Rio vista to Napa

Today was interesting for a number of reasons. The wind and condition of Hwy 12 made it not at all conducive to bicycle traffic so we packed up and drove the 60 km to Napa. Arrived about 11 am and we were able to check in to one room.

We were back to perfect riding weather with temps in the low 20s and not too much wind with no clouds in the blue and sunny sky.

Then it was off to ride the Napa Valley which is a small but long valley situated on the Napa River with a gentle slope. There was a very good bicycle path for the length of the valley. There are lots of wineries and they are very close together which makes it quite easy to do a bit of wine tasting. We ended up riding just under 50 km for the day which is now but a warm up as we long for those challenging hill climbs of last week.

Here is a bunch sprint along the bike lane with M2 leading Pedals and Goose.


From there we made for the Goose Cross winery, say no more.



While I admired the roadside flowers



Next was lunch at Yountville, burgers for a change



On the way back Ferdi scored a flat which allowed me to sneak a stage win as most of the others where still tasting wine at the Andretti Winery






Tomorrow it's back to the coast to Bodega Bay and then a rest day before we storm over the Golden Gate.
-posted by pw from ipad

Location:Silverado Trail,Napa,United States

Day 11 Oakhurst to Rio Vista

We left the cowboy land behind us and headed for the Delta. Here is the bunch in tight formation


Closely followed by a sighting of Bicen



After few km of riding through flat farmland where all varieties if fruit and vegetables seemed to be growing they started to look a bit better



Then we stopped at a cross road for some buffalo jerky to pick up our spirits



Then it was on into the Delta which is where the Sacramento River flows into the Bay and we could once again see Mt Diablo. See how Goose is setting a cracking pace in front.




There where numerous bridges to cross and we rode into a moderate head wind for once. There goes the sag wagon.



While at Rio Vista we took the opportunity to visit Al the Wops for a steak sandwich. Cheap and cheerful with American bar out front. As we arrived Pedals was immediately captured by one of the female patrons and launched onto the dance floor, luckily he escaped after the song finished. The town of Locke was about a 100 years old and very authentic in it's antiquity and made of wood and about 3 m below the level of the canal.



Today we head for Napa and I expect we will stop at a couple if wineries along the way.

Ferdy is back in yellow somehow. This morning the wind was really strong and the route had little shoulder so we abandoned the ride and have commuted to Napa where we will now take on a leisurely wine tour for the rest of the day.

-posted by pw from ipad

Location:California 121,Napa,United States

Groveland to Oakdale

'i think we spent more time in the bar than on the bike today' said Ferdy just as I write the blog at the House of Beef in Oakdale, complete with own butchery. the waitress wants to order a yellow jersey as it has 'Oakdale' on the front.
We woke early at the RV park and then had to ride to Groveland proper for breakfast. First a flock of turkeys came through








After breakfast we had a 3000ft descend on highway 120 which finished beside Lake Pedro. Even after the rest day our legs still felt less than 100 per cent especially with the long descent not allowing a warm up. As the weather was to get to 34C today We decided to stick to hwy 120 and make it a quick sprint to Oakdale of 76 km to avoid the heat. It would also allow us to have a relaxing swim and do our washing.
This is Hwy 120 which had good shoulder all the way and mostly a tail wind.




Then we had a big hill climb where Rocket took off in a bold attempt to win the stage. Seen here preparing himself by the lake before the climb.




Here is the road on the way to Oakdale where I started to run out of water, note how dry the grass is, it doesn't rain for 3 months. About here I ran into a young guy on a bmx who was riding past Oakdale but had run out of water too. I gave him half of what I had left and when I caught up to the van we left two bottles of water and a banana with a note. I hope he got it.








M2 won the stage to Oakdale while the Kom points were worth lots and bonus points helped to put rocket into yellow and M2 now has 'red'.
Points are bunching up as we get to the business end of the Tour.
Rocket. 427
Ferdy 419
Wighty 412
Goose 400
Pedals 395
M2 348
As we had some spare time we paid a visit to the Cow Track which was a nice authentic bar (like in mo's in the simpsons)and then to the western outfitters for some hattage.




