Introduction
Happy 60th birthday, Dave!
Welcome to installment #5 of Dave’s Bicycle Adventures. This is the fifth time in ten years that Dave and I have gotten together for a Dave-planned adventure. This is the fourth adventure for Dave’s friend Dick as well as Terry, and the third for Robin. This is the first time since September, 2005 the five of us have gotten together. The group of us had been discussing for a couple of years about where to go for our next trip. Last year, Dave, Terry, and I did a short tour around Dave’s home in Denver, Colorado. We discussed and looked at various maps of Italy, hopefully doing traversing some of the Dolomite passes.
However, the mighty US dollar had been losing value for a couple of years and wasn’t looking any better this past spring. Terry and Robin suggested we do a California tour around wine country. I thought it a wonderful idea as I hadn’t been to wine country in California for about five years.
Dave was a bit apprehensive but seemed to warm to the idea. The big problem, of course, was how to convince Dick to end his boycott of the US. I’m not sure how Dave did it, but Dick was on board some weeks later.
Dave again planned his meticulous itinerary but provided for ample side trips and detours. The original plan was to take an eight day trip with six days of cycling. Most of the rest of us, however, wanted to shorten the trip by one day; we decided that two rest days was too much for this trip. In September, 2005, we cycled the Raid Pyreneen in 10 days — with no rest days.
The overall plan was to meet at Terry’s house in Sunnyvale, do our usual preparations there, drive to Santa Rosa for the start of the trip, do a circle route and end up in Santa Rosa. At that point we would drive back to Sunnyvale after the last day of riding.
Dave and his lovely wife Pattie drove out from Colorado with two bicycles – one for him and one for Dick. Dick flew out and met Dave at Terry’s house. Interestingly enough, Terry spent the previous ten days on a business trip to Japan and had returned to California, but no one had seen him for a couple of days, except for his lovely wife Donna.
Dave and Dick secured the rental van and assembled the fourth incarnation of ‘the shelf.’ I guess reincarnation does exist….
I was the last of the group to arrive on Thursday. Dave, Dick, and I retired for the evening after a big meal and toooo much beer.
So, sit back with your best bottle of California wine and enjoy our adventure.
Setup day
I had to assemble my bicycle on Friday morning. Terry and Robin’s bicycle we already assembled (of course) and Dave drove his two bikes out from Colorado. No surprises – yeah! But, of course, I did see a nice greeting card from the TSA. What else…We still hadn’t seen Terry….
We assembled the bike rack. This rack has seen more miles than most vehicles in the world. But it is weathering the various trips with gusto…
After the rack was assembled and attached to the roof, Dick and I took a trip down to the bike shop; we really didn’t need anything, it just seemed appropriate and part of our ritual. I purchased some CO2 cartridges for filling tires.
Finally, about 1 pm Terry shows up and he, Dick, Dave, and I saddle up for our ritual prologue. Just returned from Japan? Terry seems his ol’ nonchalant self. The route takes us up (er, northwest) Foothill Expressway, through Arastradero Preserve, around Portola Rd and up into the hills via La Honda Rd. We ride the top of the ridge on Skyline Rd, then return to civilization via a wonderful descent on Page Mill and Moody Roads.
It happens every time the group of us get together for a bicycle trip. I completely forget how much fun descending a nice loooong mountain road can be. We flew down the 6 miles back to Foothill Expressway.
When we returned from the prologue, we decided to pack up and leave that evening vs leaving the next day. Since the first day was a long day in the saddle and it was through wine country, we decided we didn’t want to be riding through the back roads of Sonoma Cty late in the afternoon after all of the tourists had drank their fill of wine.
We mounted the bikes on the rack, took showers, drank some beer and ate a wonderful meal prepared by Terry’s wife Donna and Dave’s wife Pattie. We finally got on the road about 8:30. We also had to pick up Robin from his work as he had worked all day. The drive up to Santa Rosa through San Francisco was fast and uneventful and we arrive about 10:30. No sitting up and drinking for us – off to bed.
Day details:
Start: Terry’s house
End: Terry’s house
Distance: 39 miles
Climbs: La Honda Rd
Total gain: 2890 ft
Day 1 – Santa Rosa to Ukiah
We awaken to cool temperatures and overcast skies. Hmmm, this seems a bit like France…..
