{"id":575,"date":"2011-05-29T17:11:24","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T01:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/?p=575"},"modified":"2011-05-29T17:18:35","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T01:18:35","slug":"two-men-in-tights-%e2%80%93-california-wine-country-and-northern-coast-tour-may-6-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/?p=575","title":{"rendered":"Two Men In Tights – California Wine Country and Northern Coast Tour – May 6-18"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bryan Shaner and Ray Persico<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ray and I had been trying to find a Bicycle Adventure Club<\/a> (BAC) ride for some time.\u00c2\u00a0 First the Southern Utah Tour was full then the Sicily trip fell apart, so I was pretty excited when he told me about the California Wine Country and Northern Coast Tour.\u00c2\u00a0 And the ride leaders were our own Bill and Joyce Keckler.\u00c2\u00a0 BAC is an all volunteer organization that is not for profit.\u00c2\u00a0 So not only was the price reasonable, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to get a refund of several hundred dollars since Bill and Joyce kept us under budget.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only did they keep us under budget, but they provided an excellent riding experience.\u00c2\u00a0 We had very complete route information (including a few alternates for additional climbing and miles), wonderful accommodations, and a great happy hour every afternoon.\u00c2\u00a0 They did a good job of arranging the weather also.\u00c2\u00a0 Our one rainy day was spent at the Lodge in Olema which had a pool table in the game room!<\/p>\n

Our first two nights were in Windsor, and the first days ride was a 40-70 mile loop to get all the kinks worked out.\u00c2\u00a0 Fortunately for me, it was also the day of the Wine Country Century, because I had a very important kink that needed to be worked out.\u00c2\u00a0 My rear derailleur cable broke at about mile 20.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray suggested we try the Century rest stop, and sure enough, $10 and 10 minutes later, I was back on the road.\u00c2\u00a0 That first day of 71 miles turned out to be our longest, and I have to admit, after a generous wine tasting and a hand full of chocolates, we enjoyed passing dozens if not hundreds of weary Century riders that last 20 miles.<\/p>\n

Day three was from Windsor to Calistoga.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray and I were feeling pretty cocky having gone exploring off the route quite successfully the previous day.\u00c2\u00a0 But our alternative route to see new country had lots of traffic, and we were glad when we finally rejoined the suggested route.\u00c2\u00a0 We arrived in Calistoga pretty early so decided to do some extra riding.\u00c2\u00a0 Our original plan was to get up into the hills and do some more climbing, but after a few miles on the El Dorado Trail, we decided to restrict our miles and keep them level.\u00c2\u00a0 We saw a great photo exhibit at Mums and then had lunch in St. Helena.\u00c2\u00a0 The shared $20 wine tasting at Clos Pegase was good, but then some of our free happy hour wines were also.<\/p>\n

The next day we headed off to Cloverdale, and the route included \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Geysers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which is one of the prettiest routes you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll ever ride.\u00c2\u00a0 The climb was moderately difficult and the wide open views were spectacular.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray and I missed a turn and got to see where Geysers got its name.\u00c2\u00a0 There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a plant tucked back in the mountains that converts the heat and steam from geysers into electricity.\u00c2\u00a0 They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem too interested in inviting us in for a tour, so we retraced ours steps and bumped down a road almost as bad as Eureka Canyon.\u00c2\u00a0 We felt a few drops of rain as we arrived in Cloverdale, and some of our fellow travelers got some hail.<\/p>\n

We rode to Mendocino the next day and realized how beautiful our weather had been.\u00c2\u00a0 We were greeted by clouds and wind on the coast.\u00c2\u00a0 So the next day on our way to Ft. Bragg, I purchased some tights \u00e2\u20ac\u201c well really leg warmers.\u00c2\u00a0 But they were wonderful.\u00c2\u00a0 My left knee had been complaining the last few days about not having any rest days but seemed very happy to be wrapped in its snug leg warmer.\u00c2\u00a0 So now we were two men in tights.\u00c2\u00a0 The section of highway 1 between Ft. Bragg and Mendocino is not fun.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bumpy and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lots of traffic.\u00c2\u00a0 But along the way there was a wonderful botanic garden that was worth the $14 admission charge.<\/p>\n

