Wine Tasting and Bikes, not a bad way to spend a Sunday!
Last weekend I was out in the bay area to spend time with Erica & my bro and his wife. I’ve been lucky enough to have amazing weather for both of my trips. On my first trip out in late October I came back to snow in Denver. It’s quite the trip when you hop on a plane and it’s 70 degrees and only a few hours later to be scraping snow off your car.
So last weekend my sponsor for 2009, GT Bicycles, was gracious enough to send me a Schwinn roadbike to keep in San Francisco. You may be thinking to yourself well if you’re sponsored by GT, why did they send you a Schwinn. Well GT Bicycles is actually owned by Dorel Industries which has an array of bicycle brands including Schwinn, Mongoose, Pacific, and Cannondale. The bike I chose was the Schwinn Fastback. It is a basic road bike, which is all I’ll ever need for my bay area rides.
Heading over the Golden Gate Bridge
On Saturday Erica and I headed north over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin. The ride through the city was a bit nerve wracking for both of us. I think we’ll get our bearings over time, but Denver is definitely better suited for inner city riding. The weather was amazing heading out over the Golden Gate Bridge with only a slight breeze coming in off the ocean. Once in Marin we took the bike path down to the fishing pier just outside of Sausalito. Come to find out, last Saturday was the first day of the crabbing season, so many people were out there throwing traps into the bay in hopes of catching some dinner.
Sunday was more our pace for riding. We drove out to Napa Valley and decided to ride the Silverado Trail in Napa. The Silverado Trail parallels the major highway, 121 I believe, that serves Napa. There are tons of vineyards along this stretch of beautiful countryside. Lucky for us , the road is slightly rolling and flat in most parts. We set out on our bikes for a 30 miles journey and visited 3 wineries in the process. Riding Napa has been on my to do list for quite some time now and this day was amazing.
Sportin' the GT DC kit and my new Schwinn Fastback
My friend Morgan gave us the idea to ride the Silverado Trail and she thought that this time of year is the best time to ride in Napa. I couldn’t have agreed with her more. The air was crisp, the leaves were changing, and the sun was shining. I couldn’t have asked for anything different. So you’re probably wondering which wineries we visited, well our first winery was Pine Ridge. I’d be lying if I said I heard of them before, but we had a fun tasting in our spandex outfits. The next winery was Rutherford Ranch which I have actually heard of, but can’t recall if I ever tasted their wines before visiting. Both Pine Ridge and Rutherford had basic tasting facilities where you lean up against the bar and sip the vino. The last winery we tried was Mumm, where they make champagne and a small assortment of wines. This in my opinion was the best tasting of the three. We sat down on their patio overlooking their vineyard with mountains in the background. The sun was starting to set and the colors were stunning and the both of us had a good little buzz going at this point. The ride back to the car was great with the sun setting to our right side creating perfect lighting for the changing colors on the trees and grapevines.
Not a bad weekend at all. I think I may have to get back up to Napa again soon!