We’re our usual bumbling selves as we have breakfast and then pack the van for the day. As expected, we get going late. We finally get the whole morning-pack process down by the end of the trip, but we bumble, stumble, and trip over each other for an hour. Dave sags in the morning.
About 4 KM into the day’s ride club rolls onto our path and rides in front of us. No one chases so I guess it’s up to me to bring them back. I hammer for about 2 KM and finally catch them. A few of them notice that I had caught them but it’s bad form to latch onto a club ride without asking before the ride so I backed off and waited for my group.
Then about 1 KM after Terry, Robin and Dick catch me – Boom! I picked up a piece of metal and it whipped around my rear wheel until I skidded to a stop before the tire fell off. This was our first flat in four trips with the gang. I quickly changed the flat and used a new tube. That evening I tried to fix the tube that had flatted but it was trashed. I usually like to ride a new tube for than a week before trashing it. Bummer.
At 11:15 we stopped and chatted and decided to take a diversion up Geysers Rd. We rode along with another gentleman for a few miles and he mentioned that the back side of Geysers Rd is rather bad so we planned on riding up as far as we could for 45 minutes and then return back down.
Terry, Robin and I actually made it to the top right at noon and descended back down to meet Dave at the bottom of the hill. It was a short (6 KM) climb but rather steep on the second half. Robin measured 13 – 15% gradient in some sections. It sure felt like it, especially in the hot sun.
Dick took over sag duties for the remainder of the day. Dave and Robin make a bee-line to the lunch spot at Lake Sonoma. Terry decided he needed a few more miles so I followed him further up the Hwy 101 frontage road and double back on the west side and meet the boys 30 minutes later.
The day turned out to be rather warm. Bank thermometers were reading 92 degrees in the hot sun, and we had another 80 KM to go and another good climb between Cloverdale and Hopland. Cloverdale was having some summer festival and the downtown was closed to vehicle traffic but we wound our way through the crowds.
Nasty hot. Terry, Robin and I drop Dave and meet Dick in Hopland for a water break. Dave is about 30 minutes behind us. All we had to do was cross Hwy 101 onto Hwy 175 and take the back roads to Ukiah.
Unfortunately, we all missed the turn off and continue up Hwy 101 for a few kilometers. Nasty road. I stopped Robin and Terry and ask if we were supposed to be on 101 for that long and they didn’t think so but there was no turn off for another mile. We’re lost. On Hwy 101. On bicycles. Crap.
By this time Dave had caught Dick and re-hydrated and continued on the correct road to Ukiah. In the meantime the three of us tried to find a way off Hwy 101 and onto the back road. All we had to do is cross a dried up river and then onto the road. But nothing.
I finally flagged down a gentlemen driving a pickup truck out of a winery and talked to him.
Me, “we’re lost.”
Him, “what do you mean, you’re on Hwy 101, you can’t be lost.”
Me, “well, we screwed up, we’re supposed to be on Old River Road, but we missed the turn-off.”
Him, “Old River Road is just through those trees and over that dried up river bed.”
Me, “but we’re on bicycles and in cycling clothes.”
Him, “You’re lost.”
I asked for a ride back to Hopland. He obliged but had to drop some equipment off from the back of his truck and would return in 10 minutes. We waited…. Robin called and called and called and finally contacted Dave who finally made to Dick with the van. He convinced Dick to drive up and get him and take him back to Hopland.
In the meantime, Dave trudges on from Hopland on the correct route. The gentleman with the pickup truck returned and Terry and I loaded our bikes into the back and climbed into the front. As we returned to Hopland, we met Dick who retrieved Robin. All three of us gathered back at Hopland and took off for Ukiah – on the correct road.
I led the group on a fast pace; we already had 80 miles in for the day, most of it in 90+ degree heat. Terry dropped off after a few miles due to leg cramps and then Robin. I made it to Ukiah and waited for Robin and Terry. The three of us trudged slowly to the hotel where David had been waiting for about 30 minutes.
We were beat. 100 miles, 5700 ft climbing, 90+ temps. Morale was pretty low, and on the first day. Ouch. Fortunately, we found a good brewpub in Ukiah that served good food and had interesting clientele. It seemed like the hangout for the counter culture – of all ages. It was good to see 60ish hippies hanging out with the 20-something Bohemians in the same setting.
We drank and ate our fill and left as some local band was setting up to play and put a damper on any conversation.
Day totals:
Start: Santa Rosa
End: Ukiah
Distance: 98 miles
Climbs: Geysers Rd, Mountain House Rd.
