Last Day (17h) Napa to San Francisco

As I write this the TDC2013 part 2 is now over. Thankfully all participants and their machines have managed to complete the course and now have much healthier physiques thanks to the 1200 plus km of riding.
As usual a new type of breakfast, this time at Starbucks and the it was a short 27 km ride due South to Vallejo where the Peloton was to travel by public ferry directly to Sam Francisco thus short circuiting a long ride alongside a busy highway. From there the team reassembled at the accommodation location in readiness for an assault on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Here the boys ride fast along Hwy 29




The Duke was setting a fast pace with Black Cav and M2 trailing In his sizeable wake.




Vallejo seems to be one of those less well to do towns. Here some Parole officers are doing a number on this car.




While the peloton struggled with the ferry the Electric Cowboy and the Duke wheeled Priscilla over the Bay Bridge for the third time, eventually finding some of those famous San Fran hills.








Then it was to the nearby bay to watch a race of the Lois Vuitton Cup ( Americas Cup challenger series). It seems to be exciting watching millionaires playthings zip around the bay close to shore. Well almost.
Here the NZ yacht gets ready for the race.




Emirates is leading Prada ( taken from the Golden Gate).




So it was onto the Golden Gate for the sprint to Sausalito with points up for grabs as the race for the yellow came down to the wire.




Here the Black Cav ( in grey coat due to the coldish wind) makes a run for M2 further ahead approaching the first Pylon.




Content with his position in The TDC the Black Cav takes a breather from the climb.




Then we all made it to Sausalito for lunch by the sea shore. Note how we stacked the bikes to form a secure anti theft barrier, actually seemed to work.




The return trip allowed the Duke and the Electric Cowboy to catch a ferry back to San Francisco rather than the short climb back over the Bridge.




By now the wind had got up a bit more, looking to the west from inside the Bay




Passing Alcatraz, the Duke and the Electric Cowboy were not allowed to get off for a quick lap of the island








Then it was time to tally the points. This tour's winner is none other than M2 who displayed a consistent desire to get there first, mainly due to his faster riding and 11-25 rear cassette. The Duke and the Electric Cowboy lost points for the ferry ride this afternoon while the return from Sausalito became a reverse points sprint which was the undoing of the Black Cav and Goose. Rocket was able to defend his title and was presented with Cadel the red Koala.

Honourable mentions must go to the Black Cav, the Electric Cowboy, Goose and the Grand Duke who were in the hunt for the title but let themselves down at crucial moments.

Here M2 gets his jersey at the Franciscan Crab Restaurant where we sampled the crab and clam chowder.




Cadel and friends




Crab chowder in sourdough bread bowl, noyce.




So now attention turns to 2015 and whether the peloton will again step out for another International odyssey. The Iron Curtain perhaps?

Cheers
EC

Postscript: did I mention that only one rider survived the TDC without having a puncture. This could only happen due to the personal skill of the rider, none other than the Electric Cowboy who managed to avoid every pinch flat bump, thorn and glass shard in all of California and Nevada, or was it just luck?



Adios

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Location:Lombard St,San Francisco,United States

Day 16 Occidental to Napa

A supposedly downhill doddle of 88 km turned into a surprising 101 with a very steep climb to get into the Napa Valley.

First we started in the fog which was quite thick but warm today.






The day got progressively warmer as we skirted through Sevastopol, then Santa Rosa for morning tea at an actual bakery. Then on to lunch at Glen Ellen before the Trinity Rd climb.

Peach and pecan scone for the EC.


There is Priscilla waiting for us to ride by as usual.


Along the way Rocket made it to Rocky Hill.



Gathering our heartbeats after getting to the top of a climb along the way.


A poor shot of he Opus One winery which is a very exact copy of the aust Parliament House style. Maybe same architects?




Then on into Napa along the Silverado Trail




Black Cav flexed his sculptured calves to win the Trinity Rd climb while M2 was the stage winner. This means that the Duke retains yellow with the peloton closing on him. Goose was relieved of Cadel due the excessive number of u turns inflicted on him by the peloton when he drove his arvo. Rocket now holds Cadel.

