You’ve got the joy part covered, now let’s talk about the ride. Once again we will be starting from the beautiful grounds of Stoller Family Vineyards in the Dundee Hills and heading off on either the short (16.2 miles), the medium (39.5 miles) or the long route (65.3 miles), with all new routes for medium and long options.  All three routes will take riders on a tour of the Yamhill Valley, past vineyards, farmland and vistas – be sure to make a mental list of nice looking places you pass for return trips and future wine tasting excursions.

The short and the medium routes are mostly flat and rolling. The long route is flat and rolling too, but does have a couple formidable hills and some solid climbing to deal with. But don’t be afraid, if you have the legs for it, it’s a really fun ride.

After your first couple of miles of warm-up, riders pass through the small community of Lafayette before heading north towards Carlton. At mile 7, everyone takes a right on Hendricks Road and heads east. At right around mile 10, the short route hangs a right and loops back towards Stoller while the medium and long routes head north paralleling Chehalem Creek towards Tilikum Lake. Right around mile 17, it’s the medium route’s turn to break off from the long route, taking a hard left and heading back south past the towns of Yamhill, Carlton and Lafayette, completing a figure eight on your way back to Stoller Vineyards and a celebratory glass of Rosé.

The long route keeps on trucking north towards Gaston encountering those pesky hills we mentioned earlier around mile 30 and again around mile 40. Once the climbing is over, you zigzag your way back south towards Yamhill and Carlton. From there, you finish your ride following in the pedal strokes of the other two routes and get back to Stoller just in time for some locally sourced lunch, free-flowing wine and abundant good timin’ grooves.