Had a nice Bluebird morning at Hall today. Not a cloud in the sky. Two loops from Antelope in 1:05...not bad I'd say.
Dave posted some more info on the Heil connector trail yesterday. Can't wait to have some more riding options from Lyons.
Looking like I'm not going to get to ride this weekend, I think I'll drop the bike off at Redstone for a little TLC.
My ears are still ringing after my stupidness this morning. I bought a new tire a few days ago and installed last night. Took the front tire and moved it to the rear and put the new tire on the front. Both tires pumped up beautifully. I cleaned the bike (hadn't been done since before Sourdough) and went in to watch the USA beat up on Uraguay (Tonight's game is USA vs. Argentina -- is the game to watch!!).
Got up this morning to find a flat rear tire. Damn. "No worries...", I thought to myself, "I'll just use my handy super power charged compressor with pressta valve tool to lock the bead in." Started filling the tire, heard the nice "ping" noise of the bead locking in on one side but the gage only said 20 psi. The tire can take up to 55 psi so I kept filling it........POW!!!! Too much air and the next thing I know I'm on my ass with my hands over my RINGING ears. Ouch! A couple minutes later I was able to get my shit together and get the tire on the bike. It turns out that the valve fitting on the tool was loose and leaking air, thus the low psi. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Anyway, I got down to Hall Ranch to meet Denny at about 6:15 am to find that he had already started riding. I ran into him after he had just finished a loop. One more loop in the nice, cool, sunny morning and we headed down to the stone cup for a big cup of Joe.
I met Abby at the school to drop off Arjen at preschool. He's growing up, didn't even look back at us when he went into class.
We're riding again tomorrow with a crew from work. Should be a good time. Hopefully we'll be able to continue riding in morning through the fall...
Nobody is on it. Actually it's my favorite trail anyway but its whole hell of a lot better when there's nobody on it. Yesterday after I posted pics from my Sourdough ride, I noticed that there was plenty of time to get a ride in at Hall. As I cruised down the canyon, a black cloud was forming in the west. Surely I could get the ride in before the storm hit!
I parked at the Bitterbrush trail and started riding at about 6pm. The few people that were there were securing bikes to their vehicles and leaving. I ran into only two riders on the way up the rock garden, which I'm clearing a lot more of the obstacles than I was at the beginning of the season. It looks like they are going to reroute some of the trail. There are a lot of sections that are washed out and though "technical" they're not much fun to ride (in my opinion). I think the reroute will make it better, the trail crews did a great job up Antelope and towards the top near Nelson loop.
As I made it to the top, I noticed that my rear tire was low. I had just pumped it up before I left...slow leak. The sidewalls on the tire was pretty worn. Good thing I bought a new tire from Dave earlier in the day. The black cloud was hovering in the west and I could see one group of guys hanging by the lower bench near the top of Antelope. I cruised down the hill and started the climb up to Nelson. I didn't see another soul until I got back to the small climb before the Bitterbrush downhill. It rained a bit around the loop but nothing severe. In fact, I wish I would have had my camera to take some sunshine rain shots. When I got back to the small climb, there was a complete rainbow over Lyons (should have had my camera). I think its a sign that I need to stay in Lyons a long time!
I was able to ride down most of Bitterbrush without a problem. The slow leak in my rear tire was making cornering interesting but I made it down pretty quickly. I was at my car and driving home by 7:20. That's with pumping up my rear tire on 4 separate occasions. Better than earlier in the season but still not good enough to keep up with the Redstone guys. I guess I just need to ride more!
Ab and the kids went out to IA for a family reunion. Unfortunately, I couldn't go because I have some projects at work that I need to finish up on Monday. The good thing was that I would be able to take a long ride on Saturday. I had been wanting to ride the Sourdough trail after Dave posted this on the Redstone Blog. I decided to get up early on Saturday and try the same route from Peaceful Valley Campground.
The Sourdough trail has just about everything you would expect from a "Front Range" Mountain Bike Ride; Rocky technical, smooth flowing, bridges and even soft loamy sections.
One of several bridge crossings.
Above Beaver Reservoir. There was a fire up here when I was kid (20 years ago??). It's really regenerated nicely. Maybe there's hope for Summit County and the Pine Beetle kill.
Took a break at the Wapiti Trail Junction. I took Wapiti on the way back from Brainard Lake.
View of Brainard Lake before I headed down Little Raven.Sit and wait. The head rest is too low. My knees are on the seat in front of me whose occupant insists on having it reclined even though she's leaning forward. Just had a delicious thirst quenching dixie cup of ginger ale. No pretzels this time? The Lady next to me is highliting every word in a book entitled "The Metabolic Plan -- How to Live Longer" and has gone to the bathroom three times now. Homie across the asile is snoring with his mouth open and directed towards me. The cabin air return vent is directly over me, loud and drying my eyeballs out. The "Inflight Video" is being shown on monitors built in the low tech 80's; so faded you can barely make out the stupid sitcom. Torture. Torture with a mileage program.
Wells met me in Lyons for a ride at Hall. He had never been to Hall so I decided to give him the full tour from town. We rode up Bitterbrush, did a loop on Nelson and went back down on Antelope. I had the camera with me but unfortunately the battery was dead. Nice ride but there were lots of people and it was pretty hot.
Wells is in the market for a new Turner 5 Spot so I introduced him to Dave at Redstone. Sounds like Dave will be able to get him hooked up.
Of course we had to hit Oskar's for our free beer too. It's the icing on the cake!!
