Biking in Napa, California

[Wanderlust83]

Hello Travellers! I am considering the G Adventures Bike Napa Valley tour for next year. Has anyone done this tour or any sort of cycling tour of the Napa wine region in California? I'm trying to get a sense of the level of difficulty (i.e., are there a lot of hills to conquer or is it mostly flat roads/trails?). The tour itself has a physical grading of 3, so they suggest that only an average/moderate level of fitness is required. I have a good level of fitness (from swimming and hiking), but haven't done much cycling. Thanks for any input/advice. Wanderlust

[graybeard]

Napa and Sonoma are (mostly) lovely places to bike. The level of difficultly is somewhat subjective. Yes, there are flattish roads, but also some nice size, multi-mile hills. (Note: they call them "mountains" in California, but being from Colorado I call them "hills".) Some of the main roads are quite busy, but there are OK shoulders. Distance also is a factor as a 30 mile day is much more casual than if 70 miles are planned. If you are an absolute novice cyclist it could be challenging but doable. Given G gives it a 3, I would not be overly concerned. A little training would always help as would the appropriate cycling gear -- a pair of bike shorts at the absolute minimum. Both road or mountain bike style are fine. NO JEAN CUTOFFS!!

Since I am an avid cyclist and did a 350 mile ride out there just a couple of years ago, feel free to ask further questions.

[Wanderlust83]

Thank you for your response. I will definitely heed your advice about the bike shorts!

The trip notes for the tour specify an "easy" cycling grade, stating that it is "mostly flat terrain, along generally paved roads, with some off road days" and "infrequent or new cyclists, no previous road or mountain biking experience necessary". However, given that the itinerary calls for an average of 3 hours/50km of cycling per day, I plan to fit in some training in the few months leading up to the tour.

If I think of any more specific questions, I will post them here. Thanks again for your input.