Total gain: 5738 ft.
Day 2 – Ukiah to Mendocino
We woke up to sunny skies and better spirits. The day is a short one – 45 miles, but over the Coastal Range to Mendocino. Robin sags for the morning.I forgot to get a photo of the group at the start of the day. Here’re the group rolling out of Ukiah.
The terrain turned hilly immediately. By 10 am it was already in the 80s, as well. We started out in the high, dry rolling hills, the high desert. The landscape was very dry, one stupid small fire would burn for miles and miles.
After some miles of the high dry country the terrain turned into more coniferous forest with huuuuge redwood trees. We passed through Montgomery Woods State Park. And this was the back country. The people living in this area definitely lived off the grid as they were engaged in, er, alternative farming. We were warned to stay on the road and not venture into fields or woods. Hmm.
The roads turned narrow and winding and steep and in somewhat poor shape, but definitely ridable – sort of like the Pyrenees. After lunch I took over sagging for the remainder of the day.
The auto and truck drivers gave us sufficient room to ride, but unfortunately, one redneck gave Dave and Dick a hard time. Dave stopped and ended up bickering with the gentleman, I happened by a few minutes after the fireworks started. The comments I heard:
“These are my roads, stay off them.”
“I pay taxes here, you don’t.”
“If I meet a vehicle and I’m passing a cyclist, I’ll run the cyclist off the road.”
Those guys really bother me. I finally convinced Dave to continue on and leave the redneck to his own devices.
The last 10 miles into Mendocino was just gorgeous. The roads were great the scenery was incredible. The weather turned a bit cooler, but there was no fog. We could see fog far off the coast, but it stayed away from the shore.
Since we arrive in Mendocino with some time to spare, we walk down to the beach and watch the surfers for a bit and then around the shoreline around sunset. Mendocino seems to be populated with a couple of different cultures. First are the grizzly old-timers who seem to want to be left alone. The other culture consists of those in the tourist trade and then, of course, tourists. It is interesting to see the intersection of these cultures in various public settings (bars, restaurants, etc.).
At dinner we had some wine (duh), including a bottle from the winery owned by the gentleman who gave us a lift the previous day! It turns out he was the owner of the winery. Cool.
We stayed in a B&B. We had a small house mostly to ourselves. It was complete with a common room, fireplace, complimentary bottles of wine, and stocked with firewood. Of course we had to build a fire and drink the wine. And then we stayed up far tooo late.
Day totals:
- Start: Ukiah
- End: Mendocino
- Distance: 45 miles
- Climbs: Coastal Range via Orr Springs Rd and Comptche-Ukiah Rd.
- Total gain: 3890 ft.
Day 3 – Mendocino to Gualala
The weather on Monday morning was rather nice. It was chilly, overcast, but no fog. We were all a bit concerned with the fog bank we could see off the coast last night but it didn’t roll in. We had a smallish breakfast in our little B&B and rolled out. Terry sags in the morning.
We rolled along Hwy 1 (Coastal Highway). It was rather busy the first 10 miles or so, but the traffic lightened up after Hwy 128 split off Hwy 1.
The scenery along the highway was just incredible. The clouds burned off by 11 so we were in bright (but cool) sunshine for the remainder of the day.
We had lunch at Manchester State Park. Traffic on Hwy 1 turned a bit heavy again after lunch. This route is just incredible, but somewhat difficult on bicycles due to the traffic and narrow roads. Fortunately, there are many bicycles who use this route and so motorists seem to be used to dealing with bikes on the roads. Dave sagged in the afternoon.
We turned off Hwy 1 for the last 15 miles and rode up the ridge and away from the coast. There was very little traffic, but the road is somewhat hilly. We rode up and down the ridge until the final descent into Gualala.
The day was rather easy and unremarkable save the glorious scenery along the coast. It was another rather short day and we rolled into Gualala in the middle of the afternoon. We had nice meal in one of the restaurants. The town seemed to be somewhat similar to Mendocino, albeit smaller; there were the grizzly ol’ locals and then tourist trade and tourists.
Day totals:
- Start: Mendocino
- End: Gualala
- Distance: 53 miles
- Climbs: Up and down the ridges on the coastal highway
- Total gain: 2975 ft.
Day 4 – Gualala to Healdsburg
Today was National Inspect Your Bike Day. We woke up to beautiful weather. Sunny, breezy and a bit cool. We had another simple breakfast in the hotel and load up for the day. Dick sagged in the morning.
