Amador County is wine country, pure and simple and a great place to tour the day before or after the ride. There are two tasting rooms and five wineries along with some great Gold Rush towns that offer a long list of touring services in the immediate area of the ride and we will discuss those in greater length at the end of the article.

The ride takes place on the first Saturday in April, which this year was the 7th. The day dawned overcast and cool, but not as cold as in some previous years. The temperature in the low 60s was just perfect for a long ride. The riders are held up until there is enough light to make it safe to be on the road; 7:00 AM. Usually a fair percentage of the nearly 2000 riders that make this ride are waiting at the main gate for the mass start and the road in front of the park where it is held is closed for a few minutes to allow the riders to safely enter the roadway. There is a lot of jostling for position that takes place in these mass starts as the serious riders try to break away from the large, more or less organized, groups that make this ride each year. The first 17 miles of the ride are just slightly rolling with no major hills as it wanders through the incredibly green pastureland of western Amador County. Each year when we make this ride I am enthralled with the beautiful farms and ranches all decked out in their new spring green and the occasional early blooming wild flower. Probably the funniest aspect is the horses that will line up along the fence to watch the riders pass as if incredulous that anyone would choose to work that hard. Continued ...