Tomorrow we ride to Sausalito for lunch and then over the Golden Gate to finish the ride in Lombard St.

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Location:Napa

Rest day today: peanuts museum and Upper Napa for lunch

Thankfully the planning gods have granted us a rest day today. Unusually the weather turned humid and looked like it was going to thunderstorm, but nothing came of it and it is a nice cool evening again.

After an organic breakfast we set off to Santa Rosa to visit the Schultz museum: all about the Peanuts cartoon series.


The museum was not too large and provided an interesting collection of Charles Shultz's works and lifetime story. The Black Cav vied for the 'chat up' award as he started talking to a woman driving a new Mercedes that just turned out to be Ms Shultz!

There were numerous original strips like this on display.


Snoopy on his fancy kennel


Charlie Brown ready to skate, yes there is a full size ice rink there too, $5 for the morning summer session. I was tempted but didn't want to injure myself on the ice





Then it was off to Calistoga for lunch, there were many thermal spas in the town but luckily we didn't get to try it out.



And just for something different we found ourselves outside of a 13th century Tuscan castle.





Tomorrow the Duke tries to defend his newly won yellow as we ride towards Napa.

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Location:Occidental

Day 14 Gualala to Occidental along the Pacific Coast Highway

Another great day in Northern California, sunny, little wind ( slight northerly behind us)and a touch of fog, temperature rose to about 24.

We left Gualala a little late with the Duke driving Priscilla the sag wagon.
Points were earned by the Black Cav, M2 and The Duke for a close deer sighting. Only just down the road we passed a travelling cyclist complete with cat atop his trailer.



The traffic was light as it was Sunday morning so there were plenty of opportunities for photos. The route is very much an elevated great ocean road with more rocks and cliffs. Not sure why anyone would trespass on a cliff top.


We saw seals playing in this cove


An interesting rock feature


Yet another rocky cove


There were still some big hills to climb and we ascended almost 1600 m again today. My stats on Strava tell me hat I am know a better climber.
Long way to the bottom


M2 waits for the cars to clear before resuming the attack. Once again most cars were very patient with cyclists holding hem up.


Goose and the Rocket climb like pros!


This was an exciting curvy downhill, the cars could not catch us as we got around the bends faster


A typical beach, rocks instead of sand and fog in lieu of sun. Water temp about 12 C so no swimming.


Lunch at the Cafe Aquatica at Jenner, organic and nice. We had the chowder and crab sandwiches.



A bay of many rocks and fog


Then it was a hard left turn at the 74 km mark for the Coleman Valley Rd climb to Occidental. This was a hard but reasonably short climb, with Black Cav claiming KOM from M2 and the Electric Cowboy. Strava shows I was in the 50 th percentile which is an improvement from the 30th before the Tour. Unlike the other climbs of the TDC the warmer weather caused a full body sweat on the way up. Which we later fixed with Italian style dinner at the 120 year old Union Hotel in Occidental.


Here the man with sculptured calves pulls out the whip on the poor little Black Caviar to claim the KOM.


Then we were AT&T he top and it was still another 10 km to the end but the Black Cav held on for a fine stage win. 4 hours on the road and 88.8 km of joy.




The yellow jersey was unable to hold back the sustained points challenge from the Grand Duke in Priscilla as he accumulated significant bonus points for today's deeds: bought peaches, safest car overtake of rider so far with wheels in other side gutter , won the 'chat up award' at lunch, rescued the Goose after he inadvertently left the course and rode past the Coleman turn and pointed out the best and most scenic spots for the riders to satisfy the call of nature.

So Goose takes Cadel largely due to his heading down to Bodega Bay rather than turn up Coleman Valley and the Grand Duke will be in yellow on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is a rest day and we plan to visit the Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa, the Castello Di Amorosa in the upper Napa.




To or
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