Northern California - Help me find a perfect tandem ride/day

Trying to get back into the tandem thing. I am looking for a perfect ride. For us, this means about 25-35 miles with minimal climbing. Nice scenery and low traffic. It is also important to have interesting things around/along the way. We are willing to drive for the right ride. Our perfect ride so far is to ride West Dry Creek from Healdsburg to Bella and tour a few wineries along the way. Some variation of this ride: http://spokefolk.com/rides/yoakim.asp After the ride, we can tour more wineries by car, stroll around downtown Healdsburg, go over to Jimtown for lunch, etc. My stoker is big into food/wine and that sort of thing.

We had many great rides like this during our honeymoon in Provence. But they were a little on the hilly side.

Does anyone have any other rides like this to recommend? I think wine country is best for this because the riding is scenic and you know there will be lots of wine tasting and good food options on or near the route. We've also tried this in Livermore, but the scenery isn't nearly as nice (no offense to the locals) and a lot of the riding was on boring roads.

Remember, for her to have a good time (at least while we are getting back into it), it must not be epic and can't have too much climbing. About 500' per 10 miles would probably be OK.

Thanks and tell me if I am dreaming here...

You could start in Yountville, ride the Silverado trail to Healdsburg and come back down the west side of the valley. Pretty flat and lots of wineries. However, there are lots of very drunk people on the road in the afternoon. Scary to see them drifting into the bike lanes.

You could also drive to Sacramento and ride the bike trail from Sacramento State college to Folsom and back. No cars, flat. Great food available around the Sac State area, coffee and really great food at Bella Bru (Arden & Fair Oaks Blvd.) about 7 miles up the trail. Good eats and drink in old town Folsom. Total ride would be about 32-34 miles.

You could start in Yountville, ride the Silverado trail to Healdsburg and come back down the west side of the valley. Pretty flat and lots of wineries. However, there are lots of very drunk people on the road in the afternoon. Scary to see them drifting into the bike lanes.

You could also drive to Sacramento and ride the bike trail from Sacramento State college to Folsom and back. No cars, flat. Great food available around the Sac State area, coffee and really great food at Bella Bru (Arden & Fair Oaks Blvd.) about 7 miles up the trail. Good eats and drink in old town Folsom. Total ride would be about 32-34 miles.

That's about forty miles one way and the road between Calistoga and Healdsbury is pretty narrow with significant traffic.

We have some really nice rides around Vacaville. A typical ride is a Winters loop. Fairly flat and you can stop at Steady Eddies for lunch, coffee or snacks. Go to Monticello Cycling website for ride info.

The bike lane on Silverado Trail is wide and the road is good. I think you would enjoy that. You might explore the ride around the buttes. a nice 40 mile loop around Sutter Buttes.

Check out the thread about slowpoke rides. Whenever we get it organized you should come and join us.

Thanks for the tips. We had a great day yesterday. We drove down to Half Moon Bay and did a really nice loop south on 1 to Tunitas, up Tunitas to Lobitos Creek to Verde to Purissima to Higgins. 24 miles and 1700 feet of climbing. It was a little harder than would have been ideal, but it worked out well.

Then on to lunch at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero, berry picking along the coast, a nice bakery in Santa Cruz, and finally hot tubbing! It was a great day.

We will probably do the Healdsburg one next!

You're living the life ROJA. Nice ride, much better than our out and back Berkeley, El-Sobrante to Moraga TWICE on Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks for the tips. We had a great day yesterday. We drove down to Half Moon Bay and did a really nice loop south on 1 to Tunitas, up Tunitas to Lobitos Creek to Verde to Purissima to Higgins. 24 miles and 1700 feet of climbing. It was a little harder than would have been ideal, but it worked out well.

Then on to lunch at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero, berry picking along the coast, a nice bakery in Santa Cruz, and finally hot tubbing! It was a great day.

We will probably do the Healdsburg one next!

Excellent choice! I was going to make that suggestion, but hesistated because I'm always on here hawking the coastside routes. Glad you did it! Duarte's is a good choice, too.

Bring the tandem to Yosemite Valley on a weekday. 10 miles of bike paths, can't get any better scenery. Great way to see the valley.

Otherwise, Napa Valley is a decent choice. Start in Yountville, cut across to Silverado Highway, head up to Calistoga and back. Great food choices in Calistoga and Yountville, nice scenery, wide bike lane on Silverado Trail, mostly flat. Mumms is a great place to stop on the way back.

Revisiting an old thread that still seems to apply to me! Any good Napa riding that isn't too hilly/steep that doesn't involve Silverado? Silverado isn't too much fun to ride in my opinion- I'd rather have small scenic roads with minimal traffic, like West Dry Creek near Healdsburg.

Any suggestions in Wine Country for a great ride of around 25-35 miles on lightly trafficked roads that don't have a ton of climbing (under 2000 feet total climbing)?

Thanks again!

Thanks, but isn't there a fair amount of fast-moving traffic on Westside and Eastside?

Great, thanks very much! We are always looking for good routes to ride up there. Maybe I was thinking of River Road after Westside on the way into Guerneville, which I recall to be somewhat sketchy.

Janos, I used to live in Healdsburg and drove up to the Geysers everyday. Alexander Valley (East of 101) is also flat and pretty with a fair amount of wineries. Ride north on 128 from Chalk Hill all the way to Cloverdale. Grab lunch at Jimtown or Geyserville.

I didn't ride when I lived there, but I would not suggest riding 128 south of Chalk Hill. As I recall, it was narrow

I agree with W. Dry, it is a great easy tandem ride. We did it as a 40 milers last year. Started in Healdsburg, went north on W. Dry, up to Lake Sonoma (that's a long climb so I would not advise it), south on Dry for a little while and east on Canyon (moderate climb) to reach Geyserville. We then took 128 through the Alexander Valley and came back to town via A.V. Road.
Alexander Valley road was a bit busy so not the best ending, the rest was splendid.
I also agree with Silverado. Sure it is flat but the traffic makes it very unpleasant.

I am thinking about the Anderson Valley as a potential ride. Does anybody has experience riding it?

I agree with W. Dry, it is a great easy tandem ride. We did it as a 40 milers last year. Started in Healdsburg, went north on W. Dry, up to Lake Sonoma (that's a long climb so I would not advise it), south on Dry for a little while and east on Canyon (moderate climb) to reach Geyserville. We then took 128 through the Alexander Valley and came back to town via A.V. Road.
Alexander Valley road was a bit busy so not the best ending, the rest was splendid.
I also agree with Silverado. Sure it is flat but the traffic makes it very unpleasant.

I am thinking about the Anderson Valley as a potential ride. Does anybody has experience riding it?

Thanks for the recommendation. I did almost this same route over the weekend and really enjoyed it (cutting out Lake Sonoma as you suggested). Detailed directions here: http://srcc.memberlodge.com/Default.aspx?pageId=274730

Weather was beautiful and it was a perfect choice for a mixed group with a couple of beginners. Lunch at Jimtown Store was great as always.

You could always come to Sacramento and ride the bike trail. Start at Bella Bru http://bellabrucafe.com/carmichael.html
and ride up the river. Circle Lake Natomas. Stop at Karen's Bakery in Folsom, or just cruise through Old Town Folsom
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Karen%27s+bakery+folsom&fb=1&gl=us&hq=Karen%27s+bakery&hnear=Folsom,+CA&cid=8562265191198682838. Good eats at both ends of the ride. No cars and about 350' total climbing. About 30-35 miles

good timing on this thread! I should have my new tandem built in a month or two and will be looking for some similar rides too.