The next day I was prepared for more poor road, but miraculously, it got smooth just south of Mendocino and stayed that way down to Gualala.\u00c2\u00a0 I had dinner with some old college friends that night and was amazed I was able to get back on my bike the next morning for our trip to Bodega Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 As usual, we took one of the alternates for more miles and climbing. The alternate was King Ridge Road. It was one of our most scenic, traffic free rides on the trip.\u00c2\u00a0 When we got to Bodega Bay, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe my eyes when I saw our accommodations.\u00c2\u00a0 They were spectacular with a beautiful view of the ocean.\u00c2\u00a0 I wanted to stay.\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been cycling for a week without a day off.\u00c2\u00a0 This seemed like a good place to settle in and enjoy the hot tub, the view and the great food at the restaurant across the street.\u00c2\u00a0 And that is where Ray and I had our first real \u00e2\u20ac\u0153couple\u00e2\u20ac\u009d experience.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that all the folks on the tour (except Richard and us) were married couples.\u00c2\u00a0 The tour was set up to be at a moderate pace with 50ish mile days which appealed to married couples (three of whom were on tandems).\u00c2\u00a0 So our waiter that evening decided we were a couple too, and asked \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And what would the lovebirds like this evening?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Our fellow diners already knew we both had long suffering spouses at home wondering why their husbands were off on this crazy bike trip (I had that same thought a few times myself).\u00c2\u00a0 So they had a good laugh.\u00c2\u00a0 We did too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alas, we had to leave our great digs at Bodega Bay and head down to Olema.\u00c2\u00a0 After being together for nine days, Ray and I were really in sync.\u00c2\u00a0 We had been riding together all this time with him leading and me keeping track of our route usually quite successfully.\u00c2\u00a0 So right after I had my first (and only) flat of the trip, Ray decided he would have his first (but not only) flat of the trip.\u00c2\u00a0 Only his had ripped a pretty big hole in the tire.\u00c2\u00a0 Just as we were thinking of booting the tire and hoping we had something smaller than a twenty to do it with, Joyce showed up in the van, and Ray was able to get his spare tire out of his luggage.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how on top of things Bill and Joyce were during this entire trip.\u00c2\u00a0 We had our second \u00e2\u20ac\u0153couple\u00e2\u20ac\u009d experience when we arrived in Olema.\u00c2\u00a0 The receptionist showed us to our room and made sure we knew that we could rearrange the single beds if we wished (wink wink).\u00c2\u00a0 She was having so much fun being politically correct that we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t disabuse her of this incorrect assumption.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The next day was really really tough for me.\u00c2\u00a0 We were just doing an out and back to the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse which was a mere 20 miles away, so we threw in an extra eight mile climb up Mt. Vision.\u00c2\u00a0 The climb went well, but then we hit the winds, which were strong and shifted often.\u00c2\u00a0 I think it took as much energy to fight the cross winds as the head winds.\u00c2\u00a0 The lighthouse was nice but for some reason I thought I needed to climb down (and back) the 300+ steps to see it.\u00c2\u00a0 On the way back to Olema my legs felt like lead and I slipped well behind Ray.\u00c2\u00a0 He stopped to see what had happened to me.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray gave me half his last energy bar (I was out) and after drafting behind him for a few miles, I began to think I might be able to complete the trip.\u00c2\u00a0 We made it back just fine. However, I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t overly distressed when rain kept us from riding up Mt. Tam the next day (been there \u00e2\u20ac\u201c done that).\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed playing 3 sets of 7 \u00c2\u00a0games of nine-ball with Richard even though he beat me 4-3 all three times.<\/p>\n

Our last day back to Windsor was delightful with beautiful views and little traffic (until we got close to town).\u00c2\u00a0 Ray had a flat but for some reason I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, and we were back at the start by 1pm.\u00c2\u00a0 The two men in tights had completed almost 600 miles during 11 days of cycling with over 40,000 feet of climbing three flat tires and one broken derailleur cable.\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d survived 12 happy hours and made some friends I hope we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see again on subsequent BAC rides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bryan Shaner and Ray Persico Ray and I had been trying to find a Bicycle Adventure Club (BAC) ride for some time.\u00c2\u00a0 First the Southern Utah Tour was full then the Sicily trip fell apart, so I was pretty excited when he told me about the California Wine Country and Northern Coast Tour.\u00c2\u00a0 And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ride-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583,"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}