cachehiker

This wonderful tall blonde that I've been enamored with for years and years consented to bike touring the California wine country with me. I need some recommendations.

I have a touring capable Soma Double Cross so I can carry the wine, but her Bianchi isn't suitable for loaded touring. This leaves supported touring as the only option.

She'll say otherwise but I know she can handle 50 or more miles per day for up to a week. I'm a backpacker myself but I can afford cheaper bed and breakfast accomodations. She wouldn't be up for spending more than one night in a tent.

Does anybody out there have a touring company they would like to recommend?

How about a particular tour? a web site? some reference material?

Bri
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1,000,000 bicycles = 2 megacycles

bokes

hey come on, don't tease us like that. attach a photo of this wonderful tall blonde

sat_cycle

how long is your tour going to be? If a week or less, then you could get away with you carrying the gear in a BOB and letting her just pedal unburdened. Have her ride in front, so you can draft against headwinds. I've done this touring method for two people of unequal biking abilities and it can work out great. Try to take as minimum as possible. There are lots of state parks in the Napa area, and some have hiker/biker sites . . . camping at these would be cheap and easy if you bring a tent.

the best cycling maps I've found for that area are from https://www.krebscycleproducts.com/


skip the blonde . . . instead attach a pic of the Soma Double Cross!!

cachehiker

Thanks for the link.

I'd like to disappear for at least five days. I can't justify the trip for anything less, but taking much more than that off work could present a problem. Biking in the Cache Valley, Moab, and St. George has made both of us pretty strong climbers.

I'll have a pic of the Soma as soon as I pick up a digital camera, which will be soon. All the pics of the wonderful tall blonde have been taken with my Minolta Maxxum. It's an excellent camera, but until I move the scanner from the crashed Linux box over to my primary system, I can't digitize the prints.

If the thread is still active, I'll post both at some point in the future.

Bri

Lanthonywd

Unless you think the temperature will never go above 70 degrees, I don't think that carrying wine would be such a great idea. I would buy the wine and then have it shipped to you after your touring was done.

super-douper

don't buy....make your own on tour like this guy did!

https://www.metroactive.com/papers/so...vest-0448.html

KirkeIsWaiting

"as soon as I pick up a digital camera, which will be soon."



I'm a tall blonde and I prefer the Panasonic FZ-1. Also own the FZ-20 and it's great, higher end, larger body. Don't let the pixels fool you - FZ1 is an amazing camera for $200 range. worth a read.

cyclezealot

As I have posted elsewhere...A vintner in the Coastal region did not want to sell us their wine...Said the bike travel would tear apart the tannin...I have noticed the French have a nifty wine carrier that fits on the down tube..
Tour in June, inland does not have to be that hot..
Could get a trailer carry her stuff and be a gentleman.! Seems crossroads has bike tours in Napa..There are several...
Also, Napa is just one of California's wine districts as we all know..Central coast has some pretty mellow wines..

cachehiker

Any bottles picked up along the tour would only be transported only as far as the next stop, then enjoyed after dinner along with a gorgeous sunset. I tend to pack pretty light and doubt there will be any reason to bring a sleeping bag, tent, or kitchen sink. Given this, I think there will be room in the trunk bag for a single bottle of wine.



I'm kind of old school about my photography. The Maxxum gives me full control of aperture, shutter speed, and focus and 16x optical zoom between two lenses, 32x if I take the teleconverter and a tripod. Using the old 600 dpi scanner gives me 8 megapixels and I waste very few exposures. If I'm going to be riding with panniers, I'll be dragging this 5 lb. monster along in a handlebar bag.

I personally think digitals have ruined the art of photography. If you take enough shots, you can always find good ones. Knowing how to properly frame a shot and what aperture and shutter speed to use are skills few people will ever take the time to master. I'm looking at a digital for mountain biking and ebay sales. Fast, small enough for a Camelbak pocket, and with a clamshell cover to keep the Moab sand at bay. Leaving the 400mm zoom lens home and taking what remains of the 5 lb. monster is awkward. I think anything over 3 Megapixels will work, but I believe the Panasonics are a bit big for the Camelbak. I was considering a Fuji A330 or A340 but I've also heard they're slow.



If we do elect to go self-supported, I will be carrying most of the gear, but she's too proud to let me carry everything. She will probably have her own clothing, cash, and toiletries in two compact panniers and a handlebar bag. This is about all I would trust her 32-spoke CXP21's to carry. I will carry the same plus all the extras like wine glasses, snacks, repair kits, locks, lighting, maps, gps, etc.

I was looking at touring Sonoma as well as Napa and the Central Coast. Which would work best for a 200 or 250 mile, 5 day mix of decent hotels and cheaper bed and breakfasts? I'm not real familiar with any of these areas as I've never been to California on anything but business. I guess I should start by finding a good road map for the state. Does anybody know of a site with some posted tour maps?

Has anybody dealt with Wine Country Bikes?
https://winecountrybikes.com/


Bri

72andsunny

I lived in Napa for a while, and I would highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

"Wine Country Bike Rides" if my link doesn't work...the book might be a little outdated by now, but the maps alone are worth your $9. My wife and I rode our tandem all over Napa and Sonoma, and could comfortably carry about 4 bottles of wine. If you're buying any more than that, have the winery ship it to your house.

