I’ll be doing Vineman 70.3 for the first time in July, so I’m planning to drive over from the Sacramento area later this week to ride the course. For those of you that know the course and/or live in the area, are there places along the way to fill up the water bottle, like park/school/convenience store, etc? I figure that the course loop plus the extra miles from Windsor to bike start will be around 70 miles, and it’d be nice to have a place to stop and refill but I wasn’t sure how isolated the course is.
First off you are correct about mileage assuming you’ll be starting Guerneville and then going back … about 72 Miles. If you want less mile just start in Windsor and ride the “2nd loop” of the Full Vineman Course … when you cross Wohler bridge you’ll link into what would be the 8 mile mark of Loop 1 / 70.3 course … you’ll get a great feel for the course that way. the first 5 miles are dead flat on River Rd (traffic can be pretty quick on River)
** Best Place for fluids is the Jimtown store on HWY128 on the left hand side … it comes just after a stop sign and 90 degree left hand turn just past the mile 35 mark. Alternatively there are places on Dry Creek Rd (Dry Creek Store), downtown Geyserville (mile 29’ish) Airport Blvd & in Windsor.
Be safe … as always a section of Westside Rd (mile 13’ish-15’'ish) & 16’ish-17’ish) have and will always have crappy pavement. Chalk Hill Rd is twisty, relatively narrow, and has some small sections of poor pavement currently.
Did Vineman 70.3 last year and drive the course a couple of days before the race. I can’t remember the name, or exact location, but at around 15-20 miles from T1 there is a sandwich spot on the corner of two rural roads. It’s kind of a landmark for locals and tourists so I’m sure you’ll see plenty of cars and people sitting at picnic tables outside. Great sandwiches and snacks for the rest of the ride. Outside of that, not much else to speak of for food/drinks. Of course, you are never too far from civilization so in a pinch you’ll be able to find something.
I second Dave’s recommendation of starting at the high school and doing just the second loop. It’s really bumpy though… be thankful you don’t have to do that part after 56 miles!
The only gotcha about the first part of the ride is a) the steep climb out of transition (there’s plenty of room to get mounted at the bottom if you’re in the right gear but if you suck you can walk to the top)… and b) the sharp turnoff off River Rd (this will be covered in the mandatory briefing you will be attending).
The other option is to go out to Guerneville on a day that they are doing their practice swims… do that in the morning to scout the location, then drive to Windsor checking out the course on the way and then ride round trip from the High School. We’ve done that before coming from Sac and it’s a long day but totally bearable.
Along with the mentioned stores, you can also go a little off course into Healdsburg when you get right up to 101 (I think when you turn off Westside onto Dry Creek). There’s a Safeway near there and a bike shop if you need supplies.
Save some energy for Chalk Hill. It’s not terrible, but it’s a hill late in the ride. Once you do it once it will never be a problem.
Do yourself a favor and follow Trifaster’s advice. Start at Windsor High School and peddle onto the course at Wohler Bridge. Stop at the Jimtown store, its bike friendly with a good atmosphere and excellent food if you have time to eat something. If you just want to refill the bottles and go, you can fill them up with water on the east side of the building for free (tap with sign).
My vote is to park at Windsor High School (t2 location) and bike the full 72 miles.
Windsor is just off the 101; so it will be a much shorter drive for you. Otherwise you will probably add another hour round-trip to your drive, just getting out to Guerneville and back, on the windy roads.
Once you’re parked in Windsor, it is fairly easy to find your way to Guerneville. You just go in a generally west/southwest direction. It’s about 16 miles. Do you have a bike map (or just a simple road map) of the area? Or perhaps someone here has turn-by-turn directions to Guerneville for you.
Once in Guerneville, you can ride down to check out the swim area, get refilled on water or coffee, etc.
Then, reset your odometer to zero as you start the actual course, so that you can appreciate where everything is.
The only long-ish stretch without water is a ~20 mile section before, during and after Chalk Hill. As you’re riding, just look for convenience stores and ye shall find. They are all right on the road.
It’s a great course, and not too hilly. 72 miles not very taxing unless you get a headwind.