Thats all cow pokes tomorrow we head for dinner at Al the Wops near Rio Vista and we may also do some cycling.
Ps thanks to pedals for making a really nice tuna avocado tomato sandwich on italian bread.
posted by pw from ipad

Yosemite photos

Here are some shots from our day at Yosemite
First El Capitan a 3000 foot rock



Then we walked under the Bridal Veil waterfall, close enough to get wet.



Then it was a long drive of an hour plus drive to Mariposa Grove to walk amongst the giant sequoia trees. This was a three km walk up the hill and back






Then it was off to Glacier Point which was about 6000 ft plus above the Yosemite valley where we took in magnificent clear views of the valley (3000ft below) and the granite walls






Tomorrow we have a long downhill ride to Oakdale as we leave the mountains and turn back for the coast
-posted by pw from ipad

Yosemite rest day

We have spent the entire rest day in the car or walking around Yosemite National park. It took about an hour and a half to get there and then lots of driving round corners but some magnificent views, no bear sightings though.

As we don't have wi fi at the RV park I am writing this from the pizza restaurant , so look forward to the pictures tomorrow.



-posted by pw from ipad

Location:Main St,Groveland,United States

Made it to Groveland, no Elvis sightings though

After waking in our salubrious accommodation (really) we took our time to get on the road for the 128 km to Groveland. Weather was as usual sunny no wind and hotter in the afternoon. Here is the start in front of a 2000 year old sequoia.



Apparently this town means long and very hilly ahead but may also mean happy gambling at our casino.



This was the first refreshment stop at the top of a climb. Like our water bottle it cost $7, bargain.



Then it was on to Mariposa for lunch. This was a quaint old town and I had the best strawberry smoothy.
Then we had a big downhill giving up about 2000 feet to the Merced River and then a long climb out. Pedals reported that his on board temperature peaked at 46 here it is showing 42 at the stop. So we have successfully dodged winter.



Ferdy suffered a bid fine today for not wearing the yellow jersey, below he admonishes pedals for not keeping up



Next stop was Coulterville another wild west gold mining town in pristine 1850s condition.




Then we made it to Groveland ready for out rest day trip to Yosemite.



The RV camp is a bit Spartan but we found a cold beverage.


Now for the points. Due to a big effort from Goose in claiming the King of the Mountain for the Merced River ascent of about 600m he has claimed the yellow jersey. Goose leads in front of pedals and the Grand Duke. Rocket is still holding red.


-posted by pw from ipad

Location:California 41,Oakhurst,United States

Hotter and higher today

If Ollie thought there wasn't enough climbing then think again, we are in the land of big and Today we had it hot with lots of climbs. One climb went from 165m to 1207 m with a road temp of 40, full sun and little wind. Needless to say we drank a lot.

Thanks to those whom helped plan the route but with the addition of on the ground knowledge, local help and Google maps we have been able to select routes that have less traffic and are easier (sometimes) to remember. Thanks to the guys at the Tri Sports bike shop in Fresno for some bike bits and help with the route.

First up we decided to add a transit stage to avoid riding through Fresno and ended up in N Fresno where we had coffee and donuts for the first time and then visited the bike shop. A memorable moment was when the Grand Duke standing 10 m from the Save Mart super market asked a woman where the super market was. Besides being an entirely silly question the woman also only spoke Spanish,but we got a laugh out of it. He later redeemed himself speaking the tongue of his loyal subjects to a fellow subject who was also checking in at the time.

Here we are transiting 70 km from Hanford to N Fresno, with M2 doing the driving.




While we were supposed to ride 70 km the ride turned out to be a very hard and hot 92 km.
It started out on great cycle path to the Millerton Lake where we had roast chicken and avocado sandwiches.



The after we inadvertently checked out the Indian Reservation Casino we headed in the right direction up the 211 which became a hot climb of a ride with one part reaching 16 per cent. At the same time a fire started back near the Lake and very shortly fire assets were on the road going from ahead of us to the fire. A short time later to red California Correctional Authority vans of 'fire crew' went past. I guess they might get shorter sentences by helping to put the fire out.

