Monday, November 03, 2008

Off Season Ends With Some Wine

Yesterday was the last official day of 'off season'. We had plans to meet Soni and Jeff in Lodi for the Giro d Vino but the weather was threatening a rain delay. Fortunately, we woke to clear-ish skies and decent biking weather so we zig-zagged our way through the delta out to the Woodbridge Winery for the start of the ride.


Ali was a little nervous about riding 64 miles in her condition but we were assured the route was pancake flat and it was. Ali also tried to temper the pace by being the wine pusher for the day. She isn't drinking but wanted to make sure the rest of us didn't miss a stop or a sip.

All in all it was a great day! Nice weather, an easy route, good wine and great company. What more could you ask for?

Here are a few photos we took along the way.

There were crayfish in the puddles along the road.


The winery cat's really know how to relax.


Bike helmets are an essential part of wine tasting safety.

5 comments:

Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl said...

congratulations on Ali's condition!!!

X Bunny said...

thanks for a great ride you two (i mean, three)!

my legs said that anything over 50miles needs either a lot less or a lot more wine!

Merkeley Bike said...

Thanks Velogirl...very exciting changes headed our way :).

X bunny I'm not usually one to mix cycling and wine but it was fun. We all were dragging a bit at the end though. Maybe next year we do the short route.

EB said...

We were sad to miss that one this year -- we have done it for the last two years. Did you just love the stop with wine AND chocolate? :)

Itinerant Rick said...

Nothing wrong with a little wine and riding. Problem is when it is a lot of wine and riding. We love to do some wine routes in the SLO area, and have done a bit in the Santa Cruz mountains, making sure we have enough carrying capacity to bring some home.