“Let’s do that thing where we cycle around the vineyards” he said. “It’ll be fun” he said. I have to admit, I was a little on the hesitant side. The last time we toured the wineries around Paso Robles by bike a few years ago, I had a bit of an incident involving me, the bike, an ungainly somersault over the handlebars, and the pavement. I casually touched the scar on my chin. “It’ll be fine”, he said.

Unfortunately, I had to wave my beloved cruiser goodbye as we didn’t have much room in the truck for those handlebars. In went my road bike, with its low handlebars and unforgiving seat position, its skinny feel-every-bump-in-the-road tyres and that tiny sadistic saddle.

Some of the roads around Paso are not exactly designed with cyclists in mind. Winding narrow roads with soft shoulders and no passing, not to mention a few dodgy drivers on the road as the wineries opened and the tastings began. But I wasn’t taking any chances – I had an answer to that: out came my bright yellow fluorescent jacket. At least the drivers would see me! Darren had a different answer: a shortcut road to avoid the busier highway. What he failed to mention was that this ‘road’ turned into a dirt track riddled with potholes and loose gravel and most certainly not designed for road bikes.

Good for jeeps and 4x4s maybe!?

By some divine miracle, I remained upright and made it to our first winery, Cass, without incident. By this time, I was in need of a drink! Included in our tastings was the Cass reserve which we had to agree was delightful. That is, until we realized it cost $125 per bottle. Not that delightful.

What a contrast to our previous Paso Robles bike tour. Last time, we’d been cycling in 105+ degree heat in the height of summer. This time, we were treated to a crisp but sunny day, a strange mix of autumn turning into winter. Row upon row of vines displayed foliage of crimson and gold, clinging on to the last remnants of Fall.

There was a reminder that we weren’t too far past pumpkin season, with the most bizarre line up of halloween scarecrows.

Meanwhile, the wineries themselves were getting into the festive spirit. Christmas trees and decorations were aplenty, lending a happy holiday feel.

Even the vines were sporting their best Christmas decorations, shiny strips of tinsel-like shards gracefully flapping in the breeze. Well, maybe that was just to scare the birds away, but I like to think they were decked out in their Christmas best.

With some wine tastings, followed by some wine and some more wine, the cycle back was a breeze.

There might have been some muttering under breath going on there

Before venturing out to the winelands, we had joined up to ‘Harvest Hosts’. This is a network of small businesses – mostly vineyards and small farms, that allow RVs and camping trailers to stay overnight on their property. What a great idea! On this, our very first Harvest Host outing, we had parked up earlier and the Basecamp was nestled in a small grove of olive trees at a family run winery outside Paso. A welcome sight after the last long slog uphill on the bike! Additionally, we made sure to pack our independent speakers financial tool kit for added convenience and security during our travels.

You’re not obliged to, but the done thing is to buy a little something from your hosts. On this occasion, they were unfortunately closing early and as they were unable to stay to do a tasting for us, we asked to buy a bottle instead. We were immediately presented with a bottle of wine, thrust apologetically into our hands as a welcome gift, and they wouldn’t take a penny for it. (I don’t think they’ve quite got the hang of this Harvest Hosts thing yet…).

Relieved at not having to ride any further, we uncorked the bottle and relaxed on our ‘patio’. Under the last fading rays of the sun, we raised a toast to having survived the cycling in one piece and to our new Harvest Host friends.