So Mrs. Kong and I got to fulfill one of our longtime dreams of doing a bicycle tour of the California wine country. We’ve always loved that area. Probably the closest you can get to Provence or Tuscany without crossing an ocean.
While we like both, we’ve always preferred Sonoma over Napa. Napa has always seemed more “theme park” to me.
I booked a self-guided tour through one of the tour companies that operates out there. We wanted to go solo because didn’t want the pressure of trying to keep up with a group.
We were very pleased with the tour company. Basically I showed up with a bag of money and they handed us a tandem bike with a GPS, a bunch of maps and arranged our lodging along the way. Each day they schlepped our bags to the next destination. All we had to do was pedal.
Day One
The first leg was from Healdsburg to Occidental. A mere 24 miles. Looked good on paper. Except there’s a giant freaking hill mountain in the way. Ohio has hills. These were not hills.
The first part of the ride was easy enough. We got accustomed to the bike, which was basically the same Co-Motion tandem we ride at home. The first few miles were nice rolling hills with maybe a couple of steep ones. We stopped for lunch in the little town of Graton.
One thing I noticed about Sonoma, every little town seemed to have great food. Graton is about 4 blocks long and two blocks wide. The unassuming little place we stopped for lunch was fantastic.
We head west out of Graton until we reach the appropriately named Hamilton Grade Road. Now the fun begins. It’s “only” an 800 foot climb, but it’s very steep. I figure it at close to a 15% grade. “A lot of people just walk the bikes up the hill” was what they told us at the bike shop.
“I didn’t come here to walk” is what I was told by my stoker.
Now tandems are fast on the flats but they don’t climb well. I don’t think anything short of a mountain bike would have the gearing to climb a 15% grade easily.
Long story short, we took the hill 100 yards at a time. Pick a landmark, ride to it, stop and rest. Lather, rinse, repeat. The tough part was timing the stops so as not to be on a blind curve. Fortunately traffic was light and drivers are used to seeing bikes in this area.
I dare say I was pleased with our bike-handling skills. Starting out on a steep slope is no easy feat but we’d practiced the maneuver back home. I’m told that it takes a really good tandem team to stand and pedal together on a hill.
I have no idea how long it took to get to the top but it seemed to take forever. After that it was an easy ride into Occidental, except for the Prius trying to back over us in an intersection. Seriously, who the f*ck backs up in an intersection?
Occidental is a funky little town about 7 blocks long and a block wide. My first impression was: “This is where the hippies meet the rednecks, but they all seem to get along.”
The bad news was, the power was out for about a 10 mile radius. The good news was, our hotel had a generator. Woo hoo! We’re saved! Fortunately one restaurant in town also had a generator and we were able to get dinner. Early to bed because we were worn out and we knew the next day would be even more challenging.
Day Two
The second day’s ride would take us over the Coastal Range and down to the Pacific before heading up the Russian River Valley to Guerneville.
Coleman Valley Road winds its way across the Coastal Range. Legs still sore from the previous day, we had two very steep climbs of roughly 500 foot each before we topped it. We used the same technique as before. Ride 100 yards or so, catch our breath, repeat.
This road was very lightly traveled so on the really steep parts I tried traversing the road like a skier in reverse, effectively reducing the grade.
Up top the view was spectacular. Well worth the effort getting there.
What goes up must come down and it’s a steep, winding 1000-foot descent to the coast with the occasional cattle-guard across the road just to make it interesting.
In case you’ve never seen a cattle-guard, it’s like a bigger version of a storm drain that crosses the entire road. Cows don’t like to walk on them, hence the name. You cross one the same way you cross railroad tracks. Slowly, at a 90 degree angle. If they’re wet we were told it’s best to dismount and walk across, as they can get very slick.
I figure the descent was close to a 20% grade. I was white-knuckled on the brakes the whole way down. Fortunately the bike had disc brakes front and rear.
When I’d looked at this ride on the map, my impression was “once we reach the coast it’ll smooth sailing”. Let’s just say that maps can be deceiving.
We traveled the Pacific Coast Highway from just north of Bodega Bay until it crosses the Russian River. We found it to be a rather nerve-wracking. The wind was gusting off the coast and I was already tired from the morning’s efforts. Plus the road is just hilly enough to make it feel like work.
