The Russian River Brewing Company's bar stretches nearly the length of the restaurant and is often filled with customers sipping on the brewpub's award-winning beers. Shot on Thursday, November 16, 2006 for winter '07 Santa Rosa magazine. ( Press Democrat / Charlie Gesell )

Some nice bike rides that end with a tall, cold brew

PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF

As a local cyclist once observed as he set out on the road one Saturday, "At the end of the trail is a brew pub, and all is as it should be."

No one's endorsing any reckless overindulgence, but a longish ride followed by a short, cool beer can be a little bit of heaven. It tastes better if you sweat for it first.

The Wine Country offers plenty of scenic bike routes and first-rate beers. As spring draws near, we're offering a two-part series on this winning combo of bikes and brews.

This week, we offer three alehouse destinations, with a suggested route for each. Next Sunday, we'll offer three more pairings.

On Fourth Street in downtown Santa Rosa, at the center of a cluster of half dozen worthy pubs, stands the Russian River Brewing Company.

The furor surrounding brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo's annual limited release of Pliny the Younger, his triple India Pale Ale, has subsided. On and off for two weeks, out-of-town beer buffs lined up down the block, but now "The River," as regulars call it, is back to normal.

From the front of the pub at 725 Fourth St., bike up to E Street and turn right, then after a block, left on Montgomery Drive. Follow Montgomery all the way out to Yulupa Avenue, and turn left.

Then go two blocks and pick up the beginning of the Brush Creek Trail. Follow it under Highway 12, and after a short jog through a parking lot, pick up the rest of the trail.

You'll need to take it easy on the trail, because it's popular with hikers, dog walkers and parents pushing strollers. You'll want to go slow enough to enjoy the scenery anyway.

Dappled by the shade from overhanging trees, the trail is beside the creek, where you might glimpse an egret or a family of ducks. The trail lets out on Montecito Avenue, and the less ambitious among you might choose to turn around and go back the way you came, for downtown, the pub and a beer.

Adventurers will turn left on Montecito, straight across Brush Creek Road, and pick up Fountaingrove Parkway for a steep climb up and over the hill.

You can either follow Fountaingrove as it winds around or branch off, exiting to the right on Chanate Road and looping under Fountaingrove, for a shorter route. Either way, you'll come out on Mendocino Avenue, where a left will take you back downtown to Fourth Street.

Once there, you can hit the Russian River Brewing Co. or, if you prefer, take your pick of the other pubs nearby: Sweet Spot, Stout Bros., Ausiello's, Third Street Aleworks or the Flavors restaurant on Railroad Square, which features Brian Hunt's Moonlight beers on tap.

Total trip: about 12 miles for the long route.

In the heart of Petaluma - home to at least three bike shops and two brewpubs - cyclists can find cool, refreshing comfort at Dempsey's Restaurant & Brewery after a grueling ride. As the oldest brewpub in Sonoma County - serving favorites like Red Rooster Ale and Petaluma Strong Ale since 1991 - Dempsey's holds a special place in locals' hearts.

One of Petaluma's best-kept secrets is Chileno Valley Road, a popular route for cyclists that wends its way along open grasslands and dairy country along the western outskirts of Petaluma.

To get to this land that time forget, take Petaluma Boulevard North south from Washington Street and make a right on Western Avenue, then a left on Chileno Valley Road.

Bicyclists often make a pitstop at Helen Putnam Regional Park (411 Chileno Valley Road) for a water break or a bite to eat. If you're a novice and out of breath already, you can call it a day and head back to town (about a a 5-mile round trip).

But true cyclists will want to keep rolling along the 25-mile Chileno Valley Loop, especially in the springtime, when the hills and meadows are greener than the Emerald Isle itself.

To follow this route, you'll need to veer right to stay on Chileno Valley Road, then make a right on the Tomales-Petaluma Road, a busier byway used by surfers and RV-ers coming back from the coast. (The worst time to bicycle this stretch is Sunday afternoon, so try to avoid that time.)

To head back to town, go past the Two Rock Coast Guard Station and make a right on Spring Hill Road, where you'll enjoy a nice, easy coast back into town as you merge back into Western Avenue and follow the city streets back to the pub, located in the Golden Eagle Shopping Center.

Once you arrive back at Dempsey's, grab a patio seat next to the river if it's a sunny day. If it's cold and rainy, belly up to the bar where you can chat about spokes and stuff with bartender Scott Kinzey, who rides about 30 to 35 miles a day.

Dempsey's microbrews range from a medium-bodied Sonoma Irish Ale to a hearty, full-bodied Ugly Dog Stout. Can't decide? Order a tasting flight of all six beers.

Total trip: about 25 miles for the long route.

Most visiting cyclists who find themselves in Calistoga will head south, bound for Napa Valley's world-class wines. But if your beverage of choice is brewed, split from the crowds and go where the wine tasters won't - the secluded Franz and Knights valleys.

Park your car near the The Calistoga Inn (corner of Lincoln and Cedar), where you'll reward and refresh yourself in about an hour and a half. Don't be deceived by the name. You can eat here - fine dining or pub grub. You can even spend the night upstairs; their rates are a bargain. The main attraction, however, is the microbrews of Brad Smisloff's Napa Valley Brewing Co.

If you don't have your own wheels, you can rent a pair at the Calistoga Bike Shop just down the street at 1318 Lincoln Ave. ($45/$85 a day). They also have route maps and GPS. Shop "micromanager" Aaron Gregory suggests the following route for the amateur sports cyclist.

Cross Lincoln and cycle north on Cedar, through a shady old residential neighborhood past Pioneer Park. Where Cedar dead ends, follow the signs to pick up the bike path, which will take you through the Rancho de Calistoga retirement community. You'll spill out onto Highway 128 at The Petrified Forest Road. Go west toward Santa Rosa for about a half mile, veering right at Franz Valley School Road.

This is really an unexplored niche of the North Coast, with the vineyard views you seek in Wine Country connected by narrow forest passages, but without the traffic because there are no tasting rooms, restaurants or attractions to draw tourists in. On a Sunday in the off-season, you may have the road largely to yourself.

Go west about five miles. You'll get an incline as you follow the contour of the hills, but nothing punishing. At some points you'll have a very narrow shoulder so be careful, but you'll also see few cars. Turn right at Franz Valley Road, where you'll follow a cool creekside passage that eventually opens into an impressive view of the flank of Mt. St. Helena. At Spencer Lane turn right, wheeling past oaks draped in lichen. At Highway 128 turn right and head toward Calistoga. You'll pass through the edge of Knights Valley around the Napa/Sonoma line. It's another six miles or so back into Calistoga.

Back at the Calistoga Inn, depending on the weather, cool down in the beer patio or dip into the snug bar for seafood starters, sandwiches or a filling bowl of risotto, washed down with a Calistoga wheat ale or a fine seasonal brew like the Diplopia D.P.A. or the Purple Haze.

Total Trip: About 18 miles.

-Meg McConahey, Diane Peterson, Dan Taylor

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