Dave was pumping up his rear tire broke the valve stem. As he was replacing the tube he noticed a rather serious problem. A spoke had pulled out from the rim. Very bad. He mentioned that he had already replaced that wheel for the same reason some years ago. Seriously big bummer.
We all spent time checking over our bicycles for damage, as well. Nothing found – good. We had been traveling over some rather rough road and it was quite surprising that no one else had busted a spoke.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have a spare wheel or bicycle so our sag schedule is disrupted for a day. Dave had just sagged the previous day; He had to use Dick’s bike for the day. Fortunately, Dick was sagging in the morning, but that left Dick without a bike for the afternoon. He took one for the team and sagged the entire day.
We rolled down the coastal highway again for about 6 miles and then we turn inland. The remainder of the day consisted of rolling up and down some nasty hills. Most were 2 – 3 KM in length, but some are 5 – 8 KM in length. And these were not nice Alps hills, these were the nasty, steep, narrow Pyrenees hills. I was sure glad I was using a compact crankset.
We had lunch at a dot on the map called Los Lomas. I think it was just a sign on the road. We continue on Skaggs Springs Rd. down to Lake Somona – the same place we had lunch on Saturday.
The day turned into a brutal test of survival skills. The weather turned nasty hot again (95+ deg.) and the terrain was up and down, up and down. I think we all lost quite a few pounds of fat and muscle that day just getting through the hills. Fortunately, the roads were in very good shape and traffic was relatively light. We did have to maneuver around logging trucks (or did they have to maneuver around us?) but that was about it. The red necks seemed to stay away that day.
On the descent down to Lake Sonoma we were all cruising down about 40 MPH when, Wham! I had a seriously sharp stinging pain in my right chest area. Crap! Bees! I didn’t even see them. The road was narrow and twisty and I couldn’t stop right where I was so I had to grit the teeth until I found a good turn-off.
I really didn’t know if I was allergic to bee stings so I reeeeeally wanted to get it out of my jersey and apply some salve. Fortunately, the van was behind me and stopped just minutes after I stopped. I pulled a bee out of my jersey and run back to the van for some salve. The only thing we found was some Neosporin, but it had to do.
Dave and I took off again for the bottom to find Terry and Robin. We reached the bottom and roll into the park near the Lake Sonoma dam. Terry “The Pharmacist” pulled his personal stash of drugs from from the van and handed me some industrial strength antihistamine pills and cortisone cream.
After I take the pill and apply the cream he asked me how I was. I mentioned that my right chest and arm pit area felt pretty tingly yet. He took off my sunglasses, looked me in the eye and mentioned, “Maybe we should wait a few minutes.” Oops.
I sat down with a bottle of water and drank it while everyone else filled their tanks with water and chips. After 10 minutes or so I wasn’t getting any worse so we took off to the hotel. Robin led our little train with me following and Terry following me, watching me closely.
By evening most of the pain and sting was mostly gone, but we did consume a fair amount of beer and wine at dinner. We also searched for a bike shop and found a nice one but they were closed for the day. Fortunately, the next day was a rest day so we could get Dave’s bike back into working condition without being hasty.
My wonderful wife (who lets me go on these 10 day bicycling vacations) and I have some friends who moved to Healdsburg a few years ago and opened a deli/restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember the name of the shop and was late so we decided to bag it for the evening and do our errands the next day.
Day totals:
- Start: Gualala
- End: Healdsburg
- Distance: 66 miles
- Climbs: Over Coastal Ridge via Annapolis Rd and Skaggs Springs Rd
- Total gain: 6264 ft.
Day 5 – rest day
Wednesday was a well-deserved rest day. We had ridden 5 days (including the prologue) straight. A couple of them were pretty brutal – hot, hilly, and long. Dave ran some errands – to the bike shop for a new wheel, plus his cycling shorts had developed a tear and needed repair.
My sting felt much better, but my armpit area was still pretty tingly. I checked it after I showered and, surprise, surprise… I found I had been stung three times. No wonder my entire right side was tingly and swollen. But with the wonderful industrial strength drugs from The Pharmacist, the stings pretty much disappeared in a few days.
Terry went for a ride to keep his knees limber. Robin, Dick, and I go golfing. We certainly didn’t have enough room for clubs during the trip so we all had to rent. Dick actually brought some golf shoes in preparation for the day. And we didn’t tear up the course; Dick golfs regularly so he did the best by far. Robin and I both lost more than a few balls….