Most of the bike tour companies (in Napa at least) are geared for novice riders content with clunking mountain bikes. Do this on your own!

Captain Mike

cachehiker

As promised, a pic of the Soma has been attached. Moving the scanner to the my primary system is the next project. Then I can scan a pic of the beautiful tall blonde.

I picked up the book and a digital camera, a Canon Elph SD110 at 58% off, from Amazon last week. I love the camera and I've been looking through the book over the last few days. The tours I've looked at seem shorter and disconnected, but I'm just getting started.

valygrl

I just did a 5 day loop tour in Big Sur. It was self supported, but could be made into a hotel trip, you would have to modify it a bit.

Not really a winery trip, but great scenery.

Day 1: Monterey - Pfeiffer / Big Sur via 17 mile drive, camped at Big Sur st. pk. hiker biker sites, but there's cabins there, and overpriced fancy-ish dinner. 45ish miles, pretty easy. There are several hotel/cabin and food options in the area.

Day 2: breakfast at the Inn at Nepenthe (5 ish miles from camp) then down to Kirk Creek, (motel available here, probably would be a good spot to break the trip if you are not into camping). turn left on Nacamiento Road and go UP (SERIOUSLY UP) for 11 miles, camped at Nacamiento Campground (no services, not even water, bring a filter or iodine if you are planning to go here). There's another camground, Ponderosa, that looked a little more developed, it's about 4 miles further, but all downhill. 45ish miles, 5000 feet of elevation gain, hard day

Day 3: through Ft. Hunter Leggett (unbelievable flowers, totally gorgeous) (they say it's closed but it isn't) to King City, lunch here (would be places to stay). Then out to Pinnacles Nat'l Monument, camped here at the privately owned campground - don't think there are cabins but you could ask. There is a poorly stocked general store, but it does have beer. 70 miles, about 3000 feet of climbing.

Day 4: Pinnacles to San Juan Bautista via Cienega Rd (GORGEOUS!) and Hollister - SJB is a cutesy little town, medium-icky hotel options, plenty of touristy stores and nice-ish restaurants. 45ish miles, easy

Day 5: San Juan Bautista - hyw 156 - hwy 101 (2 miles, it's fine) to San Juan Road - elkhorn slough road - castroville - Seaside - Monterey. 45ish miles, easy.

Total miles about 250. Only day 2 and 3 are hard, you could break them up differently to not camp. Also, instead of going all the way out to pinnacles, from King City you can either go back up into the Carmel Valley through Aroyo Seco (I think, can't remember exactly, there might be a hotel option here) and then to Carmel Valley, and back to Monterey via Carmel. Carmel could be an alternative start/finish point, too, if you want to shorten it, but that would cut off 17mile drive, which was nice.

Anyway, i just did this like 3 weeks ago, so if you want to pick my brain PM me. Use the Krebs map of the south SF bay area, and there's a AAA map that shows the bit that's goes off the south side of the map. The classic Kirkendall and Spring Cycling the Pacific Coast has a little more info to offer, but it's not really needed. The krebs map shows where the food/water/camping is.

I think a similar tour is described in the Lonely Planet california bike tour guide.

Cheers,
Anna

ImaGoTourNow

I'm TOTALLY-ish digging these suffixes... =P

valygrl

mooncricket

I'd be happy to be your group's tour guide if you agree to stay home

mooncricket

But seriously, are you refering to Napa and Sonoma county or the central coastal vineyards as well?

Napa and Sonoma aren't all that big, so if you have a week, it might be a bit long. Three days is probably plenty if you do 50 miles a day. But, if you do 50 miles a day, are you going to be wine-tasting as well? In my experience, wine-tasting sorta make you happy and giggly, but rather la-di-da about cranking lots of miles. That's okay because there are some good hikes over there too.

Napa tours could be pricey and so are the inns around that area (depending on your budget), so a short 3 day tour is best.

More fun doing it on your own. Besides, you wouldn't want some other bum in the tour group muscling in on your blondie

72andsunny

Some of the rides are short, but they feel longer if you're drinking, and even longer if you're carrying wine. Grab a map of the area, and you should be able to connect the individual rides pretty easily. Also, keep in mind that Napa Valley is only 30 miles end to end (and quite narrow most of the way). The Sonoma Valleys are much larger, though there are fewer wineries.

Captain Mike
2004 Santana Stowaway

SonomaChip

I realize that this thread is a bit old but I had to comment a bit on a week being too long for Sonoma and Napa. The Napa Valley can easily take a full day and at least another day to loop through Pope Valley (wonderful roads though few wineries) -- especially if you start down closer to Lake Berryessa. Then as you enter Sonoma Valley, you have Valley of the Moon, Anderson Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley. You can build a good day around each of those valleys and those are just the major wine valleys. If you start heading further west and north you can hit some awesome country.

I usually ride these on my motorcycle but I'm pretty sure are manageable on a bicycle.

Chip