Cycling in Healdsburg

We already knew this - but Bicycling Magazine confirms it...

Healdsburg is one of the top cycling destinations there is!

Healdsburg, California
This quaint town is an ideal staging ground for exploring Sonoma wine country by bike. Start rides with a homemade energy bar at the Jimtown Store and end with gelato sandwiches at Bovolo. Book a tasting ride with Wine Country Bikes, or visit on August 21 for the Tour de Vine, during which you'll ride with local vintners and chefs and feast on goat cheese and baguettes at the farmers' market. Sleep off your food coma at the new eco-chic h2hotel, which offers earth-friendly amenities along with secure bicycle storage and a collection of hip Public bikes guests can take for a spin.

Michael Bauer on Healdsburg's Cyrus

Amusing column by Michael Bauer on Cyrus today in the Chronicle

Thanks for recommending Cyrus restaurant. We went Sunday night. Food was great, but I was pretty much finished at 10 p.m. (2 hours into meal) but unfortunately courses kept coming til 1 a.m. (and then we had to drive home). That was the longest meal of my life, and it definitely crossed my mind that hell could look just like that: course after course after course for eternity.

Bottom line - Cyrus is fantastic but you need to be in the right frame of mind to savor the whole experience. Fortunately, Healdsburg has you covered if you aren't!

Amgen Tour of California coming to Sonoma County May 17

The Amgen Tour of California Bike Race will come to Sonoma County May 17, riding from Davis to Santa Rosa. Last year they crossed into Sonoma via the Petrified Highway and Calistoga Road, on the North side of Santa Rosa closer to Healdsburg.

This year, they approach Sonoma via Trinity Grade, a nasty little climb that I've been up once, having descended the side they will be climbing several times in the Santa Rosa Cycling Club's Terrible Two Double Century.



When I climbed Trinity's backside, I came up from Napa on Mt Veeder Road, a gorgeous stair steppy type climb. The pros will be going up Oakville Grade, which I have never gone up, but have ridden down. Eagle Cycling calls it Without a doubt the toughest climb in Napa - ouch!

1) OAKVILLE GRADE (from Hwy 29) 650 ft/mi. Without a doubt the toughest climb in Napa. it's not that far but it starts out tough and gets alot tougher. You climb 650 feet in exactly one mile. No breaks, no shade, no fun. The first half isn't so bad and I can manage it sitting in the saddle using my 39/28. The last half increases in pitch and it's standing and grunting all the way at a 3.5 mph pace.

Trinity would be a great place to watch the race explode! Come to Sonoma and check it out. Make a weekend of it - there is still availability at Le Tournesol in the heart of the action!

Levi Leipheimer descending Pine Flat Road

If there was any doubt that Sonoma is cycling nirvana, check this out.

Levi descending Pine Flat by Roger Bartels.

I've been up this road a couple of times, it's a blast both up and down. It's also the scene of Ross' Epic Hillclimb to benefit Ross Dillon.

Of course, descending Pine Flat Road is peanuts compared to the Old Cazadero Grasshopper which is this weekend in Occidental.

Levi's Gran Fondo

Registration opened today.

And it's almost Sold Out already!

Register now at Levi's Gran Fondo

Persimmon Time in Sonoma County

I was up in Healdsburg at Le Tournesol this weekend doing a little winterizing. I looked out and saw this always strange sight....



The leaves have dropped off of our Hachiya Persimmon tree but the fruit is still there. The birds have gone after the ripe ones but they know better than to try to eat the non-ripe ones. I picked the last of them, having already harvested some a month ago.

These trees do very well in Healdsburg. You need to pick the fruit and wait for them to get very squishy before you can eat them. You can then cut the outside and eat the jello like pulp from the inside. My friend Homayoon advised me to slice the top off and eat the insides out with a spoon, using the outside as sort of a cup.

They are very sweet, you can only eat so many. Last night I took the last of our first haul and made this Persimmon Pudding Cake which was a nice treat and very appropriate for the holidays with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice flavors.

Cyclocross in Sonoma County?

We have guests coming in next week, and the group includes a cyclist. While I know about Healdsburg's Road Cycling (How Sonoma County became hotbed of the cycling world!) I know less about the off-road action. And our guest says he's bringing the cyclocross bike. He's from Minnesota, not Williamsburg in Manhattan or San Francisco's Mission District , so he's probably not one of these guys...




My Mountain Biking friends rave about Annandale State Park near Santa Rosa. I don't know how technical the terrain is so I don't know how appropriate it is for cyclocross. I also know that Sonoma seems to be a hotbed of cross racing, I went and watch my friends do a cross race, but these are usually on courses that are prepared and then taken down.

I asked Greg Durbin - a.k.a. "GregKnottLeMond" whom I follow on Twitter and he pointed me at Lake Sonoma. I know Lake Sonoma has some very difficult road terrain - Skaggs Springs Road and Rockpile Road, but didn't know about the Mountain Biking. He forwarded me a map showing trails near Liberty Glen Campground off of Rockpile Road.

Greg also pointed me at Bike Monkey magazine which appears to be the Mother Lode - cross fiends galore. I noted that there was reference to a race in Liberty Glen, so maybe that's the spot.

Any cross fiends out there have some recommendations? Please add them in the comments!