Calistoga for Jim's birthday 11/15/08

My birthday trip to Calistoga was the first chance to try the new touring bike on an overnight trip. In touring their are three types of trips: supported, self-contained, and credit card. The first is typically part of a group tour, the second camping on a bike, and the third is the motel/restaurant option.

Bruce Schrader had encouraged me to get a lugged frame bike when I first started talking about touring. He volunteered to build it if I went along. This is a style of frame building not much seen on new bikes, except at the very high end.

We located a 1984 Bridgestone frame and fork on EBay. We worked on the design choices, including handlebars, brakes, drive train, and so on. Bruce went to work finding the parts, mostly new but some from his basement and others from EBay. He finished the bike in October. It had a temporary seat (I am thinking about a classic Brooks leather seat.) It also needed racks, panniers, lights, and other finishing touches.

I added a rear rack and Bruce loaned me a set of Jandd bags. I am thinking about Ortlieb bags and, as it worked out, Jenny and Bonnie Portland have helped me out. I started riding the bike every day and taking it to Marin. I took a couple of longer rides (Nicasio, Inverness, Olema, San Geronimo, and back to Nicasio) to test out the bikes handling. I found a couple of things and Bruce helped fix them. The most troublesome was the spokes on the rear wheel but they have now been fixed. The rest was just little details.

As Kathleen and I talked over my upcoming birthday, we settled on a weekend in Calistoga, one of our favorites. On the preceding Wednesday, I started thinking about incorporating the bike into the trip. We had planned on taking bicycles for riding in the area but I wanted to test the bike on a longer trip. We talked about it and Kathleen suggested that I go through Vallejo.

Thursday night I started planning. I had taken the bike to Bruce because of some problems with the rear wheel but he said he could get it back to me by late Friday morning. Thursday evening I started looking at maps and trail sites on the web. I fixated on crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and heading up to Santa Rosa first. Since I didn't have time to bike the whole thing, I thought I would take a bus to Santa Rosa and then bike over the hill to Calistoga.

Every bicycle site I went advised against this because the roads are narrow, steep and busy. Finally I remembered Kathleen's Vallejo suggestion. There seven ferries a day and the trip from Vallejo to Calistoga, while longer, involves no major hills or narrow roads with steep drop offs.

Bruce promised the bike by 11 am Friday the 14th and set about packing the overnight stuff that I would carry on the bike and the suitcase that Kathleen would bring up on Saturday.

I got to the Ferry Building in time to catch the 12:40 departure. I am used to the Marin ferries, which are a little more casual. The Vallejo ferry is a high speed catamaran. They lock the doors during the trip. Bikes are stored in racks on the back deck. I had been warned that spray is a problem and that I should expect a wet bike at the end. Also that I needed to rinse it as soon as possible after the trip to avoid corrosion. This from a bike commuter who had traveled the route in all kinds of weather. As it worked out, the weather was warm, clear, and calm. One of the crew had said to watch the windows. If I saw spray on the windows, I could expect the bike to be wet. Wasn't.

I had driven by Vallejo on Interstate 80 many times but never taken this ferry nor had I ever been in the downtown. I mostly remember it for being the poster child for the economic mess of sub prime mortgages. The city declared bankruptcy in the past year. The ferry terminal is very nice and the downtown has a nice look, whatever the city's financial situation. In any case, I debarked with my bike and go ready to pedal off.

Route 29 goes right through Vallejo and it was my route north to Napa. Vallejo is built on cliffs and hills at the edge of the Bay, so I had a little work to get out of town. Within a few miles, I was on a 4-lane suburban strip heading to Napa. I had expected that the first hour or so would be a little less attractive. I had Friday afternoon traffic and the usual collection of gas stations, tire stores and even a WalMart. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and in the low 80's. There was no marked bike lane but the shoulder was paved and wide.

Once I passed through Napa and go to the Silverado Trail, I began to get more of the Napa Valley feel. I also began to focus on some things I had not really thought about. The first was my exact location. I had been up and down this road many times but it was going to be a while before I got to Calistoga. I had hoped to make 10 mph. My time turned out close to that. I left Vallejo at 2pm and arrived in Calistoga at 6:30pm, about 4.5 hours to cover approximately 45 miles. But I really began to understand why people want a GPS.

I also began to feel the consequences of continuous riding. Most of my longer rides have included stops along the way. Your body responds differently to continuous bike. My butt hurt and even my hands hurt by the end. Part of it is just practice, getting used to the process.

On this trip, I kept moving in part because of the third factor. It was going to get dark before I arrived. I had lights and the road was good but I still expected to slow down once the sun disappeared, and I did. I cycled in dusk or dark for the last 60-90 minutes. I became grateful for the passing cars because they lit up the whole road, so I could see potential obstacles or pitfalls. I grateful to see the Calistoga Bottling plant, just before getting to the Calistoga Village Inn.

The next day I could see all the pretty views around Calistoga that I had missed in the dark. Later in the evening, I could see a little because the moon came out and it was still three-quarters full. So I found a Diet Coke and Snickers bar and took a deep breath. Then I headed for the hot tub. It was very pleasant.

Late Saturday morning, Kathleen showed up and we spent the day enjoy the Inn and the Calistoga area. We have been here many times and were able to enjoy our usual routines. I had moments of thinking about either biking back to SF or continuing on to Healdsburg. By the time we got to Sunday afternoon, I was very ready to put the bike on the back of the car and head back to San Francisco. Next time I will do a round trip.