Day 67: Davis, CA to Napa, CA

• Distance: 53.99 mi
• Elevation: 2,733 ft
• Dedication: Uncle Tim
• Ride group: Julia, Santi, and Collin
• Host: Napa Methodist Church

It may be hard to believe, but this morning may have been our team’s most chaotic morning yet. I can’t remember if I’ve talked about this before, but each morning we usually have a “rooster” to wake everyone up, usually with some upbeat music and a little nagging. As I was trying to fall asleep last night I realized I forgot to appoint a rooster, but that has happened many times before and Casey usually takes care of it. I also set an alarm and when it went off no one was up, so I decided we all deserved an extra 15 minutes of sleep!

After that we were frantically packing and cleaning up to prepare for an interview Casey set up with Good Day Sacramento. The reporter showed up way earlier than we expected and then wanted a shot inside the fenced-in backyard of the frat house, which we did not think was a very good representation of us, so after some restaging we were seemingly all set– except for Casey, who ended up being late for his live interview and literally ran on-screen after the segment had started… :)

Yesterday was the last truly long ride of the trip, meaning we have a lot of time to kill during the rest of our rides. It can be a little tedious to spend so much time covering such a short distance, but I do enjoy the extra time exploring our host towns. My group stopped at the Davis Co-op for coffee and breakfast, and we didn’t end up actually leaving Davis until 9:30.

We were on a nice trail most of the way before getting on a quiet road through some vineyards and orchards. Our second water stop was in a town called Winters, where we once again stopped for coffee and treats. Not sure how I’m going to adjust to not getting a latte and pastry every morning when I return to the real world???

After our stop we had a bit of climbing to do along a river and reservoir. We started at the base of a dam and then climbed above it, which was pretty cool. It was incredibly hot though, and I did not have enough water. I had to sit in the van for a few minutes at our second stop to cool down but felt much better after some AC.

We had a few more climbs before descending into Napa but this was one of the best days I’ve had physically in a long time. I was with a strong group and we weren’t truly pushing it by any means, but it felt good to actually push some on climbs instead of just crawling up them at minimal effort. Unfortunately my chain locked up again, much like Day 13. Collin and Santi were racing each other up a gradual climb when it happened so Julia and I were left to try and fix it; we ended up calling them for some extra help but did manage to get it unstuck by loosening the front derailleur. We put it back in its original position as best as we could but front derailleurs are notoriously finicky and my gears aren’t shifting very well, but hey, we have three days left.

From there we had some fun but tight descents into Napa– I overshot and rode the white line more than once! We had beautiful views of the valley the whole way. Tonight we’re staying in another church and showered at a Planet Fitness (not as nice as the one in Boulder, but still nice). The church didn’t provide dinner but most of us were itching to check out Napa so we weren’t upset at all! I ended up at a tiki-themed bar, of all places, before getting food at a Mexican restaurant and some candy and wine at a chocolate shop. When in Napa! I can’t say the wine I had here was much better than any other wine I’ve had, but we were also going for the cheapest options with our 4K budget :)

As hot as the afternoons have been, the nights have been very pleasant. I’m urban cowboy camping again with a few others in the church’s courtyard, enjoying the stars and the cool breeze. The thought of cowboy camping out in a field is not super pleasant to me but I really enjoy sleeping outside in what I at least perceive to be a contained space!

Until tomorrow,

Lauren