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Trek Travel describes it on their website with -

Saturate your senses in one of the world's premier cycling regions on our California Wine Country bike tour as you drink in the breathtaking views and the outstanding wines in Sonoma. Add in sublime bike routes and luxurious accommodations and you've got an unforgettable blend of indulgence and experience. Sun-drenched vineyards surround you on every side as you pedal through the famed centuries-old Armstrong Redwoods and build an appetite for the farm-to-table fresh food to come. We'll visit celebrated wineries in Russian River and Dry Creek Valley, savor their favorite varietals, and saturate ourselves in the culinary culture of this foodie-heaven. This isn't just any tour, it's a voyage for your senses from top to bottom. Immerse yourself in the wine, food, and finer side of life in California Wine Country.

Packing was the usual long lists with kittens helping to get things together. We Uber'd from home to DFW Airport mid-morning. No rush. Our driver was Juan who is also an actor in Mexican cinema. Among his fun stories he also had tips on stage fright: just say NO when you feel it. Another fun story, he had 3 women ride with him that played harmonica and sang in the car. He sang along and they had the best time ever.

We got to DFW and found out that our flight had been moved to another terminal, from C to B. We had plenty of time, so we headed to the curb to pick up the bus that drove us all around the airport before dropping us at American Airlines in terminal B. We got to see all the various construction going on at DFW. There was a lot, and all protected with razor wire, keeping the riff-raff out (or perhaps keeping the workers in!). The check in, baggage drop, and TSA security was easy and quick. While at the gate waiting we saw several service dogs. Turned out there was one in the seat behind us on the flight. She was no problem, quiet, calm, the very model of a modern service dog.

It was about a 3 hours flight with lunch served on the flight. Santa Rosa is a very small regional airport. So small that we had to take the stairs down from the airplane and walk to the terminal. There was a single baggage claim area for "all" the flights, of which there was one. Our bags came out first so Anne got on her phone and setup an Uber to Healdsburg. Our driver was immediately waiting for us when we walked from baggage to pickup spot. It was so convenient. 10 minutes later, in Healdsburg, we dropped our luggage at Harmon Guest House (HGH) since room wasn't ready and headed to a local coffee shop across the Plaza, Black Oak Coffee Roasters. There was Jasmine scent everywhere, we later identified the plant as Star Jasmine. In fact, the urban landscape was incredible with flowers in bloom lining the streets. Everything was very crowded on Saturday, but it wasn't too bad, and we sat at the coffee shop and enjoyed our mocha while looking at google maps and RideWithGPS Trek Travel "Experience" descriptions. Turned out there was a Healdburg Museum near us, and a little further south a Spoke Folk Cyclery bicycle shop. We walked over to Healdsburg Museum and chatted with docent, Jane. There was nobody else in the museum so she was glad to see us. The museum had a really nice exhibit on the local Pomo Indians and their weaving techniques. Then we walked down to the Spoke Folk bike shop. Hmmm... Anne has her eye on that Healdsburg jersey. Maybe someday...

Once back at the Harmon we got checked into our room. It was beautiful with light wood and an airy slatted room divider The shower tile was wrapped around floor, shower wall, even on ceiling and mirror wall. Very nice.

After getting settled in we explored the hotel walking all the stairs, 4 floors, down all the hallways, parking garage, rooftop bar, pool area out back, cool sitting area behind the pool in amonst the trees. They had an artist, Thomas Hill, prepare beautiful 3D wire bird artwork for the hallways. Oh my, they would look marvelous in our home stairway niche!

Later we walked to El Milagro Mexican restaurant for dinner. A very nice upscale restaurant with great food, salad and carne asada tacos and our first glass of Sonoma wine. Then back to the room to watch stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia bicycle race. Stewart had brought an USB-C to HDMI cable adapter that he attached to the TV in the room. The race was dominated by Mexican Isaac Del Toro in the Maglia Rosa (current winners jersey) only to have it taken away by a surprising Simon Yates on this ridiculously mountainous stage.

