But this isn't about that, either, because in between the days of toil, I managed to spend this past weekend riding bicycles and wine tasting in Sonoma.
While I've driven through Sonoma a couple of times, I'd never gotten around to enjoying the sights and the sounds. I am pleased to have good friends who, through pity or kindness – I'm not sure which, invited me along on their weekend jaunt.
We stayed at the home of parents of a friend not far from downtown Sonoma. The weather was absolutely gorgeous this weekend. Weather is one of the great strengths of California and the bright sun, blue sky, and crisp air did not disappoint.
We rented bikes at Sonoma Valley Cyclery. My friends, being generally comfortable with road bikes, rented the same and I got what they did. Except I'd never ridden one and, after a few minutes of practice, was very uncomfortable. My arms and elbows felt tense, the breaks and gear shift were in the wrong place, and my posture was killing my back.
I suspect these bikes are very size sensitive, and maybe mine just wasn't a good fit. So I decided to exchange it for a cruiser model instead. I'm just not much of a cyclist (I generally prefer walking) and so the cruiser was a much better fit. Everything seemed like it was in the right place, though later it was clear that the tires weren't as full as they ought to be and the whole thing seemed a bit sluggish.
After getting up and running, we stopped first at Ravenswood Winery. We settled in for a round of tasting, two of us sharing a glass for $15 of half a dozen or so wines. They were good, particularly the Zinfandel. They even took us back to the barrels and fermentation tanks. We were offered wine right out of the barrel that still had seven months to age. It was good! And a little sweet and fruity.
Also? No one stomps on grapes anymore because good grapes are expensive and it introduces too many bad microbes. Apparently they realized it was a health hazard sometime in the 13th century. :-)
After that we headed for Gundlach Bundschu Winery. Following the map that had been given to us by the Cyclery, we headed down a rough and thin paved road through a slightly hilly landscape of tall trees and vineyards. It was a beautiful ride.
Except that we ended up at a big chain-link gate. A flash went off and a security camera up in the tree took our photo. Uh oh. We peered over the wire fence and saw that Gunny Bunny was right there. The place we needed to be was on the other side of a fence, but we couldn't figure out how to get there. The map had squiggles right where we were that looked like the gate we saw, but gave no clue as to how to traverse it.
So we did the rational, mature thing – doubled-back – and tried to find where we had made a wrong turn.
No. No, actually, we didn't do that.
No, instead we carefully handed our bikes up and over the fence and hopped on over ourselves. When I was a kid out in the woods and the fields, I thought nothing at all of climbing right over any fence that was in my way. And I got yelled at once or twice, but it was never a big deal. But it feels quite a bit more risky when you are in your thirties. Immediately your mind worries about all kinds of things – will we damage the bikes? (We didn't.) Will we damage ourselves? (I got a scratch, but no more.) Will we be caught? (I suppose there is a puzzling security camera photo out there somewhere, but I hope they have better things to do than worry about errant cycling tourists.)
But, of course, it was fine. No harm done to anyone or anything and we ended up right where we wanted to be. We later discovered that there was, in fact, a bike and pedestrian entrance to the winery that we'd simply missed. It had a sign and everything.
That night we watched a campy, yet actually disturbing horror movie called Teeth, about a young woman with teeth in a rather unusual place. But what was most strange to me was when a scene came up about half-way through that took place among tall cypress trees, a waterfall, and a cave. It was Krause Springs, my favorite childhood campground. Weird.
While in Sonoma, we dined at two places: The Girl & the Fig and Harvest Moon Cafe. Both places had great service and an interesting menu. The cheese plate at the first was quite good, with selections of chevre and Humboldt Fog. I followed that with wild boar shoulder. It was good, but not the sweet and salty pork experience I was hoping for.
All in all, a fantastic weekend in wine country. I'll definitely be going back and I am thankful for the generosity of my friends.
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