Today was a tune up for the queen stage tomorrow. I’m a big fan of the Tour de France and the toughest stage of the Tour is known as the Queen stage and without a doubt stage 4 would be our toughest day.

After breakfast we packed up and left the H2 hotel and its sparkling water. Today we would ride through Armstrong Woods and on to Occidental about 40 miles.  I didn’t know much about the area (except for the redwoods) but from the looks of the route sheet we were in for a climbing warm-up at the end of the day.

Little did I know we wouldn’t have to wait for the end of the day.

We had another beautiful day! Amazing luck with the weather this trip. We originally were signed up to do this trip in June but had to cancel and reschedule for August. We had to cancel then too so we rescheduled for October. I’m glad we did because the weather and the fall color couldn’t be beat.

Today was a day I had really been looking forward to: seeing the redwoods. We left Healdsburg the same way we came in yesterday passing the Hop Kiln winery again. Not a problem, all of the scenery was so gorgeous it was nice to see it again. Plus you notice different things traveling the other way.

We were rolling along and decided to stop and take a picture – the first of the day – my stop – when Mark’s bike decided to throw him off. In the road on a blind corner. I was afraid a car would come along and since they wouldn’t see him they would run over him – so being the loving wife I am I screamed “GET UP”!

When he didn’t right away I did what any other loving wife would do I moved myself into the corner so they would see me and hopefully not run over either of us. As Mark pointed out a couple of times, most recently just now, there were no cars around. I say you can’t be too careful.

I bring this all up because as I was going through the pictures I couldn’t figure out why I took the following three pictures – until Mark reminded me.

The last one is pretty and I guess the reason I originally stopped to take a picture.

After leaving Westside road we traveled on the fairly busy River Road for several miles riding on the shoulder. We turned off onto Rio Nido Road then turned on to the Armstrong Woods road. Path might be more accurate. It was very narrow and seemed to have a stream flowing over it. It was unbelievably dark because of all the trees. The road was steep but rideable until we got to the section where the water was flowing. Once my back wheel started to slip I unclipped and got off and walked until it flattened out. The temperature dropped quite a bit – only filtered sunlight could get through the tall dense cover of trees. It was really cool and once we reached the park entrance it got even better. Green and dark. The further we rode into the park the darker it got.

Neal took us to see the oldest redwood in Armstrong Woods – the Colonel – at 1400 years old, and the tallest (by 2 feet) redwood Parson Jones. In addition to be dark and cool it was also incredibly quiet. I could have spent hours there, the trees were truly awesome.

We left the park a different way from how we came – I’m sure we were all happy about that. The ride out was also pretty and on quiet roads. Pretty quickly we came to Guerneville and the Coffee Bazaar. After a pretty light lunch we were back on the bike and headed to Occidental with Gayle and Rod.

There were two tough climbs on the last part of the ride (565’ and 870’), I had to walk part of the second one. If you’ve walked your bike up a steep hill you know that riding up the hill is actually easier than walking – not to mention easier on your pride. If you can keep pedaling fast enough to keep from falling over that is. I panicked and unclipped and couldn’t get going again. Gayle is a strong cyclist and pedaled up both – way to go Gayle!  Mark and Rod rode together trying to see who was going to be last and have to buy the beer. Either way there would need to be beer.

Once the last hill was crested it was downhill into Occidental. What a pretty town! Actually the last hill wasn’t crested until we rode up the STEEP drive to the Occidental Inn. I knew for sure I was going to fall over – only pride and stubbornness kept me upright. It was close let me tell you. Once the bikes were dropped off we were off to the bar. Beer before shower is my new rule of thumb.

For the day – 41 miles, 2766’ up and 2274’ down.

Last night we had our first group dinner at the beautiful and unique (uniquely beautiful?) h2 Hotel, our home for two nights. The lobby/restaurant/bar/check-in was open and light as were the rooms. The bamboo floors were gorgeous!

There was much to love about this hotel but my most favorite thing? The water bar on each floor where you could refill the milk bottle looking carafes in your room with regular and SPARKLING water! I love sparkling water and drank more than my share but stopped short of filling my water bottles with it.

