I met my guests on Thursday the 25th for the first day of two days of long riding. The weather was perfect, and the highlight of the route was a Napa classic: Pope Valley/Ink Grade/Howell Mountain

We started off day one with a 10-mile warm-up roll down the Silverado Trail, soaking up the scenery and getting ready for the long climb that lay ahead of us. We branched off onto Sage Canyon Road, rolling slightly up hill and passing by beautiful Lake Hennessy on our way to Pope Valley. At the head of the lake we turned left onto Chiles Pope Valley Rd and continued our gradual climb before descending into Pope Valley.

Continuing through the valley we passed through the town of Pope Valley on our way to the big climb of the day, Ink Grade. Up, up, up we went for 4.5 miles and 1110 feet of altitude gain before reaching the summit and picking up White Cottage Road, then an easy descent into the town of Angwin. It was here that we picked up Howell Mountain Road and enjoyed a fast, technical descent back down to the Silverado Trail. Total mileage on the day was just a touch over 45 miles.

Day two found us over in west Sonoma County for another classic ride, the Spring Hill/Chileno Valley loop. We started our ride at my house in Cotati (the ‘Hub’ of Sonoma County) and began the day with a short climb just to set the right tone. We rolled out Railroad to Stony Point and then on to Meecham and Pepper as we pedaled our way west towards Spring Hill Road and the start of our “classic” loop. While none of the climbs today were difficult, the terrain was rolling for the entire ride:  you’re either going up or you’re going down.  Spring Hill was the first challenge, then a wicked-fast descent down to Chileno Valley Road. We then rode a long series of rollers for the next 15 miles until we exited the valley. Turning left we headed further west and deeper into the heart of dairy country so that we might pick up Alexander Rd. This took us through to Fallon-Two Rock and the base of Carmody where we enjoyed another short but beautiful climb through a rocky notch in the hilltop, and another fast descent.

We finished the day heading east with the wind on Roblar, back to Stony Point, then West Sierra and back to my place for a well-earned cool drink and a snack.