On central time, we got up too early and didn't have to meet Trek until 9am for the kickoff, so walked around the hotel near the river and pool and birded a bit. Anne had Merlin Sound ID running on her phone and found the "First Oak Titmouse" ever, plus very loud "Common Ravens", which are huge!

Breakfast was provided by Trek at Spoonbar next door, opening at 7am. We headed over there where we met Bob and Lila from Connecticut. Spoonbar has a fountain wall outside that is lined with hundreds of spoons catching the water and tilting down to pour the water into to the spoon at the next level.

At 9am everyone gathered in the lobby of the Harmon Guest House where we met with leader Zach along with all the other guests.

We had met Bob and Lila from CT at breakfast, an extreme cyclist dad and his non-cyclist daughter. Others included funny Brian and his wife Judy who also came with a daughter, Leah, a design consultant who worked on and off ("or else I don't get paid!"), Jeannie and Pete who have quail visit their backyard in northern CA, Sarah and Kevin who were re-kindling an early relationship (never got the whole story), and Richard, a nuclear physicist type. We formed a WhatsApp thread to keep up with each other later in the tour as we discovered Trek does not hand out guest information which we had come to appreciate on our Backroads trips.

We walked to a parking lot out back where the bikes were set up and our other leader Aaron was waiting. Our guides gave us a safety talk, fit us on our bikes, got our pedals installed, and pushed snacks at us from a table loaded with goodies. We tooled around parking lot to make sure everything worked right then Aaron gave the route talk for the day and we headed out. Down through the parking lot to a sharp U-turn and onto the Foss Creek pathway out of town. This hike and bike path ran alongside a rail line until after about 2 miles we left the path and got on the roads heading north. In the Dry Creek region we passed tons of vineyards. These were ideal for growing Zinfandel grapes. At about 1pm we paused at the CAST Winery for lunch and some wine tasting. It was a short steep incline into the parking lot then we grabbed some adirondack chairs, breezy, shaded by trees, that overlooked fields of vineyards stretching into the distance. The Trek Travel picnic lunch had lots of salads, turkey, sandwich bread, hummus, cookies, with some local CAST wine tasting provided. From lunch we biked back to Healdsburg. It was very windy. Aaron thought the hill would block it but it made more of a wind tunnel. Several of the guests took the Avid option and added a 5 mile climb from lunch out and back before returning.

Back at the HGH we left our bikes in the very dark tunnel used for valet parking. This was next to a very cool double-decked, mechanical parking structure, CityLift. Stewart wanted them to start it up and run a few cars through, but never got the chance to see it working.
This is the one at HGH - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYYeXB4DWtU
Here is another CityLift that is 5 stories tall! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqiN0FGmj2g

The Happy Hour tonight was at The Rooftop Wine Bar & Lounge atop the Harmon Guest House. We all had a glass of wine on Trek and met the other guests, then went around the group discussing what we were looking forward to this week. Dinner was next door at Spoonbar and took 3 hours (!). It felt like France again. Anne said she ate wayyyy too much and had trouble sleeping. Stewart slept like a rock.

After digging through maps.google we found a Starbucks around the corner just a 5 minute walk away. We decided to have breakfast at Starbucks for 2 reasons: they had hot oatmeal with all the fixins; and, they open early, 4am. Spoonbar opens at 7am and we had to be at the bikes by 8am. That doesn't leave much time to take care of business and get in our biking kit.

Today, biking was through the Russian River Valley with lunch at Korbel on the porch. It was cool enough for a base layer, long sleeve jersey and jacket, and even then Stewart was freezing with numb fingertips.