Sheila had researched our friends’ cafe and found the address. We all piled into the van and to downtown Healdsburg for lunch. When we arrived at the cafe, however, we found it was closed for a couple of days for renovation. Big bummer. But we did have a nice chat with our friends. Their business is doing quite well. Good for them.
After lunch we all piled back into the van for some wine tasting. We stopped at Lambert Bridge, Quivera, and Emerson Ridge. We had hoped to stop at A. Rafinelli, but they weren’t taking visitors during the week as it was harvest time and didn’t have the staff to take visitors. But they do ship, now. Excellent!
Day totals:
- Start: Healdsburg
- End: Healdsburg
- Distance: 66 miles
- Climbs: Over some hills on Healdsburg golf course
- Total gain: 50 ft.
Day 6 – Healdsburg to Bodega Bay
We wake up Thursday morning to bright sunshine. After a good breakfast we get on the road. The day was planned to be a long one, plus Robin and Terry think about adding another 20 miles onto the route. We’re finally getting our act together and get on the road by 9:30.The first 25 miles were pretty easy as we followed the Russian River through the valley to Guerneville. At that point we had planned on going to Cazadero for lunch via Old Cazedero Rd but found that it was blocked off. Apparently the top 1 mile was impassable due to a rock slide some years ago. It had never been repaired. Consequently we had to wind ourselves a few more miles down the highway and then up Cazadero Hwy. This was really the back country.We found a nice spot for lunch just past Cazadero and I took over sag duties for the rest of the day.
There was an old bridge that connected Old Cazadero Rd with the road we took. We didn’t have to cross it, but I did manage a quick inspection. I’m sort of interested in the conditions of old bridges these days….
The rest of the day is uuuuup and doooowwn, uuuup and dooooowwwn. The boys ended up climbing 5000 ft in 60 miles. Ouch. The weather for the day was not as hot as some of the other days. The road was windy, steep, and narrow.
Plus we ran into some cows just lazily crossing the road. We hadn’t seen cows in the road since France a couple of years ago.
With about 25 miles to go, Terry and Robin make it to the edge of the ridge just before the descent to the ocean. It was getting late in the day and the fog was rolling in. The ridge is 1500 feet or so above sea level and the fog was rolling in at about 1000 ft. The temperature also started to drop so they took off.
I backtracked to find Dick and Dave and found them trudging along. When they get to where I had last seen Terry and Robin, Dave bails as the fog is too thick. Dick, however, continues on. We could barely see him sometimes so I made sure to follow with flashers and lights. He made it to the bottom with no problem so Dave and I start leapfrogging him and take some pictures along the seashore. The fog stayed at about 1000 ft. so driving and cycling was pretty easy.
With about 10 miles to go Dick bails as well as it is about 6:00 and starting to get dark. We only assumed Terry and Robin had made it to the hotel. We continue on to Bodega Bay and quickly find the hotel. Sure enough, Terry and Robin had just arrived and had just checked in.
Dinner included a good discussion about global warming and sustainable cultures. The restaurant closed long before we left and I think the staff were sort of glad to see us finally leave. Dick had a good statement about the human condition in the western civilized cultures: the US and EU economies are living a ‘3 planet’ culture where it would take 3 planets to sustain all 6 billion people of the earth at the rate the US and EU cultures are using the earth’s natural resources. That is the first time I had heard of that analogy, and it’s a good one.
Day totals:
- Start: Healdsburg
- End: Bodega Bay
- Distance: 83 miles
- Climbs: Over Coastal Range via Cazadera Hwy, Fort Ross Rd., and Meyer’s Grade Rd.
- Total gain: 6154 ft.
Day 7 – Bodega Bay to Pt. Reyes Lighthouse
The last day of our trip. We were all feeling a bit haggard and just a bit anxious to complete the trip. We actually had some choices on where to go for the day. We could have crossed the Coastal Range one last time back to Santa Rosa and complete a proper loop, but since we were driving back to Terry’s house after the day’s ride we could really ride to anywhere. We chose Point Reyes Lighthouse as we had all seen Santa Rosa….. Terry was a trouper and sagged the entire day.The morning was just a bit misty, the first bit of rain we had all trip. We said our goodbyes to the hotel caretaker and rolled out into the fog. Fortunately, the sun burned off the fog by 11 am so we had nice sunshine for the remainder of the day.
