Driving, biking and Friends

Yuko has finally figured out how to convince me to take vacation.  Drive to places where we can bike.  With that in mind we loaded up the car and off we went. 

We headed up north from home up north to a city named San Raphael, California.

Our Drive



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alec from XC09 worked in SF and he provided us with a great biked ride from that area which took us through some beautiful areas north of SF, over the Golden Gate Bridge and into the city.

 

Winding roads

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nortth of Tiburon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the north entrance of the bridge



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very windy on the Golden Gate Bridge and as I am also afraid of heights I did not feel comfortable biking the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alec was not in town to ride, but Karen from XC09 was kind enough to drive into the city and meet with and it was good to see her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that we took a ferry from San Francisco back to Larkspur and from there biked back to our hotel in San Rafael.  A total of 53 miles biked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we were off to Ashland, Oregon.  This was an a day of driving.  We had a bit of good luck as the traffic on the freeway stopped completely and Yuko was able to spot another route which took us away from the parking lot on the freeway.

Our Drive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The next day we drove to Crater's Lake. 

View of the bike ride around the rim

 

Crater Rim



flowers

Discovery

A view of the mountain



Resting with a view



Our navigator



Aqua Water



Pumice Castle
 




Yuko climbing

 




Still climbing

 



almost there











Oh no, we still need to climb

 



finally, downhill from here (although this is not what we climbed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

The route

It was around 3,800 feet of climbing and about 4 hours.  As I bike alot I found it challenging but not that hard, but Yuko did really well as she did no training and regardless of the time it takes is an extraordinary effort.

 

We had a long drive ahead of us from Medford, Oregon to Healdsburg, CA. We first drove fon the 101 South to explore the Redwoods. 

 

Medford to Redwood



 

Sun through the Tree




 



Ira and Tree



 

 We then headed up our friend's home in Healdsburg, CA.

 



 

We arrived at our friend, Glenn and his partner Mark’s house early that evening.  The last time I had seen them was in an Indio restaurant outside Palm Springs during the XC09 bike trip.

 

We rested the first day and went into the town of Healdsburg.

Town Square

  

The next day it was time to bike around the area. I decided to take a circle route into Healdsburg which involved making a series of rights.  I ended up at Lake Sonoma.  It is about a 2 mile climb up to the top of Stewart Drive (I think that is the name)

Park Entrance



 

2 mile climb to the top

 

View from the top



As there was a heat wave during our entire trip (the temperature would eventually be greater than 100 degrees today) I ended my ride.   All told it was about 35 mile ride.



The weather was much cooler the next day and I stretched out my ride.  I started out in the same direction as the day before.

 

 

Wine country

View of the Vineyards

 

Watering the Vineyards



This way

 



or maybe this way ?

 



Westside Drive

Forestville

After reaching the bridge above I turned around and proceeded down the same route (West Dry Creek Road).  I passed by the following winery and yes it is the same person in one of my favorite TV shows growing up.

 

A winery (I like the dog) signpost and an interesting sign I found biking

 A nice 62 mile bike ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went out to dinner the last night (the chocolate mousse was very good)