Dog Days Wine Tour

Saturday was a beautiful day for a bike ride. So in the heart of LaGrange Ohio we begin our 45 mile Dog Days Wine Bike Tour of farm fields, bean fields, searching for the 'pink' arrows, and of course wineries!

Our day began at 6:15 yesterday morning when we woke up to get a quick breakfast, feed the pooches, make some snacks for the day, and load the bikes on the car and make the trip. We got to LaGrange shortly before 9 (it was an almost 2 hour drive) and registered. Our friends Shaun and Meredith Andrews asked if we wanted to join them on this great adventure and we said sure, why not?! Along to join us on the trip were Rich and Kristin Rausch (which can I say how amazing this chic is??? She just had a baby in June!!! I don't think she knew what she was getting into...), and Mandy Cotter, her poor hubby Morgan had to work.

The first leg of our trip was 17 miles to the first winery. We were given a small map to refer to but told to make sure we follow the 'pink' arrows on the road. Little did we know that during the same time as our bike tour was a 150 mile race for MS. There were hundreds of bikers on the road! So the girls (Mandy, Meredith, Kristin, and I) were quickly separated from the guys. The MS bikers also had their own arrows to look for... well we got a little flustered and thought we were a little lost but thankfully we saw a pink arrow and figured we were in the right place! Luckily we were right!

So after what felt like a eternity we made it to the first winery! It was called Single Tree. The boys had made it there maybe 10 minutes before us so we weren't too far behind. I never actually got to do any 'tastings' as rather we'd just buy a bottle of white wine and share it with everyone. The Riesling was great for a bright sunny day. They also had lots of snacks for the bikers to partake. So we chowed on fruit, sandwiches and cookies. After about 45 minutes of chlllin' time we began our next hike which was 8 miles to the next winery.

Not without a quick group picture! The idea was to get the winery sign in it as well, which was above our heads, but oh well!

You would think that 8 miles would be nothing after just completing a 17 mile ride but oh no.... the longer we road the more by butt and back started to hate me!! Thankfully I wasn't the only one hurting... aparently us girls are a little sensitive???

Our next stop was at the Matus Winery. We drank another delicious white wine and some sangria. At this point we had rode 25 miles... and boy were my dogs barkin'! haha. (pun intended) But! Alas we had a whole 20 miles left to go!! oh yay. OMG. I really thought I was going to have butt sores by the time I got off that bike! The girls and I started playing a game to try and make the time fly by faster but it kept getting interrupted by a car needing to pass as we were 4 bikes across. So it was just a lot of this...

I know... aren't you jealous of the scenery??? Nothing but the open air and the smell of cows. Towards the end I thought my legs were going to cramp up into a tiny ball and I'd never be able to walk again... thankfully I and everyone else was able to make it to the finish line. I've never been SO happy to see the sign for LaGrange. Hallelujah! We made it!!!

So here's the rest of the group after it was allllll over.

Overall it was a great 'friend building' trip... even though everyone 'hated' Shaun and Meredith for talking them into it... hehe. So will we do this again? perhaps. Will I get on a bike anytime soon? nah. And and I'm so very glad I no longer have to follow the pink arrows......