It’s nice to stay two nights at a place, otherwise you live like a nomad moving each day. Unlike a nomad, we don’t have to carry our stuff on the bike or a camel, the tour company guides take care of that. On this tour they also carried it to our rooms so it was waiting for us when we arrived. When you pack like we do that’s a nice thing to have. And if that wasn’t enough, Mike and Neal also would pick up our luggage each morning outside our door – well… most of the time anyway.  More about that later.

No luggage to worry about this morning since we were spending another night so down to breakfast for fuel and conversation plus instructions for the day – including the route sheet.  M and N set up a rolling bike shop each morning to tweak our fit on the bike, change tires, or make any adjustment we needed. I mentioned at lunch on the first day that I wasn’t fond of my saddle and voila – another saddle is produced from the bike store in the back of the car or trailer and I have a very nice cut-out saddle for my bike. To be fair to the first saddle; it was a Terry Butterfly saddle – so a nice one just one my butt didn’t favor. On a bike if your butt’s not happy you’re not happy. In fact, no one riding with you or near you is happy. A couple of us changed out saddles, stems maybe even pedals – it was nice to be able to.

When it was all said and done, Sister Scott (the pathetic name I gave to my UDC bike) fit me better than my own Scott CR1 Pro. Kudos to not only Mike and Neal but to UDC’s owner, Terry, who as part of the registration process obtained measurements from us on all key aspects of our bikes – to hopefully mimic the fit of our personal bikes.  They surpassed that for me and others too – very impressive. Now if I can just get Mike to visit and help me get my fit on Rocket dialed in.

Today’s ride would take us through the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley through vineyard after vineyard and winery after winery. We were anxious to ride on what was a beautiful morning.

Beautiful mile after beautiful mile. Vineyard after vineyard. Gorgeous weather to match the gorgeous views.

Just before Chalk Hill I was struggling up a no-name climb thinking I had run out of gears. I was wondering how I was going to climb Chalk Hill much less King Ridge when I looked down and saw I was in the big chain ring! I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I was.

Chalk Hill wasn’t too bad of a climb although it steepened near the summit. As I neared the top I was able to ask the speedy crew waiting for us slow pokes whether it was indeed the top. Major relief when they said yes.

Then downhill to Windsor and the Café Noto where we stopped for pastries and coffee. Bike and eat. It’s a great way to live.

Notice the funny comment about Starbucks.

And kids.

The day was warming up as we continued on our way. One thing that surprised me was how much fall color there was – just added to the beauty of what already was stunning. One of the hardest things for me personally was staying on the bike and not hopping off to take pictures every few minutes.

Fortunately, what pictures I didn’t capture I know Neal, Mike or our unofficial photographer, Joeli, probably got.  Can’t wait to see everyone else’s pictures.

 

Next we stopped at the Hop Kiln Winery, in its former life hops were processed here for beer. Now they grow grapes and produce wines. It was a beautiful spot and a nice place to take a break from the bike. Wine tasting was available and a gift shop for those souvenirs we can’t live without.

Healdsburg and the h2 were just a short ride away. Today’s ride was 40 miles with 1608 ft. in climbing and 1637 ft. descending. We were just getting warmed up for the hills ahead. Each day there was an option for additional mileage, but they were usually steep miles and our legs asked that we declined so we did. Dinner tonight was on our own, several of us dined at the very good Willie’s Seafood and Bar.

One great thing about bike tours is between riding, dinners, lunches and stops we all have a chance to get know to know each other. The dinner last night was nice in that we were seated at one large table. I never thought I would be much for tours and don’t know that I would like a non-bike tour, but I love meeting new people on these tours! We had an interesting and fun group and some very good cyclists. Some of them were new at it too which made their abilities even more impressive. We had several strong riders (including our guides, Neal and Mike) to learn from and pick up tips – and I did. I would put what I learned to good use on Stage 4!  

For more about today’s route (not exactly our route, but close) check out the ride info on Santa Rosa cycling’s club site. 

