Training with Touchstone: The Tour of Napa Valley
We began the training day at Pacific Blue Cafe in downtown Yountville, enjoying a nice warm breakfast before braving the crisp Napa Valley air.
The crew included:
Kelly - fearless ride planner and leader who, in her own backyard, would take only 15-20 wrong turns, but redeemed herself by selecting a beautiful day and a course with some nice hills.
Steve - Kelly's husband and Paul - Steve's sidekick, who were important for making sure Kelly found Yountville to begin with.
Maria - master flat-tire changer with nails that can extract the most elusive fragment of rock.
Janeen - who, willing to give it another try, traveled light this time - in fact, light enough to drop Kelly again on the hills.
Tom - Maria's husband, master domestique and the only one Janeen didn't drop, and...
Pat - who persevered despite a nasty Thanksgiving hangover and ultimately outlasted everyone in the after-ride festivities!
It was a fantastic day for a ride in Napa Valley. We followed the Tour of Napa Valley metric century route, for the most part. Kelly felt it important to give the group a quick tour of Angwin and St. Helena, which aren't on the actual route. Fortunately, Maria has a photographic memory for street signs and ultimately kept the group on course. After about 4 hrs., Pat, Janeen and Kelly headed for the after-party in Yountville, while Tom and Maria took in a few more sights on the bikes. Steve and Paul cheated and were already eating burgers and drinking beer when the rest of the group returned. As luck would have it, the Festival of Lights Wine and Food party was going on all day in Yountville, so Kelly, Pat and Janeen freshened up in their cars and set out for some recovery foods and beverages.
Lessons learned:
1. Maria (and Tom) are the smartest on the team, recovering with non-alcoholic beverages and non-fried, non-fattening foods. Wait, I was just informed that Tom recovered with a great big burger and fries (good on ya', mate - as Paul would say).
2. Janeen has a little bit of sense, as she left relatively early for a long drive back to Chico, but not before endulging in some tasty wines, big sloppy burrito - washing it all down with some ice cream for the road (naturally, as it was a balmy 40 degrees by then).
3. Kelly and Pat are total lushes and should not hang out together once the real racing season begins. They have vowed to hang out with Maria and do everything she does.
4. Eating at Pacific Blue Cafe for breakfast, lunch and dinner will not get you a date with the Kirstin Dunst-look alike waitress - sorry Paul (not sorry, Steve).
Overall, a very successful day! Next week, weather permitting, we could be spotted riding in Maria and Tom's neighborhood of Walnut Creek and then off to Berkeley for another wine tasting party with Pat. That, of course, will be the last of the off-season debauchery (right, Pat??).
posted by Touchstone Climbing/ AB Cycling at 1:28 PM
