Hop Kiln Winery
First day of vacation, last Sunday.
We left Berkeley a little after sunrise and drove up to Santa Rosa, where the tour group was waiting to meet us at the Santa Rosa airport. Brandon, the tour leader, called on my cell phone a little before 9am, when we were supposed to meet them. Erin and I had detoured through the Burger King drive-through in Rohnert Park, since we hadn't had time for breakfast, and she was worried about getting sufficient calories before lunch.
After leaving the car in long-term parking, we loaded our stuff onto the van and headed for Duncans Mills where the tour officially started. As Brandon put my Romulus on the roof of the van, he asked how long I'd had the bike. I told him it was a 2003 model. He was surprised that it was so new. "So, they built it to look old?" Apparently, he hadn't seen a Rivendell before. I gave him a test ride when we got to Duncans Mills.
The first leg of the ride was from Duncans Mill to Hop Kiln Winery, with most of the riding along River Road and Westside Road. I was already familiar with much of this terrain, having ridden it for many years on the annual Wine Country Century. It is rolling hills through vineyards and along the Russian River.
Erin and I were surprised to find ourselves at Hop Kiln well ahead of the rest of the group. After about 10 minutes, the van pulled up, but the other riders had apparently stopped at either Korbel, or one of the other wineries for more wine tasting. We went in to the tasting room and sampled about half a dozen wines while Brandon set up lunch outside. By the time we were done, the others had arrived.
After lunch it was a short seven miles into Healdsburg. Again, Erin and I were ahead of the other riders, who had gone on to a few other wineries after Hop Kiln. It was early afternoon and I wanted my coffee, so we stopped in a cafe for a while before checking in to the Hotel Healdsburg. I was pleased that there was an indoor bike rack under the stairs.
We swam in the pool for a while, and lay out in the sun. Dinner was at Ravenous. There was a bottle of champagne in our room waiting for us that evening.
We left Berkeley a little after sunrise and drove up to Santa Rosa, where the tour group was waiting to meet us at the Santa Rosa airport. Brandon, the tour leader, called on my cell phone a little before 9am, when we were supposed to meet them. Erin and I had detoured through the Burger King drive-through in Rohnert Park, since we hadn't had time for breakfast, and she was worried about getting sufficient calories before lunch.
After leaving the car in long-term parking, we loaded our stuff onto the van and headed for Duncans Mills where the tour officially started. As Brandon put my Romulus on the roof of the van, he asked how long I'd had the bike. I told him it was a 2003 model. He was surprised that it was so new. "So, they built it to look old?" Apparently, he hadn't seen a Rivendell before. I gave him a test ride when we got to Duncans Mills.
The first leg of the ride was from Duncans Mill to Hop Kiln Winery, with most of the riding along River Road and Westside Road. I was already familiar with much of this terrain, having ridden it for many years on the annual Wine Country Century. It is rolling hills through vineyards and along the Russian River.
Erin and I were surprised to find ourselves at Hop Kiln well ahead of the rest of the group. After about 10 minutes, the van pulled up, but the other riders had apparently stopped at either Korbel, or one of the other wineries for more wine tasting. We went in to the tasting room and sampled about half a dozen wines while Brandon set up lunch outside. By the time we were done, the others had arrived.
After lunch it was a short seven miles into Healdsburg. Again, Erin and I were ahead of the other riders, who had gone on to a few other wineries after Hop Kiln. It was early afternoon and I wanted my coffee, so we stopped in a cafe for a while before checking in to the Hotel Healdsburg. I was pleased that there was an indoor bike rack under the stairs.
We swam in the pool for a while, and lay out in the sun. Dinner was at Ravenous. There was a bottle of champagne in our room waiting for us that evening.
posted by juarezj at 12:05 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home