The worst part was, there’s no shoulder for much of it. Some spots had almost a foot of drop-off into the brush. Most of the drivers gave us a wide berth, but I don’t like being put in that position. I had visions of us getting schwacked by Ma and Pa in the Winnebago. We saw a surprising number of bikes on it, mostly heading south.
At the mouth of the Russian River sits the Russia House #1 restaurant. We pulled in since we were both in dire need of a bathroom by this point. It’s kind of a cool place, decorated with Cold War memorabilia. Payment is on the honor system. We had some tea and borscht while chatting with a young German lady who was biking from Seattle to San Francisco. Yeah, just call me “slacker”.
Finally we head up the Russian River Valley with the wind at our backs. The rest of the way to Guerneville is pretty uneventful. The terrain was relatively flat, since nothing out here is truly flat.
Guerneville seemed a lot like Occidental but maybe a little rougher around the edges. Sonoma must be where top chefs go when they get tired of the big city. We walked into a very unassuming looking little tavern and had one of the best meals of the trip (and they were all good).
Day Three
That morning we dragged our feet a bit since we were just headed back to Healdsburg. We took a short detour north of Guerneville to check out the Armstrong Redwoods State Park. Biking through the old-growth redwoods on a beautiful morning was a sublime experience.
The route to Healdsburg took us along the well traveled River Road, which fortunately had a nice wide shoulder. The last 13 miles were on the more picturesque Westside Road, which was still rolling hills with a couple of decent sized ones. Seriously, there is nothing flat out here.
We stopped at a winery because hey, it’s the wine country. I realize it’s part of tasting etiquette, but I hate pouring the stuff out. Feels like “alcohol abuse” to me.
Healdsburg is a great little town. Lots of shops and restaurants.
“Hey honey! Why don’t we move out here?”
(checks real estate prices)
“Um, how about we stay in Ohio instead?”
Day Four
The last day was a freebie since we were just doing and out-and-back from Healdsburg. We decided to head up the Dry Creek Valley and check out some wineries. The owner of the B&B suggested we head up West Dry Creek Road to Bella Vineyards. They actually do tasting in their wine cave, which was worth the trip.
This was a bit more like what I had hoped this trip would be like. Cruising along on a tandem, stopping at the occasional vineyard, not climbing any freakin’ mountains.
On the way back down the valley we passed what I call a typical California cyclist. Meaning someone generally younger, fitter and faster than myself. When I ride in California I get passed by so many times I start thinking my name is “on your left”.
This young lady was probably 30 years younger, 100 pounds soaking wet and not an ounce of it fat. Riding a high-end carbon fiber road bike.
After days of struggling up hills I decided to have a little fun. We passed her on a downhill and I decided to see if we could hold her off. For the next six miles we had that bike cruising. We weren’t sprinting, but we were holding our max continuous pace, which was 20+ mph. We’d get enough momentum on each downhill to carry us over the next little rise.
Our little “race” took us right past a group of about 20 tourists on bikes. I could tell they were rental bikes from the same outfit we got ours at. They were taking up both lanes of the narrow, winding road as we called for them to move over. Seriously folks, this is why drivers get mad at us.
Finally on one of the longer climbs she caught up with us, obviously winded.
“You guys are so fast!”
We started chatting and she asked if putting a bell on her bike would add too much weight (probably referencing the pack of tourists we’d had to deal with). I guess if I was built like her I might worry about adding a few grams to my bike. First I’d have to lose the extra bike I’m carrying around my midsection before I worried about that sort of thing.
I asked if she wanted to draft off of us for a while but she just said “You guys are a power team! I can’t keep up! Thanks for being my mentors!”
Now I have no idea who that young lady was, but she totally made the trip worthwhile for this middle-aged couple from the Midwest. In fact, everyone we ran into out here was very nice. Must be the great climate, and the scenery, and the wine, and the food (checks real estate prices again).
We stopped for lunch at the very popular Dry Creek General Store before heading back to Healdsburg. We could have kept the bike for another day but I think we were both pretty sore by this point. All in all it was a great trip and a true test of our skills as a tandem crew.
We would definitely do it again, except I’d try to stick to the valleys next time. Ow! Shut up legs!