Solvang Prelude Biking and Wine Tasting Weekend

The Royal Copenhagen Inn advertises itself as having facades that are a mock-up of an actual Danish street. Regardless, the grounds were clean and well-kept. The small outdoor pool appeared clean, but we never saw anyone use it. Parking was barely enough for the Inn when sold out -- we found parking for Friday night near our room, but Saturday night we had to 'create' a space.

The first-level wheelchair-accessible room itself, located near the back of the property, was basic but large, with two double beds, a table and chairs, a bureau, a vanity area, and a large bathroom with a corner shower (no tub). The room was set up for handicapped/wheelchair access including a rather awkward toilet seat. There was plenty of room for our bikes -- the most critical aspect for this trip.

We usually stay at B&Bs, so this room lacked charm and intimacy in comparison, but the price and location were good. (Note that Solvang is very small, so it'd be hard to have a 'bad' location.)

We arrived Friday late afternoon, got checked in, and used our free wine tasting coupons at the tasting room kitty-corner to the hotel. (We bought some 'quaffable' whites, nothing great, but tasty and good when you want to open something while hanging out with friends and not feel obligated to really experience or focus on the wine -- what we've termed a 'patio' wine.)

Also included were coupons to get a free continental breakfast at the bakery across the street. We used them Saturday for a post-ride snack of coffee and apple turnovers but didn't bother to use them Sunday.

The staff wasn't particularly helpful or welcoming -- again, we're more accustomed to the 'welcome to our home' friendliness and helpfulness of B&B hosts.

Overall, we'd stay there again if we came up to do a similar bike event, and just needed a relatively inexpensive place to crash, but not if we wanted a romantic weekend getaway.

Website: http://www.royalcopenhageninn.com

My husband and I had eaten at Mattei's about 5 years ago. It had tasty food but was nothing special, although the building itself, an historic tavern, was interesting. When our friend Mel told us a friend of hers had gotten us reservations at a really awesome restaurant for our post-ride indulgence we were a little surprised when she told us the reservations were for Mattei's.

Well, a lot has changed since our initial visit, including new chef/owners -- the two brothers of the new name.

The building, an 1800s stagecoach stop/ tavern, is much the same, including old photos on the walls, various mementos in cases, and a huge, warm fireplace in the bar area.

The service was good, and paced to our enjoyment of our food and conversation -- we enjoyed a 2.5- 3 hour dinner.

We had brought our own wine to share, so didn't pay much attention to their wine menu.

Foodwise, there was almost too much to choose from.

Dave and I shared a salad (very good, with blue cheese and sweet pecans). Other people at our table had the squash soup (they said delicious) as well as Caesar salad (good). I chose filet mignon as my entree -- it had a delcious sauce and the steak itself was prepared perfectly (medium rare on the rare side). Dave had trout and enjoyed it. Others had venison, lamb or other cuts of steak (all purportedly excellent).

Desserts ranged from decadent chocolate creations to homemade ice cream. I chose a scoop of vanilla; it was anything but basic. Dave had cinnamon ice cream (also excellent) and a couple people tried the roasted banana ice cream (very tasty & different).

We will definitely dine there again on our next visit to Los Olivos!

Panino, located just northeast of the flagpole, is the perfect place to stop for quick, tasty sandwich and chips in between winery- and gallery-hopping in downtown Los Olivos. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices abound. Choices range from the basic (turkey and cheese) to the gourmet (caprese sandwich, artichoke hearts with pesto and chicken breast, etc). Prices are about $7 to $8 per sandwich. All are filling, especially with a side of Kettle chips.

The only bad notes--service can be a little spotty and slow, and the only available restroom is the semi-permanent port-a-potty across the street.

Open daily 9am to 5pm.

The Solvang Prelude was my first organized bike-only event, with a choice of metric century, 50 mile or 25 mile courses.

The Santa Ynez Valley is one of my favorite places in California: wineries, golden rolling hills studded with oak trees, twisty scenic roads, good restaurants. Hitting all my high points! and the workout the ride would offer would burn enough calories to indulge post-ride relatively guilt free.

We picked up our race packets Friday night at the Royal Scandinavian Inn, reviewed the course maps, enjoyed some pasta at a local restaurant, and went to bed early.

