Rivendell arrival!!!

My 2 days in Santa Rosa were filled with lots of great beer and a discovery of the best grocery store chain...Trader Joes.  $2.99 Chardonnay...and it was great!  My host Annie and I had a great dinner where we swapped biking stories and I gave her some tips on places to check out on her upcoming trip to Montreal.

Then it was off to wine country, Sonoma and Napa Valleys.  Great riding, was able to get a free bike map from a company that does bike wine tours and that way I avoided the somewhat busy Hwy.  AND got to sample a few grapes along the way since the wine route was dotted with vineyards right next to the road.  After my one night in wine country, the day had finally arrived where I would reach Rivendell Bike Works...hard to describe 3 years of waiting to get down there and ride around the area that I had only seen photos of.  If you check out there website, you'll see what I mean.  I had emailed them in advance cause I needed a campsite for the night.  Once I got there, Grant Petersen drew me a couple maps to his favourite spots...COME ON!  These guys could not have been nicer!  Hung out at the shop for a few hours before heading to Whole Foods to splurge on what would be my official last night of the tour.  Couple nice beers, salad with mango, and eggs/bacon for breakfast.  Regretted the decision almost immediately once I got to Shell Ridge open area where the trails started...way more pushing the bike uphill than I was planning.  BUT, once I got to the spot I was gonna camp (for free) it all melted away.  By far the best site of the entire tour, and with Mt Diablo in the background...I was feeling pretty good!

On the way to Trader Joe's in Santa Rosa I passed by this obelisk...and as it turns out it is made entirely out of bike parts and frames...see below.

Aahhhh Russian River Brewing...Happy hour was totally worth it.  Luckily I wasn't too far from the place I was staying at.  Because of the proximity I justified 5 beers.

$2.99 Chardonnay with a cute girl on it...come on.  Plus Trader Joe's own dark chocolate was great as well!

Annie and I's last night filled with wine, chocolate and veggie tacos.

On the way through wine country...

Wanted to go taste some...but the cheapest tasting I could find was $7 for 2 glasses??!!  No way, had a nice bottle when I got to my campsite that night (coincidently called the Pacific Coast Highway Pinot Grigio)

Downtown Sonoman, pretty nice but also very 'fake' except for the original theatre.

Leaving Sonoma, entering Napa County.

Fuckin rrriiiIIIGGGHHHT!!  

The shop is so small, yet perfectly laid out with great photos!

After getting a map from Rivendell, I headed towards the hills.  I HAVE ARRIVED!!

...and then had to get off my bike and start pushing up some of those hills.

But with Mt. Diablo in the background, my night was looking up.

Free camping with an incredible view!

Totally worth the extra effort up those hills.

First bacon/cheesy eggs since Portland.  I didn't really want to leave, but San Francisco was calling...

Santa Rosa here I come...

The rest of the California coast was pretty spectacular! had my first lemon cucumber that a veggie lady gave me...wasn't that lemony but it made for a great lunch on our last day in the Redwoods.  Since I was heading inland; Noah, Andrew, Dylan and I only had a couple more nights together.  Luckily the weather in the afternoons was great.  Found out that it takes until 11:00 for the fog to burn off on the coast...but I also found out that San Francisco is just as foggy this time of year...great!  Well at least Santa Rosa is in a valley so the riding won't be quite as cold there...plus the wine and beer should warm me up as well.

After all the blackberries we'd been picking along the way, we got a blackberry popsicle from the veggie stand lady.

Last day in the Redwoods...this is an incredible ride and I would suggest it to anyone and everyone!

There's that non-lemony lemon cucumber.  I AM NOT DOING IT JUSTICE...it was very, very, very good....and free.

Did I eat the whole thing to myself...

...you bet I did.  It was 35 degrees out, lots of climbing and we still had 20 miles to go.  540 calories...no problem.  I LOVE CYCLING!  Also that Phish Food Ben & Jerry's is superb!

After the Leggett hill (which was NOTHING compared to that ridiculous 10 mile climb up Meadow Lake Rd...see previous post).   When I'm riding Janet, I tend to snack on Lara's most of the way...plus there are way more flavours down here than at home...cappuccino, banana bread, ginger snap...ohhhh yeah!

