pleased to see her in my mirror for the first 12 miles. I began to notice a rather odd man riding (more like weaving) back and forth in what would be non standard bike attire-a speedo, dress shirt and sandals. He appeared to be in his 60's and exhibited a keen interest in  ladies in spandex. Sadly he was not keeping his eyes on the road and managed to go headlong into the 2 foot deep, gravel ditch.  By the time I got to him he was sitting on the roadside with some serious road rash on his knees and elbows, a bloody lip, nose and great toe and also sporting a chipped front tooth. Within minutes Jill arrived in the van/trailer and produced a pretty decent first aid kit. Since she was by herself at this point I decided to stick around  since this guy was just a bit on the weird side. Nick was bringing up the last of the riders and we loaded the guy into the van with his bike; Jill driving and Rita and MJ riding shotgun and keeping the numbers advantage in their favor while they drove the guy back to his place. He did not know where he was staying and the Speedo did not provide any room for ID or a cell phone so there were not many other options other than leaving him by the road or driving him home. Nace saw the blood and smartly continued on with my encouragement. By this time Nick and I were now at the end of the group and I though this was a great opportunity to get some time in with one of our leaders and ride in at a nice pace. We had about 1000' of elevation near the tail end of the ride into Calistoga. As we made our way up the final climb we passed a group of four ladies from Wisconsin with our group and near the top we stopped to wait for them to make the summit. We waited, chatted and waited and then decide to descend and pull them back up. Well, we got to the bottom of the climb and never saw them. Obviously they had not made the turn onto this road so we decided to take off in the only other direction they could go to track them down. Thus I got my desired extra miles and another 1000' climb. We never did find them and later found out that they had stopped at another winery and called for the sag wagon. By now the precipitation was just short of downpour and we had a 2 mile descent into Calistoga. The roads were wet and soapy since it has not rained for months. I let Nick get way ahead of me since I did not think it would be good form to run over him on the first day of our trip. In good weather this would have been a complete rush since the road was good and had a wide shoulder. This was not good weather. I pumped my brakes until my forearms ached and still could not keep the speed under 45. Cars were also coming down the road but I had no choice but to take the straightest line through the curves and thankfully these drivers were patient or just hoping for a front row seat to a spectacular crash. At the bottom we stopped for a turn toward downtown Calistoga and my face was sore from smiling! What a blast. I was so happy to be back in the hills again and this was a very exhilarating ride.

We took a shower with our bike clothes on since they were black with road grit and decorated our room with them.

The day ended with a very wonderful dinner with wine and local brewed beer compliments of our hosts before heading  back to the hotel for some well deserved sack time. Tomorrow is a flat day with more wine and hopefully less rain.

Day one has already exceeded our expectations.