Saturday morning was horribly cold -- someone said 38 degrees. I was wearing bike shorts and a short sleeved bike jersey. I hadn't even BROUGHT a long sleeved jersey, let alone a jacket. I knew darn well how hot it would get (and it did get hot, later).

We spent pre-race time shopping at the small expo. I bought some bright blue arm warmers and some gloves and Dave bought a light windbreaker that stuffed into itself to make a fanny pack and some glove liners.

The race didn't start on time but no one seemed to care. Eventually, the organizers started letting us go in packs.

Dave and I chose to do do the 50 mile course. A nice downhill started the course. Then the climbing started.

I'm ashamed to say there were a couple of sections I actually got off my bike and walked. Granted, I wasn't the only one, but I really envied those people zipping up the hills like they were nothing. I was in my granny gear and wheezing along at 4mph.

Nonetheless, the countryside was gorgeous, and I started enjoying myself, especially after we got to bike downhill by Los Olivos and then on to some flat areas where I got to go fast and pass people.

We then biked up a canyon -- not so much fun -- but the way back was screamingly fast and fun.

The food stop was next and had clean portapotties, water, trail mix, cookies and bananas. We hung out for a little bit.

It was downhill from the food stop then we had a long grind up a hill that I did without stopping.

Next was a lot of flat roads looping around, then back towards Solvang through some residential neighborhoods and some more short but VERY steep hills.

Around this time we were comparing my odometer reading to the map mileage and realizing that one or the other was wrong. It ends up the course was short. I got around 46 miles on my odometer.

I was tired enough going up the last hill to Solvang that I wasn't too concerned about being off 4 or 5 miles, but some other people were annoyed.

No free food or water was available at the end of the course. There was a pay-in-advance barbeque with chicken and sides, and a beer tent with Firestone beer.

Solvang Prelude Website

After the bike ride, we deserved some wine.

We visited Zaca Mesa, my favorite Santa Ynez winery, first--and luckily so, because they close earlier than many of the other wineries (open 10am to 4pm). Since I belong to their wine club, we were able to do the reserve tasting for free, including our friends Mel, Arlene, and Mike. If you do the reserve tasting, you get to taste all the wines, both those normally included in the free tasting and the library wines, in wonderful Reidel glasses (which I truly believe DO make a difference).

On the recommendation of the guy at Zaca Mesa--we told him we prefer reds to whites--we next visited Epiphany, which is located in downtown Los Olivos. Epiphany is a small tasting room, about a fourth the size of Zaca Mesa, that had the typical selection of sweatshirts, corkscrews, wine cookbooks, etc. The guy pouring was friendly and started us off with several whites, none of which impressed us (by this time we were doubting the taste of the guy from Zaca Mesa). However, once onto the reds--yum! Especially when he gave us some chocolate to eat with one of the wines--even better! If I visit Epiphany again, I'd skip the whites and taste reds only.

On Sunday, we chose to visit Fess Parker simply because they were open early enough. I've tasted there before--tasty but not as good as some of the other wineries. Of course, we chatted with the guy about the scene in Sideways when Miles dumps the spit bucket over his head. Overall, we had a nice time and were well prepped for our next stop.

You don't find Cambria unless you're really persistent. I'd never tasted there before, so we were all up for trying something new. However, it is located very far from Los Olivos and the other wineries on Foxen Canyon Road, well past Zaca Mesa. We had faith in the signs that pointed the direction to different wineries and eventually found the turn off. Be warned--you do have to drive on a dirt/gravel road to get to the tasting room.

We tried a variety of Chards and Pinot Noirs, but what really won my heart was their dessert wine--candy (but not too sweet) and flowers in a glass.

Plus, they had a knock-your-socks-off view of the surrounding vineyards, nearly worth the drive itself.

We stopped at Foxen on the way back. They had a tasty dessert wine as well, but at twice the cost of the Cambria wine, it was not worth it (plus, it smelled a lot better than it tasted). The Foxen tasting room itself is a little tin shack with an entertaining wine altar full of different memorabilia and stuff.

Our last tasting was at Longoria in Los Olivos. Okay but not great, but they had nice glasses.