This is John from Eugene, we got to ride together for a day.  

Last day of riding with the boys before I headed inland towards Santa Rosa.  We got a nice old German lady to stand in the middle of the Hwy to take this photo.

What turned out to be the steepest hill on the coast....it was close to Meadow Lk Rd but luckily not 10 miles long.

...Dylan wanted more.

One of the great stretches on the last day.  Tailwind, no fog and great views.

Janet's view.

Another great brewery just south of Santa Rosa, Lagunitas brewing.  Lagunitas Lucky 13 Alt beer has now turned into one of my favourite beers of the trip...but I know Pliny the Elder is awaiting me in Santa Rosa.

Last night together...Noah had trouble holding still for 4 seconds.

After the boys had continued on towards San Francisco on the coast, I slept in since it was only a 40 mile ride to where I was staying in Santa Rosa.  When I left...it was intense fog.  Couldn't see 50 metres in front of me, which after getting used to was nice riding.  Plus I'd forgotten how nice it is to ride solo.

Break in the fog as soon as I turned inland.

Unscheduled 2nd breakfast stop...Strawberry and Cream muffins..come on!

...and I had to have the crab and eggs as well.

I happened to have arrived in Santa Rosa just as the farmers market started.  After meeting up with my host Ann and her friend Ron, we headed out to checkout the market....and of course a pint of Pliny at Russian River Brewing.

And that's it so far, just 3 more days and I should be in San Francisco after a night on Mt. Diablo and a visit to the boys and girls at Rivendell.  

Nor-Cal! I smell pot...

So what I didn't know until crossing the Oregon border into California is that Humboldt county is the pot growing region of California.  Should've been self explanatory since every town had its own hydroponic wholesaler.

Since the border crossing was right on the coast, what else would I expect but fog and mist...HOW ABOUT SOME CALIFORNIA SUNSHINE!!!  The first sunset made up for it though...

Anyway, the riding started to get nice, the giant sequoia's started to appear and the redwoods just reminded me of visiting Cathedral Grove back home....except there's thousands more!  I was more amazed by the thickness of the sequoias.  They don't get as tall as the Coast Redwoods, but holy crap they are what I would say awe-inspiring!  I had more to look forward to since the next day of riding was mostly along the Avenue of Giants (30 miles of flat riding just next to Hwy 101).  Approaching the first Cali campsite was great too since they was construction on the road at the top of the 1500 ft climb....and the nice ladies let us go first and held the cars back until we reached the bottom.  UNBELIEVABLE bomb down that hill!!  Smiles all the way down, plus all the fat construction workers were cheering Noah and I on and trying to give us High 5's.  I imagine this is what pro-cyclists in the Tour de France go through...except without giant trees.

Noah on the way up through the Redwoods.

Just before we got to bomb that first hill!

Shades of the Degobah System...

Lots of stopping along the way.

Found another use for toe covers...they work pretty well as beer coolers.

I had never tried Coors before...let alone a 24 oz can.  

Me and Andrew posing with Paul Bunyan and his cow.

I had Skywalker, Andrew found Alvin along the way so we had to mount him up.

This was on one of our short riding days.  The campsite we stayed at was on the border of the Redwood Ntl Park, so we decided to go for a hike.  Turns out that 90% of this area was logged by the time the government protected what was left...and that wasn't until the mid-60's.  

Come on...too good to be true!

This was just before Eureka, CA (where the Lost Coast Brewery was...and I was pretty sure I would be having a short day after a visit there...cause I wanted to get drunk).  Anyhow, this was the closest campsite and it was one of these KOA private sites that were $9 per/person instead of our usual $5 state park fee.  HOWEVER...they make up for that $4 with ice cream sundaes, pancake breakfasts, a hot tub, home-made pie's, and internet access.  It was worth it...as the photo below shows.  Oh and as it turns out, pancakes with chocolate chips and peanut butter is great!

$2 sundae...plus free seconds if you sweet-talk the ice cream scooper!

Lost Coast Brewing sampler...40 oz of beer for $12...not bad!

Our crew was starting to break up at this point, that's Dylan with the beard who lives in San Francisco.  We started to ride together after some beers at the brewery.

Our last breakfast with Allison.

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