Surviving the Tour of Napa Valley Cycling Ride

Hundreds of cyclists spent Sunday pedaling in the 2010 Tour of Napa Valley Ride. I happened to be one of them and I must say it was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. Of course, being a little bit crazy when it comes to fitness and believing I am invincible doesn’t help.

If you love cycling and haven’t done the Tour of Napa Valley, you need to check it out. It’s gorgeous. You cycle through wine country along rural roads, along the shoulders of a couple highways and then through a few places that are off the beaten path. Because it’s a “ride” and not a race, you also don’t have to go fast as you won’t be timed and can leave anytime between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. depending on how many miles you do.

They do have one rule though: You have to be done the ride by 4 p.m.

You also have the choice of three routes:

1) A 30 mile relatively flat course that winds along rural roads through the beautiful Napa Valley wine country

2) A 65 mile course that involves approximately 3,000 ft. of climbing (really it was 69 miles).

3) Or you can do the classic 100 mile route which has about 5,000 ft. of climbing

Being relatively new to cycling, I choose the 65 mile route because frankly I thought 30 miles wouldn’t be worth getting out of bed early and driving all the way to Napa. Don't ask me about my logic. In my mind it made sense at the time.

CYCLING FOREVER AND EVER

So off I went on my little 65 mile route, and at first it was all that I imagined it would be. The first 30 miles were relatively painless. We cycled past cute little vineyards, lots of grapes and horses relaxing in the sun. It was perfect.

But then the elevation started.

When they said 3,000 feet of climbing they weren’t joking. It was hard. Really hard. Especially as I have not invested in the special clip-in cycling shoes yet and only have the standard pedals.

Apparently, this is a big deal as everyone who passed me on the hills mentioned that the ride would be so much easier if I had the right shoes. Lesson learned. Shoes are now on the "to-buy" list.

Anyway, back to the race.

The 3,000 feet elevation basically takes place over two hills. I know this doesn’t sound bad, but it was.

I made it up the first hill okay – using the lowest gear on my bike. The hill was called the Ink Grade and consisted of 1,110 feet of climbing over 4.5 miles. My legs were a little shaky when I reached the top, but I did it. I was even happier when someone told me this was the steepest hill and the rest would be a breeze.

Ha! It turns out that person was dead wrong. The second hill was not easier. It was harder.

In fact, the hill was known as Howell Mountain, and is ranked as the fifth toughest hill to climb in Napa (The first hill was only ranked number 15). Howell Mountain is 2.2 miles of straight climbing…and my legs were killing me the whole way.

Already exhausted from the first hill, I couldn’t make it to the top without cheating. Yes, I admit it. I actually got off my bike and pushed in the really steep part, but at least I wasn’t the only one. Even the people who were still on their bikes weren’t going much faster than I was pushing. It was one of those misery loves company things...and believe me, we were all miserable even if we did smile encouragingly at each other.

WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN

I did get on my bike again eventually and joined the slow pedallars as we crept up the hill. And as the road leveled off, it was all worth it.

Reaching the top of Howell Mountain never felt so good. It didn’t matter that I still had 25 more miles to go before the ride was done or that I still had a couple more short hills to climb. The hard part was over…and I made it.

Besides, once you’ve done all the climbing the real fun begins. You get to go down!!!

While my slowest speed going up the mountain was a pathetic 3.6 mph when pushing, going down my fastest speed was 46.2 mph. Yes, that’s right. It wasn’t a bird…or a plane…that streak was ME! Whoohoo!!

So will I do the 100 mile route next year? No way. However, I will definitely try the 65 mile route again…and next year I vow not to push my bike up the hill.