The traffic along Hwy 1 was also pretty light – the lightest we had encountered. We take a detour off Hwy 1 (Valley Ford Franklin School Rd.) to endure more climbing. The traffic on Valley Ford Rd. was reeeeally light. By the time we rejoined Hwy 1 we were rolling along Tomales Bay and couldn’t see the ocean. Again, the scenery along the coast was just incredible. The terrain was pretty barren and no redwood forests here.
We stopped for lunch at Cowgirl Cremery at Point Reyes Station. At that point we had two choices; we could go south to the lighthouse or north into the peninsula along the ridge of Point Reyes National Seashore. The peninsula looked a bit hilly so we opted for the lighthouse. The locals said there was a short climb and then down and flat to the lighthouse. We were also advised to take our rain gear as it was probably raining.
The climb over the ridge was pretty easy, about 1 mile in length. We then descended to the ocean side of the peninsula and expected the rain to start. But… wait. The sun was hotter than in the morning. In fact, the route to the lighthouse was quite hilly and rolled through a high desert. Rain? Ha!
We finally made it to the lighthouse about 4 in the afternoon after 4500 feet of climbing on about 16 miles of rough road. The weather was sunny and gorgeous and not that cool. The ranger at the station mentioned weather like we had in September was rare. We end up watching the seals and birds and other tourists for about an hour.
Pictures all around and then we start for home.
We stopped a few miles up the road and take a diversion to a beach for the traditional wheel dipping. No one wanted to dip their bicycles into the salty water so we took turns dipping Dave’s busted wheel into the surf.
And that’s it. Ride done. Sort of anti-climactic. But it seems that all of our trips end this way of sort of a resignation or finality. No celebration (wait, that’s tomorrow).
We piled back into the van for the ride back to Terry’s house. We hit San Rafael about 7 pm and looked for a burger joint for some grease and a beer. A couple of tries and queries later we ended up at some vegetarian joint that was having staff problems. It took quite some time to get our first drinks and when our food arrived, Dave decided that cold vegetarian pizza was not was he wanted. I agreed.
He and I left and went next door to a real burger joint for some grease, but no beer. Oh, well. We all finished our meals at the respective restaurants and we piled back into the van and drove back to the Valley. We dropped Robin off at his work (that’s where his car was) and we continue on to Terry’s house and arrive about 10:30 that evening.
Some quick hugs, a glass of wine, a hasty emptying of the van and unloading of the bicycles and we all hit the hay.
Day totals:
- Start: Bodega Bay
- End: Pt. Reyes Lighthouse
- Distance: 52 miles
- Climbs: Rolling through Point Reyes National Seashore
- Total gain: 4597 ft.
Epilogue – Party day
We ended up with 28 miles and about 1400 ft. of climbing for the day. The legs were happy. As we rode around the hills and the Foothills Expressway, I swear there were more cyclists that automobiles. Now that is cycling.
When we returned home Dave and Pattie and Dick and Ruth were just arriving from their morning errands. We dismantled the van and transferred the rack to Dave’s car. Dave and Pattie were flying back to Colorado but Dick and Ruth were driving their car back — the long way. So we had to load the rack back onto Dave’s car and load his two bikes onto the rack.
And of course the shelf (IV) was removed and dismantled.
I packed my bike and Dick and Ruth packed the car. Dave, Terry, and I returned the rental van and then headed to a bike shop that was having a fall sale so I loaded up on some badly needed training gear.
When we returned I filled out the expense worksheet, had it approved by everyone and we all settled up.
Party time!
More friends of Dave arrived. Pattie’s sister and her husband arrived. We ate, drank, ate, and drank some more. We sang Happy Birthday to Dave and Terry and everyone else who had a September birthday.
After everyone left Terry and Donna and I stayed up and drank YABW – yet another bottle of wine. I think we hit the hay about 2 am. Big headache….
On Sunday Terry dropped me at the airport and Dick and Ruth started their looooong journey to Colorado. Dave and Pattie took a later flight in the day.
And that’s it. Hope you enjoyed our little boring vacation story. But it was sure fun and Dave again pulled off the perfect bike ride. What’s next?
Day totals:
- Start: Mountain View
- End: Mountain View
- Distance: 28 miles
- Climbs: Hills around Mountain View
- Total gain: 1372 ft.
- Bottles of wine: 10
- Bottles of beer: 20