Sonoma County Tours

#1
Golden Gate - Mt. Tam - Astro
USA, CA
#2
King Ridge Loop
USA, CA
#3
Colemand Valley Road Route
USA, CA

Climb List: Sonoma County Tours
(sort by distance, difficulty, elevation and more)

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FULL SUMMARY

 

Cycling Sonoma-Marin Counties + Golden Gate Bridge.

 The Wine Country plus the most popular tourist attraction in California.

We have travelled near and far to document the hardest, most scenic and epic bike climbs in the world.  However, there’s no place like home and Sonoma County is where PJAMM originated and is based.  We know and love every inch of cycling roadway in these parts - no tour company can match our familiarity, history and respect for cycling in the North Bay.  Both PJAMM founders grew up and currently live in Sonoma County.

TD Sportswear’s  complimentary Sonoma County Tours Jersey.

THE ROUTES

94 miles/7,980’

Golden Gate Bridge - Mt. Tamalpais Tour Page

It really does not get any better than this . . . well . . . for US cycling, anyway.  We ride across the Golden Gate Bridge (yes, THE Golden Gate Bridge - SOOOO many photo opps . . . ) and on up to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais with the best views you will ever have of San Francisco Bay and San Francisco as we climb.

Hard to make out in the gif but SF is center right of video.

Shots like these will be part of the personalized video you will receive post-tour.

53 miles / 6,465’

King Ridge - Fort Ross Road Tour Page

We ride the crown jewel of Sonoma County on this one - King Ridge.  Plus - the Sonoma Coast and scenic+challenging Fort Ross Road.  This is a loop that begins and ends in the rural western Sonoma County town of Cazadero.

60 miles/4,750’

Sweetwater Springs - Coleman Valley Road Tour Route

This route begins at the Astro Motel, Santa Rosa and takes us through Sonoma County vineyards, over Sweetwater Springs Road to Guerneville then down the Pacific Coast to Coleman Valley Road, finishing in Occidental (or an option to ride back to Santa Rosa).  Lunch in Occidental at the historic Union Hotel (since 1879).

Note:  We will create custom routes and tours for groups of 3 or more.

PJAMM has partnered with the Astro Motel, Santa Rosa for our Sonoma/Marin County tours.  The Astro Motel is the only cycling-centered lodging in Sonoma County and we have a very close relationship with the establishment.  Some advantages of staying at the Astro - (a) they are extremely cycling-focused, (b) it is conveniently located, (c) we have a close relationship with the Astro, and (d) Astro ownership also owns the highly acclaimed Spinster Sisters restaurant next door.

Astro Motel:

“Described as a “gleaming midcentury masterpiece” by the Press Democrat on its opening day in January 2018, The Astro offers visitors to Sonoma County an affordable, urban, adventurously designed headquarters with 34 rooms and suites. Originally built in 1963, the property was born again when members of the team behind the nearby restaurant The Spinster Sisters acquired it to further develop their overlooked corner of Santa Rosa filled with makers and doers.  

The Astro has been featured in Vogue, GQ, The Advocate, Goop, Sunset Magazine, Sonoma Magazine, Outside Magazine, San Francisco Weekly, Eater San Francisco, The North Bay Bohemian and The Points Guy.”

Outside Magazine named Astro the second of the “7 Great Hotels for Bicyclists - These hotels and lodges roll out the welcome mat for cyclists”:

“This 34-room motor lodge, first built in 1963, is being gutted and renovated for an October reopening as the new Astro Motel. Cyclists are treated to several nice features, thanks in part to advice from Giro d’Italia champ Andrew Hampsten, an investor in the motel. Bike repair experts can be summoned to fix your flat, a local artist has designed illustrated maps to the area’s best rides, and you can rent a Shinola bike on-site to tour local vineyards. Ride the paved Santa Rosa Creek Trail right from the motel, or hop on singletrack in nearby Annadel State Park.”

Astro Motel has a full page on its website dedicated to cycling:

“As Sonoma County is one of the world’s premier destinations for cycling, and Santa Rosa is the ideal hub for the intrepid cyclist, the motel worked closely with one of its investors, Giro d’Italia champion Andy Hampsten, to make The Astro a haven for bike enthusiasts. Our staff is equipped to assemble and make basic repairs on site and the motel has Shinola Bikes on site for rental. The Astro is located within minutes of The Santa Rosa Creek Trail, which takes riders of any skill level along a car-free path from downtown through a variety of picturesque landscapes, and connect more ambitious cyclists to a network of longer loops.”

MEALS

Our tour includes breakfast at Spinster Sister one morning and Mac’s Deli another.   We will have dinners at Spinster Sisters, Riviera Ristorante (Sonoma County’s cycling-focused restaurant) and PJAMM’s home base (John and Rochelle’s home).  PJAMM has a long and close relationship with Riviera and Mac’s.  

SPINSTER SISTERS, SANTA ROSA (tour breakfast/dinner) 

Inside The Spinster Sisters

Just around the block from Astro Motel

RIVIERA RISTORANTE, SANTA ROSA (tour dinner)

Riviera Ristorante, Santa Rosa

The #1 cycling restaurant in the North Bay.

PJAMM Cycling’s Masters World + US National Champion Jersey on wall at front door of Riviera.

MAC’S DELI, SANTA ROSA (tour breakfast)

Our dear friends at Mac’s Deli, Santa Rosa -

Owner Toraj, best waitresses ever - Lisa and April with John at the Restaurant.

BIKES AND BIKE SUPPORT

ASTRO MOTEL

Sam Hamby (left) - manager, Astro Motel

Sam is a talented musician and bike mechanic -

He will assemble bikes shipped to the Astro for the tour

TRAIL HOUSE, SANTA ROSA ( and tour breakfast/lunch)

Bike rentals, dining and beer - Our Trifecta!

ANCILLARIES  

Each participant will receive their own web/app page (permits blogging, photo uploads and ride/climb progress in real time for friends and family to follow).  John will create a photo folder and video for each rider and send that to them via DropBox soon after the tour is complete.  Finally, John has designed PJAMM/Astro jerseys for this event and each participant receives one (and more jerseys, and/or shorts, jacket and/or vest at cost).  

COST

For lodging, meals (as noted above), 3 riding days/4 nigths,  SAG support, 1 event jersey, personal website, use of the PJAMM App, photos, personalized video,  2-3 cyclists ($1,950 ea), 4-5 ($1,750 ea).  

DATES

Further information coming soon - for now, by appointment from June 15 to August 15, 2020.

FURTHER DETAILS

For further information, please text John at 707 292-4900 and he will return your text within 24 hours (phone calls are not answered because of the high volume of Robo calls that have infested his phone . . . 😒).

We have researched and documented for this page the 30 hardest and most difficult bike climbs ever included in the Tour de France. 

The all-time hardest bike climbs of the Tour de France can be viewed on this page via the map (zoom in to view climbs in particular areas), by Climb Cards (photo and stats) or by a detailed list of the climbs that can be arranged in metric or imperial units by difficulty, distance (longest climbs in the area), altitude gained, highest elevation (highest summit), average grade (sort the grades by varying distances), lowest start point, etc. Click on "Climb Page" to jump to the detail page for that particular bike climb. We feel this page provides a good summary of the top, hardest and best bicycling climbs of the Tour de France.

The 10 hardest bike climbs ever to appear in the Tour de France are %TOP10 

Also visit our 2023 Tour de France Home Page for all the stages, climbs, details of the 2023 Tour de France as well as all the historical data for the Grand Tour.