Napa wine trail then to occidental

We decided to change the route to ride the full length of the Napa Valley and then head west to Occidental This turned out to be a very good decision as the Napa Valley is very suited to bike riding and the Bike Lane is very good. We set off at good pace with cool air ultimately riding 110km with a long lunch at Calistoga.

Today we saw two snakes here is the first one which pedals may have run over. Anyone know what type it is?



From there we changed to route 29 as we wanted to stop at the Castello De Amorosa which was towards the end of the valley. Only trouble was the driveway was about 400 m long but had a gradient of 17% at it's worst!
The castle is a winery which has been 30 years in the making and is built largely to authentic Italian design (as distinct from the Hearst Castle). Goose stopped for a tasting.



Here is the Duke in yellow with two of his loyal guards.




It is all made with stone blocks


The lunch sprint was at Calistoga where M2 beat everyone including the sag wagon. He must have been hungry. Thanks to the guy at the Calistoga Bike Shop for advice on the route as we were then able to ride along nice country roads and keep away from the busy main roads.



This is a quiet climb for points see pedals hitting the crank to ward off the yellow jersey


A water stop at Chalk Hill road



And the near the end Ferdi had another flat, 3 in two days and not the same thorn.



we are now tucked up at Occidental with our rest day tomorrow involving a ride to Bodega Bay. Goose is back in Yellow for the ultimate stage which should see fierce competition for our last riding day as the points are close. rocket once again has 'red' in his safe possession.
-posted by pw from ipad

Location:Silverado Trail,Napa,United States