After lunch we biked through the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. This place is filled with hiking paths through the majestic Redwoods where we got to see "Colonel Armstrong", a 1400 year old tree. From here some of the guests decided on the Avid route again, extending a 35 mile route to 52 miles and adding 1,600 ft of climbing as they biked back into Healdsburg. The rest of us took the van back in. Which turned out tricky due to a bridge being closed. We had to detour through some super narrow roads, across 1-lane bridges and got back into Healdsburg just as the Avid bikers rolled into town. They literally rolled into the garage as we pulled up in the van!

Dinner tonight was at Vallette, a restaurant within walking distance across the plaza. Anne's left eye rebelled at the grit in her hard contact lens, so we excused ourselves and had to return to our room so she could switch into glasses. The meal was a Prix Fixe dinner, 6 courses, small, attractive and eventually filling, so it wasn't a problem that we were 20 minutes late. They just left the current course at our places and we picked at it when we sat back down. It worked out fine.

We walked to Starbucks for an early breakfast again today. Cool with no breeze made it an easy walk there and back. Today we met the guides and picked up our bikes in the HGH parking garage. Aaron gave us a route talk then we all gathered at the entrance for a group photo. The route today left on Foss Creek bike path again, similar to day 1, except today after about 2 miles we headed northwest into the vineyards. We took the 101 to the 128, hopped off onto Geyserville Avenue (as the Californians do) where the guides had stopped the van and setup a snack station. Geyserville is a very cool little town with lots of huge artwork: horse, hand, and fish. We biked through miles and miles of vineyards, passing the "Pig Palace" on the way. Sarah and Rick stopped in the local shop for coffee where Trek had us covered for a bathroom break. After the break we biked with Lila in the afternoon. Her dad is a hard core biker but made sure she was with people. Lila is an avid rider of horses and participates in Dressage but she does not regularly ride bikes so she was on an e-bike. Most of the other Trekkers joined us for an impromptu photo op on a ridge that overlooked field after field of vineyards, and even Zach showed up to hustle us off the roadway.

At one point Aaron excitedly asked "Did you see it?!" "What?" "The pair of Quail that ran across the road in front of you!" We did not see them, but were now super sensitized to look for Quail. And, low and behold, Stewart saw a pair run across the road later in the week. Bummer that Anne didn't see any. Jeanie later sent pics in a msg with a pair quail on a fenceline. In their backyard at home!

We got back in time for a quick shower and to head over to Williamson Winery at noon for a "Wine Pairing". The trick to the wine pairing was sip first, food 2nd, then with food still on one's palate take another sip and mix the flavors. One came out like cheesecake. Yum! Notable: Mango and Ginger White Stilton cheese, and the risotto with lentils and crisp baby peas. Dawn Williamson, the co-owner from Australia, met us at the tasting and enjoyed hearing about our backgrounds and come-froms. We bought a bottle of sparkling Shiraz at Williamson, opened it that night and realized it was like champagne; can't be saved once popped open so we (had to) finish it.

This evening was an "on our own" for dinner so after a nap, we walked over to Thai Orchid restaurant for dinner, near the Starbucks and Safeway. They had delicious Pad Kee Mow with A side of hot (very very hot!) Thai peppers, polished off with blue sticky rice with mango for dessert. It was all wonderful and low-key relaxed. Safeway was so close to Thai Orchid we walked over and picked up some essentials: Aquaphor for Stewart's road rash scars from his March 2nd bike crash, and more travel Dove soap in case we ran out.

Starbucks is convenient and consistent so we ate breakfast there again. The van picked us up at 8:30am for 30 mile trip to the town of Sebastopol where the biking started in Ragle Park. There was a port-a-potty and a visitor center type bathroom building nestled in the trees. After the route talk, we biked Martinelli Road and Old River Road (horrible patchy tar road surfaces) to River Road which was super busy and close to traffic but quickly opened up to a nice smooth wide shoulder, perfect for the bikes. Korbel Winery was our lunch spot sitting on their nice outdoor restaurant area with incredible landscaping. They have a nice bathroom there too. After Korbel we wound our way up along the Russian River until we got to Highway 1, then took serious rolling hills with views of the Pacific as we descended. There were lots of photo op stopping with other Trekkers as we encountered more huge boulders, cliffs, crashing waves and deep blue sea. The picnic tables in the sand made for fun photography.

