Silverado Trail in Napa is the perfect place for such a task -- it's 27 miles each way with only one stop sign. Ride it twice and mission is accomplished. Plus, it's relatively flat and is the closest thing we have around here to the Beeline Hwy.
I wasn't with it this morning. I didn't sleep enough and I was unorganized. I I wasn't prepared for the 42 degree weather (shorts, fingerless gloves, but thankfully I had a windbreaker). When Sedonia randomly mentioned something about watching the Biggest Loser, I yelled just like Bob Harper, "Last chance workout!" and it lifted my spirits a little. Even though we have plenty more workouts over the next three weeks, this is our last big one.
The first few miles were brutally cold. I just kept telling myself to ride toward the sunshine and eventually I would get there. Maybe after 25 minutes I was finally in the sun and the fingers defrosted a little.
I really just wanted to concentrate on pushing through those headwinds that find their home on the Silverado. The wind changed every which way in both directions. I cranked it and I felt pretty good about it. I have never spent this much time in my aerobars. At one point, I sat up and looked around and I think my heart skipped a beat because it was just so dang beautiful out. I had been so incredibly focused on what I was doing that I never bothered to look around. I promised myself I would stop and take a picture when I rode past it the second time around. Unfortunately, these pics don't even give the vineyards justice. Despite the beauty, it really stunk up there today. It's harvest season and all the grapes are being crushed and beginning their fermenting process -- yeast and alcohol stench everywhere.
I wanted to finished the ride in 7 hours and I made it with 4 minutes to spare. I'm looking for a 7:30 bike time in Arizona and briefly freaked out about how I am going to come up with 12 more miles in 34 minutes. But there are volunteers and other luxuries on race day that help speed things along, which I will be counting on.
Anyway, when it was all over, we headed back north to St. Helena to hit up Taylor's Refresher (now called Gott's Roadside due to a quarrel over royalties). I am a pretty big fan of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and this is one I have been wanting to check out. Despite not being a diner, a drive-in, or a dive (I guess it's more like a roadside stand) the food was delicious. And, even though I have pretty much cut dairy out of my diet, I thoroughly enjoyed this chocolate shake.
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