One of my wife's childhood friends got married over the weekend, so we drove out to Livermore, CA for the event. Originally, my wife was going to head down with other members of the wedding party and I would come the next day because I had class to attend. My instructor cancelled our Friday morning class, freeing me to go out to Livermore for all of our friends and participate in all the events.

We drove out on Thursday, which meant my Friday was all clear. My wife would be out with the other bridesmaids and the bride, helping set up for the wedding, getting nails done, etc, etc, etc - whatever it is they do to prep. With the full day free, I looked up some local Livermore rides on Motion Based (www.motionbased.com), found a good one and brought my bike along for the trip!

Friday I did a 25 mile ride through the wineries of Livermore, out past them towards the windmills on Altamont and Patterson Pass, then returned. One thing I noticed about Livermore is that it's a very bike friendly town. They have 'bike routes' along most major roadways, which include wide bike lanes and/or shoulders. I must have passed at least 50 other cyclists and countless joggers. I really liked the town.

Ride data:

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/pictures/livermore-map.jpg

Distance: 25.92 miles
Average Speed: 15.0 mph
Max speed: 41.1 mph
Elevation Gain: 1345 ft
(All GPS Information) (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2780603)

Pictures:

Looking in to downtown Livermore:

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02174.jpg

A nice fountain in the middle of downtown. All through downtown there are wine cellars you can visit to taste the locally made wines of the cellars' owner. Downtown is really nice.

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02177.jpg

Another shot of downtown:

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02178.jpg

This is the view all along Tesla Rd. in livermore:

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02191.jpg

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02192.jpg

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02194.jpg

Patterson Pass Rd. If you continue along Patterson Pass (out past where I turned around), the climb up the pass is a 1200 ft, 5 mile suffer-fest, but you can get out through the windmills of the passes and it's supposed to be really nice. Following the wine-tasting we did the night prior, I wasn't feeling up to the climb. I did go up this cute little hill and about 2 miles in to Patterson Pass Rd, however.

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02200.jpg

My 2006 Allez in front of Stony Ridge Winery:

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02204.jpg

And in front of Concannon Winery:

http://www.mattandjosey.com/cycling/Livermore%20Wine%20Country/images/dsc02207.jpg

All in all, it was a fantastic ride, and weekend trip. When I first heard we were going to Livermore, I envisioned some farm town in the middle of nowhere. I had no idea they had so many wineries and were so cyclist friendly. I can't wait to go back :cool:

Very nice photos.

I spent a summer living in and working in Livermore 30 years ago. I did not have a car and rode a bike to work and on weekends, for fun. From your pictures, Tesla Rd. and the Patterson Pass look the same as they did then (contrary to expectations since I had been told that the area has been enormously built up since the late '70's.)

Purty....