BAC Paso Robles Ramble 2013

Saturday, February 9
I loaded the Odyssey with my bicycle, luggage, bulk snacks from Costco and four coolers loaded with perishables. I was on the road around 10:00. I arrived in Paso Robles after 1:00 making no stops along the way. When I checked in at the Paso Robles Inn my room was not ready. I took the time to go to the local BevMo to stock up on wine, beer, soft drinks, ice and more for our Social Hours for the following five days. BevMo had a wine sale in progress - buy one bottle and get a second one for 5 cents. I bought several Paso Robles wines. Beer was from Firestone Brewery, a local establishment. I also stopped at the local Albertsons to buy supplies for my breakfasts.

On returning to the inn, a room opening up on the second floor. I was unhappy about that because I had to tote all of the Social Hour supplies and my luggage up the stairs. I lost count of the number of trips. My room was very nice. It was a large king spa room. The hot tub was on my balcony and there was plenty of space there to store the ice chests and all of the drinks that needed to be cold. My bathroom was very large and had a long counter for its two sinks. There was lots of storage room on the shelves under the counter top to store all of the snack food that did not need cooling. Dips and other perishables went into the small refrigerator in my hallway.

After getting things organized, I showered and rested until it was time for dinner. I drove over to the Firestone Walker Tap Room where had an excellent burger and an equally good Tap Room IPA. This will be on my list for a potential dinner on the next BAC ride.

Bed time was early but continuous sleep was not good. It seems that there is no rule about running hot tubs at late hours. The whirlpool motors are pretty loud. Also, the walls in the rooms are very thin. I could hear snoring from my neighbors. Ear plugs helped for the latter but the low-pitched drone of the motors was impossible to cover up.

Sunday, February 10
I was up around 7:00. Looking outside, I could see the sun trying to burn off the ground fog. The temperature was in the low 30s, so the sun was working overtime. I ate my breakfast of juice, granola with yogurt, sweet rolls and coffee in my room. I was ready to start my ride at 10:15 when the fog was gone and the sun started to warm up the air. I rode the Peachy Canyon Loop which was as pretty as advertised. The terrain was hilly and the route took me through vineyards and olive groves,

My group all arrived today and we met in my room for our Social Hour at 5:00. It was a bit cramped with 22 people, but we overcame it. We went through the normal procedure where everyone did a self-introduction and I as the ride director went over the administrative procedures. The were a couple of rookie riders, but the majority were veterans. I knew several riders from other BAC rides. After the formalities, we had some time to socialize before going to our first group dinner.

Dinner tonight was at Thomas Hill Organics. We were seated in a special room at two long tables so that we would be able have pleasant conversations without being distracted by other diners. We started with a warm chanterelle salad. Our entrees included duck breast, braised short ribs, sea bass and scallops. Dessert was chocolate fondant, caramel, sea salt. I had the duck breast which had a peppery sauce and was accompanied with a green pepper stuffed with couscous and several tasty morsels. This was one of the best restaurant entrees that I have ever eaten. Talking to the other people in the group, they all agreed. THO will be a repeat.

Monday, February 11
Weather and breakfast were the same this morning. For the riding, I explained to the group that on a BAC fixed-based ride like this one, everyone is on their own for rides. We had several routes to choose from which they could follow. They could make up their own routes, too. We had an informal meeting time of 10:00 in front of the hotel. I decided to do the San Miguel via Estrella Loop which was fairly flat. Others decided on other routes. So I rode alone. I had lunch in San Miguel at the Country Diner. It was a small hole-in-the-wall cafe that served good sandwiches. Its menu included lemonade and milk shakes. The woman who runs the cafe was very personable and can talk a lot about horses. The area is well known for equestrian training for big-time horse shows including the Olympics. As I was leaving the cafe, Terry and Dave showed up.

The terrain on this route was fairly flat. I was expecting to ride past horse farms and cattle ranches, but the vineyards have taken over.

Today's Social Hour was at 5:30. Dinner was on our own. After cleaning my room, I went to a small restaurant on the town square and had some very bad fish and chips. The high point of my meal was talking to one of the townies who drives a truck delivering wines to cities in South Texas. He ambition in life is to own a marijuana dispensary when selling it becomes legal in California.

Tuesday, February 12
Weather and breakfast were the same this morning. I arranged for a group ride to Creston starting at 9:30. Our group included Nancy, Jackie, Ruth, Darrell, Steve, Tom, Vicki and Lois. Somewhere along the way we lost Lois and Vicki. The rest of us stayed together for the remainder of the ride. We all agreed that the best segment of the route was from Creston on Hwy 229 out to Hwy 58. This was a beautiful stretch on a very narrow road that ran through an oak forest. At one point, we stopped at the side of the road to watch a large red tailed hawk perched at the top of an oak tree. We stopped for lunch on the way back through Creston at the Longbranch Saloon. I had an Ortega burger which gave me enough gas to propel me back to Paso Robles.

After our Social Hour, I had dinner at Estrella with Kathy, Chip, Ruth, Darrell and Steve. It was good enough for a future repeat visit.

Wednesday, February 13
Weather was the same, but I decided to go to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. I was tired of granola with yogurt and my sweet rolls were getting stale. I was not able to convince anyone to go on the Pozo loop this morning, so I decided to ride solo. I had to drive a few miles south to Santa Marguerita to start the ride. The route took me through mostly undeveloped land. There were no wineries and few ranches. I passed Wilson and Sue halfway through the route and stopped by the side of the road in an oak forest to eat my PB&J sandwich. There were lots of small ascents along the way. My legs were feeling the fourth straight day on the bicycle.

After our Social Hour, we walked to Panolivo for our last group dinner. As with THO, we were seated in a separate room at two long tables. Here is a link to our dinner choices. I had the salmon. It was nice but a little too well done for me.

Thursday, February 14
The weather was slightly warmer. I went to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast again. I had company for my ride today. I drove Steve to San Miguel. We were joined by Ruth, Darrell and Lois. Our ride was to Parkfield and back. Lois only did part of the ride. The route goes through cattle and horse country. There is one big hill which we had to cross in each direction. On the return, we had a 16 mile downhill. It was warm enough on the return to strip down to our shorts and short sleeved jerseys.

Parkfield is known as the earthquake capital of the US. The United States Geological Survey has been conducting studies there since 1985 to better understand the physics of earthquakes — what actually happens on the fault and in the surrounding region before, during and after an earthquake. We crossed a bridge that spans the San Andreas Fault between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate.

Parkfield is also know for its beef. The Parkfield Cafe has nicely flavored beef (and other) meals. We had lunch there. My tri-tip beef sandwich was really good.

We had our last Social Hour tonight. I left the group just before 6:30 because of dinner reservations. When I got back after dinner, my room was cleaned up. I really appreciated that.

Kathy and Chip took me to dinner at the Artisan. It was full and lively because of Valentine's Day. I had wild boar tenderloin, pig cheek, fennel risotto and artichoke caponata. It was very good. We also split a bottle of local Pinot Noir which was also very good.

Friday, February 15
After breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, I packed up the Odyssey and drove home. I got there around lunch time.