First time to Napa - favorite 40 miles?

[Tiffanie]

I came upon this thread at the perfect time. My dh and I will be staying in St Helena next weekend and I was just telling him today that I would LOVE to ride while we were there. Although, we're flying. Is there any place in particular that rents road bikes?

[deedolce]

Hi Tiffanie!
Try here: It's on Main St. and they rent bikes. Across the street and a bit North is where they have the Breakfast all day place, that I would really recommend as far as eating! Most of the wineries to visit are along Silverado that I saw, rather than SadieK's loop, but the loop is a beautiful, untrafficked ride up into the hills.

Have fun!

[Tiffanie]

He deedolce, thanks for the reply. I was just browsing St Helena Cyclery's website a bit earlier!

I am interested in staying off the busy roads with the wine tasters and more interested in an uncrowded, scenic ride with little traffic. We'll be enjoying the wineries in a limo for a full day. I'm sure that will fill my need for seeing the beautiful winery properties.

I will check out sadiekate's link. Thanks!

[SadieKate]

tiffanie - my route is for a bike ride in a low traffic and beautiful area, not for wine tasting. The main area for wineries has lots of traffic. Absolutely, do not ride your bike on 29.

The Krebs map which I linked above shows the wineries, but I think the limo idea is the best way to see the wineries these days.

That Howell Mtn descent was much nicer. Slower and better views. Deer Park is too fast to look up at all.

[Tiffanie]

tiffanie - my route is for a bike ride in a low traffic and beautiful area, not for wine tasting. The main area for wineries has lots of traffic. Absolutely, do not ride your bike on 29.

The Krebs map which I linked above shows the wineries, but I think the limo idea is the best way to see the wineries these days.

That Howell Mtn descent was much nicer. Slower and better views. Deer Park is too fast to look up at all.

SK, this is the link I want to follow? All turns are noted correctly?
http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=3251

Thank you

[SadieKate]

I literally just finished making some edits to the notes. The map was correct but I though the route notes could be a little clearer.

There is definitely some unrepaired storm damage on the smaller roads so take it easy on the descents.

This is the Krebs map which show the wineries. http://www.krebscycleproducts.com/T1.html

[Tiffanie]

Excellent. Thanks so much!

[deedolce]

Joe has a mullet?? I'm not sure which one Tim is. It's kind of like walking into an auto parts store when I go to Wheelworks. You almost have to jump and down to get their attention, and I prefer going around the corner for most things...

This post bothered me, so since I can't find an edit button, I just want to clarify. I love Wheelworks cause those boys REALLY know what they're doing; I bought my bike(s) there, got fitted there, replaced my tires there. They're awesome, did all I asked and more. BUT when I went in for a helmet mirror, not only did they not have them, I could read their minds! ['we don't wear no freak'in mirrors!'] and heck, the last thing I got was a bike bell, and do ya think I 'd show my sorry middle aged booty in there to get it?? Of course not. So I should have said, 'I prefer going around the corner for most 'little' things...'

[SadieKate]

Ha! I know what you mean. Ask Veronica, Thom loves B&L for the fact that they carry racks, bells, mirrors, etc. Shops cannot be all things to all people and the two shops are better shops because they concentrate on their niche. If I had to generically label each, Wheelworks goes for high-end racing and B&L for commuters and randonneurs. You'll find the same culture clashes among riders.

The Wheelworks guys harass us all the time because we buy new frames or upgrade all parts without going all the way to modern 10-spd. So, do certain of our friends. Can you see me shrugging? We just harass the guys back and tell them that they're full of it. We do the same thing you do, the little things at the other shops.

So, did B&L or Ken's have the map?

PS - Joe doesn't really have a mullet and he may have cut his hair by now. He keeps letting it grow in strange fashions like some of the Tour riders -- and then fusses about whether it is really too geeky.

[maillotpois]

That Howell Mtn descent was much nicer. Slower and better views. Deer Park is too fast to look up at all.

See??? Told 'ya!!

[SadieKate]

Shouldna known. It is a better road for folks who get the heeby-jibbies on descents.

We're probably going to ride Deer Park this weekend so we can add a few miles to the loop. We'll pop out onto the Silverado higher up the valley.

We also discovered something. When you are climbing up past Lake Hennessey, you come to a 3-way intersection right at the lake. If you go to the right to stay on 128 back over to the Chiles Valley, you climb the south and sunny side of the mtn. If you go to the left on Chiles Pope Valley Rd (as they do on the Tour of Napa Valley), you climb the north and shaded side. Both come out on 128. If you are heading south back toward Moskowite, the shady route only adds 2.5 miles. Depending on weather, this is a good thing to know.

However, staying on 128 to the right means you ride right up to the doorstep of Nichelini Winery (est 1890). Such choices.

http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=3580

[Tiffanie]

Ok so we had a great time in Napa County this past weekend. Armed with rental bikes and SadieKate's routeslip, we headed out on Saturday afternoon.

We didn't get started until 3:00 and figured on a 3-hour ride.

It was quickly determined my bike size was off as I felt way stretched out and my back started hurting. But I could easily ignore it by zoning out on the beautiful surroundings.

This was dh's first ride, while fiddling around with the gearing, he managed to drop the chain twice and complete the obligatory "oops I forgot I was clipped in" fall within our first couple of miles.

It was HOT and the roads were busy. There were some sections that were nice and quiet, along the tree-lined shady roads. That was my favorite part.

About half way in, dh's bike was making an awful noise. One more stop and we quickly saw that the crank was very loose in the bottom bracket (is that right?) so we tightened it as best we could and started off again. The funny part here was dh had grease on his hands, then ended up with a Fu-Man-Chu grease mustache when rubbing his fingers down the sides of his mouth. It was hysterical and I couldn't stop laughing for a long while. I got a picture of it but he made me delete it!! Spoil sport!

Because of all the stops, my legs felt like lead each time we'd get back on the bike and I mentioned to dh that we should bypass the Ink Grade climb and asked the girl at the store in Pope Valley which way we should go.

We made a stop at a little store in Pope Valley, right where Ink Grade and Howell Mtn roads split off. We were running late because of all of our stops and decided to take the "short cut" through Howell Mtn Rd. Omigosh, this was the perfect example of why you should *always* stick with the original plan!!!! We quickly found that, although it was a few miles shorter than the Ink Grade Route, it was the same elevation gain. ACK!!!

Dh managed to drop his chain again so we decided to start WALKING up the hill. A pretty steep grade (to me), I ended up with blisters on the ball of each foot, in the center. Walking, walking, walking.... I wasn't having fun anymore! Every time we'd turn a corner and think we were at the top, more turns and climbing was up ahead. It was about 5:30 at this point and our friends were expecting us back by 6:00. That was not looking like it was going to happen!

We ended up hitching a ride from a very nice man (who was a cyclist and was amused with our short cut story, lol) in a truck who happened to be on his way to a friend's house that was very near our B & B. He took us all the way to the intersection of where we were staying and we rode the last quarter mile home. Rode in at 6:00. Just in time!

I think we ended up with a 28 mile ride.

So, although our ride was cut short and we had a few mishaps, dh says he really enjoyed the ride. I did too, I've just decided to block out the walk up that darn hill so as not to spoil the rest of the ride.

A few pics:

[Brandy]

I'm glad that you got your ride in Tiff...mishaps and all! So is Paul itching for a bike even more now?

[Tiffanie]

I'm glad that you got your ride in Tiff...mishaps and all! So is Paul itching for a bike even more now?

He sure is!!

[Brandy]

He sure is!!

I knew it!