May 22 - A Twist on the Tour of Napa Valley

[SadieKate]

Due to popular demand, the route has been chosen and a date set.

Time: 9 am (but stay tuned based on weather)
Parking: Adams St east of Main St in St. Helena. This is a dead end street and recommended by both the Police Dept traffic person and the St. Helena Cyclery. The Bank of America on the same street is also open on Sundays.
Estimated length: A tad less than 60 miles

We’ll start in St Helena, go south down the Silverado Trail, up Sage Canyon (around Lake Hennessey) to Chiles & Pope Valley Rd. Climb up to the junction of Pope Valley Rd (where we took the pic of all the girls) and then up to the charming market in Pope Valley for a brief stop. Then, we’ll climb up the beautiful Ink Grade and down White Cottage and Crystal Springs to the Silverado Trail. Here is the twist: we’ll go up to Calistoga for a food break at the truly charming gourmet market by the glider port. Then, we’ll just cruise the Silverado Trail back to St. Helena. We’ll find some lousy chow and cheap booze to consume after and as close to parking as possible to keep the whine factor low :p.

Let me know if you’re coming along!

Map of St. Helena
http://city.ci.st-helena.ca.us/page.cfm?name=map

Website for the nice folks at St. Helena Cyclery
http://sthelenacyclery.com/site/intro.cfm

[SadieKate]

Yellow, I hope this isn't too early but I'm afraid it will turn hot otherwise.

Bus should probably leave by 7:30 am. I'll reserve all the seats for Pville monsters until you give me a better headcount. Bubba will put the rack back on before he leaves town so I'll have space for 4 passengers if you don't mind the back seat squish.

[Bike Goddess]

Seems to me that Yountville isn't that far down the road from St Helena. I suggest we go to the RED HEN cantina- yummy food, not expensive, good drinks, too! :D :D

Gotta get this food thing straight, right?! :p :p

[SadieKate]

Thanks for the suggestion, Nancy, but I (and others) want to eat immediately after for blood sugar reasons and sp the day doesn't drag on forever for folks who need to drive back to the Sierras. Plus, I want to put our tourist dollar in the town that hosts our parking. I like walking the streets of St. Helena, the wonderful olive oil at Olivier, the nice St. Helena Cyclery, etc.

We can eat at the Red Hen when you organize a ride, deal??? :D :D

[Bike Goddess]

SK- sounds fine to me. I understand that you want to give back to the community. I only suggested the Red Hen because I figured it would be easy to get in and it wasn't too far away.

[SadieKate]

SK- sounds fine to me. I understand that you want to give back to the community. I only suggested the Red Hen because I figured it would be easy to get in and it wasn't too far away.Yes, I know. A ride from Yountville some day would be good. :)

[yellow]

Re: the food discussion on the Slug Gulch thread, you'd have to get one of these to keep me from eating the upholstery if food was too long in coming.

y

[SadieKate]

I'm staying calm, trying not to be mopey, keeping an eye on the forecast for Sunday. Warm and sunny, warm and sunny, warm and sunny . . . keep on chanting, everyone!

[Veronica]

Looks like it will be nice again. We'll be there.

V.

[SadieKate]

These are the noses I think I'm supposed to count before we start:

Thom and V
Kim
Yellow and Brian
Nancy

Any one else? Yellow, you bringing any of the Pville gang?

[Veronica]

Please bring Rod, Yellow. :D

V.

[SadieKate]

You know, even LL Bean (http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=35659&parentCategory=8249&cat4=8247&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&feat=ssdpa8247) sells lycra bike shorts. PI has jerseys now that look like western/camp shirts.

[yellow]

I'll try to confirm other HV folks at tonight's ride. Yeah, we're riding in the rain. Or at least some are. I may go to the starting point and cheer everyone on. The ride has a bunch of steep downhill, which I'll not wild about in the rain.

As for Rod (his "forum persona" in case you haven't tracked that is "Hotrod", for how fast he rides :rolleyes: , though I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what his forum persona is, much like Kim's "The Pilot"), I believe he has other plans (plus he's doing the Davis Double Sat, but that doesn't mean anything for an individual of his conditioning).

