Coloures Tour of Livermore Wine Country – and a French Bakery

This is a great time to ride the East Bay wine country, and I recently did two nice rides out there. The vineyards are turning yellows and deep reds, and there is a lot of great fragrance in the area too, the smell of wine being made. The mornings are cool (cold in the canyons) but by mid-morning the temperature was fine. One day I wore a short sleeve jersey and got a sunburn.  

The Tom and Deb Flat ride. 

The first ride got it's name from the lack of climbing and the two flat tires (note - one of the problems with riding this time of year is the plethora of thorns and ‘goat-heads’ on the road, so bring along a second tube and your tire levers). The route that day took us along Vineyard Ave, southeast of Pleasanton, and at one point I saw a bit of late grape harvest, a massive machine crawling down between the rows of vines, dark purple grapes pouring out of a big spout and into a tall trailer bin being towed by a tractor.  Like a big combine harvesting wheat or oats out on the plains, except for the sweet, sticky liquid that will pour out of the bottom of that trailer.  So would this be a late harvest Zin or Cab?

We also rode through the Ruby Hill development.  Huge modern estate type houses with surrounding grounds all beautifully landscaped and coordinated, sort of Blackhawk in the vineyard.  Not many people around, excepting the hired help and a gaggle of cyclists pedaling through wondering where these folks go for their lattes on Saturday mornings. 

After roaming through the vineyards and fancy housing tracts we stopped for lunch in downtown Pleasanton and while some of the group opted for Mexican at a little Taqueria, I had a very good BLAT (Bacon-Lettuce-Avocado-Tomato) sandwich at one of the eateries across from Tully’s coffee shop.  Tully’s is also a good bet but they are limited to coffee and pastries.

This particular ride started and ended at the corner of Palo Verde and Palomares roads, just off the Dublin grade. And was about 35 miles.  Did I mention the draft we didn’t catch when the ‘Bakery Ride’ peloton blew past us?  Wow, they can hammer!

Motorcycle Cops and Bakery Ride. 

A few days later I was on my bike again in the same area as part of a longer ride.  This time we continued east, beyond Ruby Hill, and rode the bike trail through the vineyards south of Livermore.  This is a fantastic 4 mile bike trail that starts at the intersection of Wetmore and Arroyo roads and goes east then north then east again through vineyard covered rolling hills. The trail ends at the corner of Tesla and Mines roads.  Along the way is a little spot called Holdener Park, not much there, excepting the great bike trail.  

We kept pedaling east out Tesla Rd to Cross Rd noticing the deep red vines juxtaposed with aspen like yellow vines off to the south. 

Shortly, we came upon a lady cyclist struggling a bit with her back wheel.  She had changed the flat, but couldn’t get the wheel in.  We helped out and I asked if she knew of any good bakeries in Livermore.  She mentioned a French bakery in downtown. It must have opened since I retired 5 yrs ago, and we figured to give it a try on our way back.

Cross Road is a scenic little 2.2 mile connector road between Tesla rd and Patterson Pass rd.  It is where I cut my teeth on road biking while working at LLNL, and I really enjoy it every time I ride it.  We rode from south to north and as we approached the T intersection with Patterson Pass Rd, two motorcycle cops had a car pulled over. I have been on that road many, many times and have never seen a cop.  I stopped at the T to wait for the other riders and as they were going by the police, a pickup truck passed them, going into the opposite lane to get around.

We continued on back toward Livermore and in about a half mile one of the cops chased us down and pulled us over!  He said we needed to stay closer to the shoulder when a car was passing, and mentioned how the pickup had to go into the opposite lane. We replied that seeing the police action, we decided to take the lane and staying clear as we are supposed to do.  He immediately backed off and said he just wants everyone to be safe.  Evidently, the traffic stop we saw was associated with a case of road rage that was caught on video!  He didn’t explain any more than that and took off.  I thought the lady getting the ticket looked a bit agitated.

Then it was on into Livermore to find the bakery.  It is called the Casse-Croûte Bakery.  Great sandwich, fabulous pastries, wonderful coffee, friendly staff, nice out-door seating, good location, so what’s not to like. We met the owner and the baker, and the staff took great care of us. 

The place has also been featured in Diablo Magazine, twice.  I had the Caprese sandwich on baguette, along with a chocolate chip cookie and a butter croissant (to go).  Others had soup (butternut squash) and found it quite tasty, and sandwiches, all very good.   This will be a regular stop on all future bike rides through Livermore.  Hey, both my dentist and optometrist are in Livermore, only a couple blocks away, so who needs to bike there… Anyway, a big Thank You to the lady who gave us the recommendation.

We headed back toward Pleasanton and took Jack London Blvd, which has been extended west from Livermore and is now a great way to bike between Livermore and Pleasanton.  It goes along the south side of the airport and continues on to the new Outlet Mall on the east side of Pleasanton.  Soon it will extend clear to Santa Rita Rd.