Napa County

Today was a great first day. As I rode from Davis, CA to Napa valley's St Helena and Rutherford, I witnessed the best of California: vast expanses of grasses made golden from the dry season (after all, it is the Golden State), sunflower fields with yellow as far as you can see, llama and ostrich farms, and acres of grape vines lining Napa valley. It was simply spectacular.

It was a grueling day, though. The hills dwarf what I'm used to on the east coast, and cycled up and down hills up to 285 meters in elevation. I estimate that my 55 mile ride included climbing 1500 to 2000 feet of elevation in aggregate. I was planning on my first week being a flat training ride to get me in shape before I hit the mountains, but the California countryside obviously had other plans for me. I'm hoping that the next few days are a little more forgiving.