honey-mooning-- day 3 pt.1

just got back from our workout ride with Brad the owner of Napa Valley Bike Tours. We decided we wanted a more bike-centered ride in addition to our tour rides, though we may have bittten off more than we could chew.

Brad met us at our B&B and took us through Napa into the Carneros appellation. Carneros was sheep country not that long ago, and it was assumed that you couldn't make good wine due to the "poor" soil and cooler climate. The French recognized that it had similar soil and climate to areas in France, however, and began growing wine in this area and now it is responsible for a lot of the champagne grapes from Napa Valley including pinot noir and chardonnay.

It was a chilly 57 degrees when we got up and was misty and damp throughout the ride. we rode down a street by our B&B that for one block the neighbors had decided to plant redwoods 80 years ago, and now they tower over this one lone block. Beautiful, but strange. We had a chance to ride straight up a "foothill" into Carneros, but decided to go around and into the region from a more leisurely route. We rode by vineyards owned by Robert Sinskey and Pine Ridge along the way, and we were surrounded by vines throughout the ride.

Unfortunately due to time constrictions and our level of biking the ride came to an end before too long and we climbed the back of the big hill we avoided initially and went back into Napa. A great way to start the day.