3 days in a row with a ride. Doesn't look like I'll be getting 4. Leaving for Portland again but there's a possibility of getting back for the shop ride on Tuesday...
Jevan, Denny and Cristin met me at Hall for a morning ride before work. Like yesterday, it was beautiful.
Grinding up the last part of Antelope.
Riding around The Nelson Homestead.
Almost to the top of the climb.
It absolutely glows in the morning.
We bombed down the hill. As we were heading into the Antelope downhill, some guy we passed slapped Denny on the ass and said "Way to go Dave...". Advice: Even if you think you know the person you see on the trail, don't slap them on the ass. It's just plain weird.
After the ride we met at the Stone Cup for some coffee and Breggos. I think we have Cristin and Jevan convinced that early morning riding is worth it!!!
Got up this morning feeling completely unrested. A ride at Hall before work should surely help work out the bugs and wake me up. 
As I started up Antelope, I ran in to three young bucks warming up in the sun. I could have got a closer pic as they didn't move until I was right on top of them. 
The going was tough up the hill. I was still sleepy and I felt like I was carrying an 800 lb. Irish Gorilla up the hill on my back. The sunrise was beautiful.
The perfect time at Hall. It glows and nobody's there but you.
The view of Longs and Meeker at the top. It never gets old.
Tomorrow there's a group of us riding in the morning. Pictures to come....
Can't Sleep. Might as well listen to Dub...
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The Wine Hiccup Cure.
On Saturday we headed over the mountain to Calistoga, CA for potential hot spring swimming, lunch and the Petrified Forest. Didn't run again. I'll exercise when I get home...
A Calistoga Local.
Wow. The Petrified Forest is AWESOME! Honestly, I wouldn't waste your time. Interesting but not worth going out of your way for.
A giant petrified tree.
A half buried petrified tree.
Severely disappointed with the Petrified Forest, we headed back to the house. I took a nap (not feeling well) and a few of the gang went into Sonoma to Cornerstone Gardens. I heard it was nice.
We had planned to have dinner in St. Helena at the Martini House but our reservations were not until 8:45pm. Luckily we were able to get into Cafe LaHaye at 7:15 in Sonoma -- A lot closer than St. Helena! Before dinner we had cocktails at Murphy's Pub. Dinner at Cafe LaHaye was excellent, Highly recommended. Hannah the manager is very nice and very accommodating (we didn't have reservations).
Tomorrow we head home. Good people + good country + good wine + good food = a great vacation!
I woke up a little sore from running the day before. Turns out that my body likes to ride bikes more than run.
John Burdick came by the house at about 10:00 to pick us up for a personalized wine tour of Sonoma. We had an idea that we would be seeing smaller wineries but had no idea what was in store for us. John is a great guy, very personal and makes you feel like you've known him for years after about 5 minutes.
Hundreds of barrels lined the dark spongy mold covered walls. At 300 bottles per barrel, we're looking at an unbelievable amount of wine and this is considered a small winery!
Wine straight from the barrel. You could taste that the wine needed more time.
The grapes were going through variegation from green to red. Harvest will happen in about a month.
Chris showed us how a refractometer can be used to determine the sugar content in grapes. Even though there are a lot of scientific instruments to test the grapes, Chris prefers to taste them to determine ripeness.
The entrance to the tasting room and wine storage warehouse. We tasted his Rose, Shiraz and Syrah wines.
Chris joined us for lunch and shared wine paring with the food. Lunch was exceptional with salmon, Caesar salad, fresh fruit, an assortment of cheeses and cookies for dessert. John played music while we ate. He's a great guitar player.
Painfully full, we headed back into the tasting room to try some of Chris' Port. He has won best in Sonoma county two years running. Again, we all joined his wine club and ordered another case of wine.
Overlooking the Glen Lyon vineyard tasting his fine wines. We joined his wine club (aka 'The Clan' after their Scottish ancestry) which is limited to only 600. He's within 60 people of closing the club.
Squire's dog 'Puck'.
Abby enjoying wine, cheese and good stories.
Happy 'Wine Clan' members.
More of Squire's awesome Sonoma spread.
Squire in front of his wall of fame.
After Glen Lyon we headed over to wine coop to purchase yet more wine. I think we each bought about 4 cases of wine total during the day and joined three wine clubs. Was the wine impairing our judgement??? Definitely.
John drove us back to the house and joined us for some more wine. John rocked so hard on his guitar that he broke his chair!
Happy people.
After John left we got ready for a nice meal at Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. More wine, more good food . This was a full day. We may need a vacation from our vacation!
We took a leisurely morning. Most of us went for a run or walk. I took a run through the nearby Maxwell Farms Park. It felt good to get a little exercise before we got the day started.
It was a great way to get the wine trip rolling. Favorite wines: 2005 Famous Gate Pinot Noir, 2005 Domaine Caneros Pinot Noir. 
Stunning fountains and scuptures greet you as you enter the winery.
The view from the top of the hill was excellent. You could see the entire Napa Valley.
The wine cellar is located directly under the fountains on top of the hill. They continually play Itallian Monestary chanting in the cellar to 'sing to the wine'.
Favorite wines:
2004 Tempranillo, Alexander Valley, 2005 Limited Release Pinot noir, Carneros
2004 Limited Release Cabernet Franc, Alexander Valley
2004 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
After two wineries, it was already 1:00 and we were starving. We ate a The Farm restaurant. I had the quail but the lamb and Kobe beef burgers were probably the better choice.
