On the Bike: Ink Grade

Inkgrade031007

My friends Pete Danko (nearer the camera) and David Darlington (up ahead) during a ride we took Saturday from Yountville (just north of Napa), into the hills east of the Napa Valley up to Pope Valley, then back over the hills to the Napa Valley near Oakville. In the picture, we’re going up Ink Grade on our return–a mostly gentle, narrow, winding, shaded climb with virtually no traffic. We’ve done this ride together before, but yesterday we went out so Dave could take pictures for a Napa Valley cycling article he wrote for Wine and Spirits magazine; Pete and I got to star in lots of pictures (though it’s unclear if any of them will be published, because I think he found some more comely cyclist/models late in the ride). Stopping often to take pictures made us really take it easy for most of the day, which was a great change from my usual “I’ve got to cover X miles today” approach to riding.

Technorati Tags: , ,