0.0 Start in Napa at the junction of Highway 29 and Redwood Rd. There's a little shopping center with a supermarket and a bike shop that makes a good starting point. Head west on Redwood Road.
0.9 Stay left on Redwood Rd. at the "Y". Within a mile or two the road will start climbing. The climb is not very steep until the final mile or so.
8.75 You've reached the summit of Mt. Veeder. Almost all of this rides climbing is over at the top of Mt. Veeder. The descent starts out fairly easy with some flat sections and some short uphills. As you get towards the bottom there are some steep straight away's followed by hairpin corners. Use caution through here.
12.7 Turn right at the "T" intersection. If Mt. Veeder wasn't enough for you, turn left for a quick jaunt up Trinity Grade. It's only about four miles to the top, but it's pretty steep. We'll save that for another day...
14.7 Now would be a good time to check your brakes and your tires. You are about to take the express elevator down to the Napa Valley. Oakville Grade is an extremely steep descent. I imagine that it's an extremely steep climb, but I don't know because I haven't been stupid enough to climb it yet!
I have gone down this descent and "wussed out" and still hit 62 mph. You need to be careful not only because of the raw speed, but also because of the idiots coming out of the winery near the bottom. They aren't looking for bikes coming down the road at 50 mph. Especially after a few glasses of vino.
Once you reach the flats try a little game that I always play. I carry as much speed as possible and get into an aerodynamic tuck and try to coast across the little valley to the stop sign. You'd be suprised how far you can coast! I usually make it if I carry my speed off the descent well.
16.6 Turn left on the St. Helena Highway. Watch for traffic.
If you want to cut about 5 miles off of the distance for this ride, turn right on Oakville Cross Rd. and take it to Silverado Trail where you turn right again. Otherwise....
18.6 Turn right on Rutherford Cross Rd. Just after the right turn is a small Mexican market that I always stop at for snacks. Follow Rutherford Cross Rd. until you get to the Silverado Trail.
21.6 Turn right on Silverado Trail and follow it for the next 14 or so miles.
35.0 Turn right on Trancas Rd. It later changes name to Redwood Rd. Only 2 miles to go.