Highway 1 has a perfect road surface, with twisting uphills and downhills. Our guides instructed us to take all the road we needed so we did not get into the wrong lane on sharp right turns. The cars were slowed by the turns so they did not challenge us.

We all rolled into Bodega Bay for lunch at the Fishetarian Restaurant. Our meal was pre-paid by Trek so Anne ordered the most expensive sandwich, a Tuna sandwich with horseradish on a ciabatta roll. It was delicious!! Maybe one of the best meals of the trip. S&A shared the tuna sandwich and Stewart's fish tacos. We ate with Sarah and Lila, with Judy at the next table. Kevin joined later after the avid option rolled in, he a sweaty mess. Bob & Leah asked Anne to take their picture in the lobster cut-outs so Leah reciprocated. Aaron joined and strongly encouraged us to drink wine on Trek with our lunches since we were done biking for the day. Anne wandered around and got more pics of the restaurant including the Fishetarian worn wood sign with lots of slogans. We were in the van by 2:30 with an hour drive back, then barely enough time to shower and catch a good nap before meeting in the lobby for the walk to dinner.

Dinner was at the (very loud) Dry Creek kitchen in a room reserved for us, surrounded by floor to ceiling wine bottle racks. The hard surfaces exacerbated the loud voices making normal conversations impossible. But the food was amazing.
Anne had: strawberry salad, rice bowl, and strawberry rhubarb mousse dessert.
Stewart had: Dark purple cone pasta, filet, and chocolate peanut butter bar dessert.

We all met at the bikes at 8am, a bit early since several were leaving soon after this morning's ride, and we walked around to the deck area beyond the pool for the route talk. We biked the roundabout out of town then turned west on Westside Road for a few miles, then north on West Dry Creek Road which opened out with smooth surface, very little traffic and beautiful views of the vineyards all along the way. At the "END", the turn-around point for the ride, we paused for a photo op with the other Trekkers, did the U-turn back to Lambert Bridge, and rode to the Dry Creek General Store, a very cool funky place with a wide deck porch and lots of picnic tables. We got some espressos, checked out the bar in the back with restrooms, saddle seats, short cushy leather chairs and mounted birds and animals including razorbacks. As we enjoyed our espressos on the patio a Bachelorette party unloaded from a van and came in all decked out in western finery, with cowboy boots, some type of theme thing we guessed.

Later, back on our bikes, it was a beautiful final 7 mile ride back to HGH. Here we had to strip our bikes down, Zach took off our pedals, we took off our front packs, and Garmin bike computers, but forgot the Garmin mounts. There was no time for showers as we met in lobby for goodbyes, marveling at how fast the week has gone by, checking where everyone was going next, wishing everyone the best of luck, then back to our room. We were not leaving until tomorrow so we got our shower and headed over Carl's Jr for lunch. It's in the same shopping center as Starbucks, Safeway, and Thai Orchid. After lunch we again walked over to Spoke Folk bike shop to pick up a Healdsburg jersey for Anne. Then a short walk to Healdsburg Plaza, a small square with benches, to get some coffee and write up this log. We also stopped in again at the Healdsburg Museum to talk with Docent Jane. Anne wanted to get some Pomo Indian earrings so Jane helped her pick some out. Aaron later met us at the HGH to give us our Garmin mounts back. Turns out we weren't only ones to forget! Dinner this night was popcorn from Safeway and wine, sitting on our balcony chill-laxin.

We decided to splurge this morning and had breakfast at Spoonbar, with Avocado Toast and Pancakes. It was wonderful.

Uber brought us to the Sonoma County Airport where we checked in and caught our AA flight back home about 2:30pm. It was another easy flight, luggage pickup, Uber home. Kittens were so happy to see us.

Home again, and planning our next biking vacation!