Wine Ride - Training for Italy!

As you know, I'm going to Italy to do a bike tour around Venice and the surrounding countryside this fall.  That surrounding countryside includes some vineyards.  That means we will be doing some riding, some wine tasting and then more riding.  People think I'm joking when I say have to train for that.  But I'm not.  Thirty miles and a couple of glasses of wine is not something I can just bust out for 7 days straight.  But I'm working on it!

My girls and I got together to ride 10 miles to Taylor Brooke Winery in Woodstock.  Rob escorted us and served as our photographer.  And he may have been the only one to bike up the hill that is the driveway to the vineyard.

We did a wine tasting.  I tried the Green Apple Riesling.  It was cold and sweet and just what I wanted after those first 10 miles.  And then I tried the Late Harvest Riesling, which was served with dark chocolate in between sips.  Delicious.  I'd like more of that one.  And then I bought a glass of Woodstock Hill White to drink while walking around the vineyard.

We had a very nice picnic.  We had fresh raspberries from our garden, candied pecans and a local cheese with some crackers.  It was really nice.

We went on the self guided tour of the vineyard.  Saw all the different varieties of grapes, some beautiful flowers and a birdhouse tucked in between the grapes.

And then we biked the 10 miles home.  The first mile was tough.  My calves were stiff.  And then my thighs started to burn.  But then everything worked itself out.  We made it back without any DUI's.

It got us really excited for our trip.  I can't wait to do more training!!!

~Cori