He wants to do Diablo again, and Hamilton. So do I, and Brian REALLY wants to do Diablo. I was waxing poetic again about Diablo yesterday to another HV friend...now he wants to go do it too!

Much happier today, even though it's raining. Must have been that tequila-induced good night's sleep I got.

[Veronica]

We'll need to do Diablo Memorial Day weekend to get a 2nd trip in. Do you fancy riding it on Saurday and then do the San Jose ride on Monday?

We'll be doing it in June too of course.

V.

[SadieKate]

You can blame the hordes on Yellow this time. She sent me this tentative list this moring.

Sue & Brian
Cara & her husband Chris
Bea

[yellow]

Rod's waffling...seems he's rather ride with us women than participate in a charity golf tournament. The final decision, he says, depends upon how he feels after doing the Davis Double Sat.

And I forgot Steph, though I still need to confirm with her. So yellow's attendance list is:

yellow and Brian
Cara and Chris
Bea
Rod (maybe)
Steph (maybe)

And I still need to re-call Ed. Yah, yellow brings the hoardes this time. They just love y'all so much...kindred spirits, I suppose.

:)

[SadieKate]

Hee-hee, what was Rod's license plate again? It will be nearby and unattended for several hours.

[SadieKate]

Bummer, looks like we're down by 2. V and Thom have been forced into DIY fence-fixing for the weekend.

[aka_kim]

Bummer, looks like we're down by 2. V and Thom have been forced into DIY fence-fixing for the weekend.
Bummer.

Well, good news on the weather. Ink Grade at midday in 90 degree heat wasn't sounding so great. But 80 degrees, a-ok. :)

[SadieKate]

It was hot but we had a fun ride. Yellow brought the hordes from Placerville this time. She used my camera, figured out the timer setting (she's so smart :p ) and got the whole gang in front of the fancy Pope Valley Post Office.

In front: Sue (Yellow) and Bea (who did Slug Gulch with us last week)
In back: Chris, Sarah, Brian (Yellow's DH), Nancy, Kim and Cara (Chris' DW)

The Napa and Pope Valleys were still very green with lots of flowers due to our late spring rains. The brooks were a'babbling big time! Amazing to see that much water in them this time of year.

Kim and I were most disappointed that V was unable to come as there were some really cute striped tote bags at the hoity-toity orgo-natch market in Calistoga but V wasn't there to carry them home for us. :D

[SadieKate]

looking cool and refreshed after a 5 mile climb, the last 3 miles at 7.5%. I think the temps were in the 80s by now and none are us are acclimated to it yet. We all went beyond glowing today.

[Veronica]

I've bought a nifty new bag for the summer. It barely carries all my tools and a red bull. I was looking forward to using it yesterday. AND I think I can finally take off my fenders! Of course I did ride on Bike to Work Day, in spite of the rain. But in the future, I can't be your bag lady. :D

Thom and I were at Riv last weekend. They have a beautiful lavendar Saluki on sale. It would make a beautiful commuter/touring bike. I still have lots of points from the piano purchase, so I was told I could have it. Unfortunately, it's a 56. Zippo clearance between me and the top tube. I don't really need a new bike. It's just that it was so pretty.

V.

[SadieKate]

I've bought a nifty new bag for the summer. It barely carries all my tools and a red bull. I was looking forward to using it yesterday. AND I think I can finally take off my fenders! Of course I did ride on Bike to Work Day, in spite of the rain. But in the future, I can't be your bag lady. :D Oh no, Fluffy's getting stripped down for speed! Here she comes!

PS - Kim and I did NOT refer to you as the bag lady. :p

[aka_kim]

PS - Kim and I did NOT refer to you as the bag lady. :p
"The Bag Lady"! What a great new handle, even if no longer appropriate. It's either "The Bag Lady" or "Princess Zippy", take your pick.:)

[Veronica]

Princess Zippy! It just sounds so much more refined. :D But I'm kind of attached to my name too.

