Summer 1997 - Yukon to California
Journals - 22 August 1997
Day 43
22 August 1997 (nice; a bit hot; mileage = 55.6; Healdsburg [chez Robert])
-- X - We got up and packed and went out on the same 1.5-mile trip to the
highway that we came in on. Once there, the riding was very nice. The road
was still a bit too narrow and there was some traffic, but it wasn't too
bad. We were riding mostly in dry-looking riverbeds which made it rather
flat and gentle. We saw deer several times. All of the day's climbs were
very tolerable and we had a really good descent, in particular where we
came down fast enough for fun and slow enough for duration. We got to
Cloverdale early in the day (~11:00). We went to their bike shop and we got
permission to leave our bikes there while we ate. We went across the street
to a good Mexican restaurant and had good Mexican food. Afterwards, we
headed for Healdsburg. We found our back road easily enough and it had a
very wide shoulder. It was very hot and sunny at this point, so we were
both annoyed when April's chain laid itself out on the ground behind her. I
pulled a couple of links (a pin was missing) while she held the umbrella.
We got on a bugier back road (with a nice shoulder still) and rode through
an endless (continuous) network of vineyards. We finally got here and with
uncanny perfection, we rode straight to my uncle's house (which I've never
been to and which isn't all that obvious). After saying hi and chatting
quite a bit, we (April and I) went for a tour on foot of the town. We
stopped at the drug store and dropped off our film. We then went to the
bike shop and it was like all bike shops and that was discouraging. So we
went to the grocery store and got a pint of ice cream each and came back to
the house. Later, we had a pasta dinner with Daniel and Naomi present. We
stayed up late talking. That's a big pastime here -- intelligent
conversation or the sincere effort at it.
![[Bike]](./only2500b.gif)