Tomorrow we head to Occidental and the Redwoods. Can’t wait!

A few more pictures from Healdsburg –

We arrived the day before the start of the bike tour but our luggage did not.  We barely made our flight in Oklahoma City because of one snafu after another. There were very long lines due to a football team traveling that both Southwest and airport security seemed totally unprepared for. We only made the flight because we were able to jump about 25 spaces up in front of some of the team in the line at security. Since their flight wasn’t leaving until nearly 3:00pm and our flight was leaving with or without us in less than thirty minutes they graciously let us move ahead.

Too bad our luggage couldn’t strike a similar deal.

We were gleeful when we got on board feeling smug that we had indeed made our flight! Still gleeful when we deplaned until we watched the last dregs of bags go around the carousel with no sign of our 4 bags. Sigh. Off we went to the Southwest luggage claim office or whatever they call themselves then to the bar to wait until the next flight from Denver where our bags might possibly be.

They didn’t know where our bags were because Southwest it turns out doesn’t actually scan the bags in. They have those nifty little barcodes on the tags they put on each piece of checked luggage but it’s all for show, they don’t actually scan them. Please don’t tell that to any terrorists you might know.

Dejected, but hopeful (there were 2 flights remaining that the bags could be on) we decided to go on to the hotel. The drive to the hotel in Petaluma was more exciting than the flight and I think approached similar speeds once we were out of San Francisco. The driver told us a few stories of others who had lost luggage and showed us how you can corner on two wheels in a big Chevy Suburban if you simply go fast enough. Who knew.

Once we got to the hotel and took our complimentary toothbrush and paste up to our room we got online with our trusty smartphones and Mark started calling. The calls weren’t answered or returned so Mark pulled out the big gun: the fax. Yes folks, he can fax from his phone. Consider yourself warned.

It seems Southwest is one of the best at losing luggage, but fortunately for all of us, 98% makes it to its rightful owner. Thankfully we were in that majority. Our bags and breakfast all arrived at our door just after 7am – such excitement! Fed and dressed we went down to meet our fellow bike travelers in the lobby. There were 14 of us, plus our two guides, Mike and Neal.

This is our second group bike tour and like last year we lucked out with great people and great guides. We also got a nice day bag filled with everything you could possibly need on a bike tour and yes, I have a picture!

One of the things that attracted us to Undiscovered Country tours was the type of bikes used, Scotts. I ride a 2005 Scott CR1 Pro and on this tour I rode a 2010 Scott CR1 Pro. The nicest bikes I have seen on any tour, a big plus for us.

Once we had our bike, bottles filled and gels and bars, plus the day’s route sheet we were off! We were in the countryside before too long, rolling and bumping along until we stopped for lunch at the Willow Wood Market. Lunch was wonderful and as usual we ate like there was no tomorrow or dinner. Shared a wonderful gingerbread with two of my new Canadian friends Marla and Barb and helped Mark with his mixed berry crisp. After a cappuccino I was able to waddle back to my bike and ride. Not only was it a big lunch but a long one too, not good for the legs. Tomorrow I assured myself I would do better.

The scenery changed to farms and vineyards, it was lovely. The road smoothed out somewhat which helped after that monster lunch. It was wonderful to be on a bike riding along backroads, surrounded by nature with nothing on the horizon for the week but biking, eating, drinking and having fun. We were up to the task.

Getting here wasn’t easy, but today was a perfect day of bike riding.  Any day you can ride along scenic roads is a perfect day for biking and today was.

Petaluma to Healdsburg – 42 miles in 3:14 on the bike. This trip is all about going slow and taking everything in – we hope to go even slower tomorrow. Shouldn’t be a problem, the route gets hillier as we go. Will probably be slowed to a crawl by day 4, King Ridge road day.

*** I didn’t end up with as many good shots as I would like but as I get pictures from others on the tour and UDC too, I will add them and note who took the picture.

  Data: 41.79 miles, 12.9 mph, 1,982 ft up, 1900 ft down, 114 AHR, 150 MHR.