V.

[SadieKate]

You can just change your signature to "HRHZV" for "Her Royal Highness Zippy V" :D

[Bike Goddess]

Yep! Her Royal Highness missed a gooood ride! :D :D (Sorry about the fence).

If you ever need a back tire changed, just call on SK & CO. The very best! ;) ;) ;) Even waved Chris on as the women had it handled! :p :p :p
It was a TE ride, after all!

I looked over my tube last night and all I could find was a slight indentation. No holes. I'll give it to my friend Mick and see what he says- looks like something bumped it, but who knows what. Perhaps fell out when SK took the tire off the rim!

YOU'RE the BEST, the BEST!! Plus.... good company, too!

MORE RIDES PLEASE! :D :D :D

[CorsairMac]

Thom and I were at Riv last weekend. They have a beautiful lavendar Saluki on sale. It would make a beautiful commuter/touring bike. I still have lots of points from the piano purchase, so I was told I could have it. Unfortunately, it's a 56. Zippo clearance between me and the top tube. I don't really need a new bike. It's just that it was so pretty.

V.

Would you have clearance if we could find you some cleated heels?? ;)

[SadieKate]

I looked over my tube last night and all I could find was a slight indentation. No holes. Nancy, pump that tube up to a fairly high pressure and hold up to your face. You can sometimes feel escaping air that way and then mark with spit from your finger. Or pump up the tube and stick it in a tub of water. You should see bubbles from the tube or the base of the valve. Michelin tubes have a removable valve core which sometimes moves and then loses air also, though I wouldn't think it would do it at the end of a ride.

[yellow]

Thom and I were at Riv last weekend. They have a beautiful lavendar Saluki on sale. It would make a beautiful commuter/touring bike. I still have lots of points from the piano purchase, so I was told I could have it. Unfortunately, it's a 56. Zippo clearance between me and the top tube. I don't really need a new bike. It's just that it was so pretty.

Need? What does it have to do with need?

I had such high hopes for SK's pink knobby X, thinking maybe, just maybe, one of the stock ones would work for me.

:(

I had to lean the bike sideways to stand over it. SK--yours is a 48, yes?

Bea and I switched bikes for the last 10 miles or so as she's in the market for a new bike. Hers is a tri bike, which I have never piloted before. I promptly almost fell over because of the toe overlap (LOTS of it). I managed to remain upright for the remainder of the ride.

I continue to look for that bike that I may not need, but want. I want to deck it out like Fluffy for commuting.

Oh! And don't forget that we got to watch and observe a large nesting colony of western grebes at whatever backwater that was above the lake. SK thought Bri was stopping to pee right there on the road. I said, no, he's watching birds. Sure' nuf, that's what he was doing. It was way cool. We've seen them doing that nesting/mating water dance stuff before, but not so many in one spot (there were probably 150 or so??).

[SadieKate]

Need? What does it have to do with need?
I had to lean the bike sideways to stand over it. SK--yours is a 48, yes?

Oh! And don't forget that we got to watch and observe a large nesting colony of western grebes at whatever backwater that was above the lake. SK thought Bri was stopping to pee right there on the road. I said, no, he's watching birds. Sure' nuf, that's what he was doing. It was way cool. We've seen them doing that nesting/mating water dance stuff before, but not so many in one spot (there were probably 150 or so??).

Yes, it is a 48. It would probably fit V or even the 53 which has a similar length top tube (54 cm). Comes in a road version. All TIG welded steel. Built in California. I'm still unclear as to why we need the word "need" in our vocabulary. :D

Regarding the bird watching, since Brian seemed to be making a pitstop every 45 mins it just seemed to be the right time. The grebes were beautiful. That stretch is not nearly so marshy later in the year.

[SadieKate]

Bubba watched it in Salt Lake City and said that Bill Geist (their funny travelogue reporter) did a piece on Hubcap City. It is just past our turn onto Ink Grade in Pope Valley. He said he helped him feel like he was there with us.