Back to the climb, we stopped at the corner of 211 and 200 in the shade and a big thanks to the Elementary school sec who offered us access to the ice water machine. Of course we all filled up. This is Rocket and me relaxing while I radio to the Grand Duke that he might be going the wrong way. Tom Tom sorted it out,while the radios have been very handing in busy areas to keep us in the right direction.



The terrain started to change as we climbed up into pine forest on the southern approaches to Yosemite.



Then it was a massive downhill into Oakhurst where we are now recovering in our expansive hotel room.The picture below is not even the beginning of the downhill, notice how the on coming cars are on the left and I am on the correct side of the road.



Tomorrow we have 105 km to ride and we might add another transit stage so we can get in before 6 30 and get to the pool.

As for the points, Ferdy was off like a greyhound on the final climb eager to defend his yellow jersey, he is now comfortably ahead of Pedals with Goose poised to have a crack next time there is a long flat stage. Rocket has 'red' pretty much sown up.

It wont be so hot tomorrow as we are at altitude we hope.

Pw

Location:California 41,Oakhurst,United States

No earth quake so we ride on

Ok we slept through safely on the American Plate at Parkfield after having the whole town to ourselves. today we started out nicely after redrawing the route to give up a big descent for a more simple navigation. This sounded good while we rode through nice horse and cattle country




However after 10 km we came across our friend from yesterday the gravel road.
So we packed the bikes into the van (we are getting good at this) and Peter drove up and over the range. It was sort of a TomTom moment as we basically climbed up a mountain range on a poor condition gravel road which looked ok on TT, but luckily no one came from the other way.



But at the summit we changed from Monterey County to Fresno County and guess what the road was sealed. We then commenced a scenic descent while on the look out for bobcats and coyotes (probably) little chance of seeing one.



Then we road throughout 2 canyons as we descended and cornered our way to Coalinga. Here is Rocket rolling out of the canyon.
It then got hot, 32 but 40 on the road.
We then rode through flat farm country where we had lunch under the one tree for miles. The usual ham, cheese, baguette, pickle plus avocado and bananas at 49c a pound. Plus nice freshly picked strawberries.



Here is the grand duke setting a mean pace in the sun. Amazingly Rocket caught up with the farmer who was at the Parkfield Inn the afternoon before.




Of course we needed to recover in the pool at the end of the day.


Tomorrow is another transit stage to near Yosemite National park which has a very big climb at the end of the day.

Today we had our first flat which was claimed by Ferdy with 10 km to go. This was worth 50 points and put the Grand Duke into gold again.-posted by pw from ipad

Location:Wilson Ln,Hanford,United States

Day 6 San Simeon to Parkfield

As I write this I sit less than a kilometre from the San Andreas fault in the very small town of Parkfield. We had to stop here as it is directly on the way to Yosemite and about as far as we could ride in a day.

Well it started out well as we road along highway 1 and then turned left onto highway 46 which had the best cycle shoulder we have experienced, wide and smooth. However there was a downside, the 8 km long climb which was quite challenging and took almost an hour for me to pedal up. As we climbed the countryside got drier and the temperature got hotter. It is very much like Australia but the trees are greener and the road kill are little animals that we cannot determine and the occasional deer. Here is the top of the climb.



Then we had a very nice downhill to Paso Robles which seemed shut for Sunday so we were able to navigate easily through town on the bike paths.


We then had lunch in the shade at the well appointed but deserted local airport and then rode off onto back country roads. The on road temperature was approaching 40 as there was no wind and relentless sun. There's Rocket in the distance



Unfortunately our route came to a sudden end as the direct way to Parkfield was closed just 8 weeks earlier



So we got out trusty ipad hooked into the unsecured wifi at the Work Ranch and downloaded the local map. With a quick cross country via the aptly named Cross Country Road we were able to get back on route. Here is pedals defending his yellow while some fo us were already in the sag wagon



At last we made it to our destination and here is the fault.


The V6 Ranch is a great stopover we have added more than 20 per cent to the town's population for the night but we have the lodge to ourselves, a pool and log cabin accommodation.




Pedals has retained yellow today but Ferdy is close behind and Goose is making a charge. Rocket defended 'red' and it seems it will be hard to dislodge him from it.

I will post this when i can next log on as no wi fi at Parkfield

Posted by pw from ipad