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The sun has baked me until I look like a cross between Sparky Anderson and Chief Wahoo. I can feel the lactic acid bubbling up in my body and my sweat mixing the sunscreen into my eyes. My heart is pounding, my lungs are gasping for oxygen and my PowerBar has melted into a gooey, inedible wad.

And after miles of climbing, the grade of the road is now becoming so steep that I may reconsider my position on EPO.

I knew I should have stopped at Robert Young winery, instead.

I'm cycling up one of Levi Leipheimer's favorite training routes in the Sonoma Valley, and though my present oxygen-starved condition would not indicate it, I am doing so while researching the perfect extended sports weekend.

If you were ever planning a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, clear your schedule and plug the dates Sept. 7-10 into your airfare search engine, because this weekend offers a lot of something for everyone – from football and baseball to kayaking, cycling and wine tasting. And all that when the Stanford Cardinal and Cal Bears aren't even in town.

Don't worry. Frying yourself on a mountain slope is purely optional.

And with a little luck, you may actually see a local team win.

Sept. 7: Sonoma Valley cycling and wine
Fly in late Thursday and spend the night around Santa Rosa or Healdsburg, then rise for a full day of cycling and wine tasting that would exhaust Lance Armstrong or Paul Giamatti's wine-snob character in "Sidewise.''

This is a little slice of heaven, whether you want to challenge/punish yourself on Leipheimer's training routes or reward yourself with a very comfortable ride between glasses of Sauvignon Blanc.

There are several bike-rental companies in the area, but I like Wine Country Bikes in Healdsburg (61 Front St., Web site). The folks are friendly and knowledgeable and, best of all, they provide bathrooms with full showers to clean up after your ride. The showers are important because if you really push yourself on one of Leipheimer's routes, you'll be such a sweaty mess you won't otherwise be allowed into a public place without a full hazmat suit.

The bike shop also is conveniently located near West Dry Creek Road, which offers a superb cycling route past endless vineyards, plentiful wineries and such gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside that you'll want to get off and crush the grapes between your toes. About 12 miles long, this mostly flat and low-trafficked road is Napa without the crowds. Even on a summer weekend the road is as quiet as post-game traffic for the Tampa Ray Devil Rays.

You can turn around at the end of the road at Bella Vineyards (9711 West Dry Creek Road, Web site), which offers tastings in a superb hillside setting.

If you're feeling athletic rather than tipsy, you can give yourself a short, steep climb up to nearby Raymond Burr Winery (yes, the late actor's place, 8339 West Dry Creek Road, Web site) or you can really challenge yourself by cutting across to the east side of Highway 101 and making your way to Pine Flat Road.

The name of the road is misleading; this is a 12-mile, 3,000-foot climb strenuous enough for one of the world's best cyclists. Leipheimer, who recently finished third in the Tour de France, lives in Santa Rosa and frequently rides up Pine Flat.

"It's one of my favorites,'' Leipheimer told me over the phone as he prepared for the recent Tour of Germany. "It comes to a dead end, so there's no traffic. And the scenery is just amazing.''

He's right. The day I rode, the traffic consisted of two trucks, two other bicycles and, inexplicably, a skateboarder. And the scenery is so enchanting you'll feel as if you already had a bottle or two of a powerful, sparkling wine. You begin by following a modest but pretty canyon for a mile or two, then wind past vineyards on your left as the road continues to climb.

The first five miles or so aren't bad at all, but the problem is most of the road is exposed to the sun. Hurricane Ridge in Washington is significantly longer (18 miles) and higher (5,000 foot elevation gain) and I can do that, but the heat here takes a serious toll.

Temperatures were in the upper 80s to low 90s during my ride and by the sixth mile, I felt like Rosie O'Donnell in the Boston Marathon (and probably looked worse). I paused to rest in one of the few spots of shade, which was a big mistake because the water in my bottle was too warm to seem at all refreshing. And resuming from a standing start on a hill in a new pair of slick bike cleats just about finished me off. (Regular readers may remember my previous problems with clipless pedals.)

Fortunately, the road levels out around mile 8, where you get a great view of the valley, followed by a pleasant ride through a grove of pine trees (hence the road's name).

Unfortunately, the road begins climbing again around mile 10 and rises a thousand feet in the final mile … or at least that's what I was told at the bike shop. I simply was just too gassed to. I looked at the last mile of road snaking to the sky and gave up. I turned around and vowed to conquer the mountain on a cooler day.

Leipheimer told me on the phone he's never raced up Pine Flat as fast as possible, but it usually takes him about 45 minutes at his normal steady pace. Just thinking about climbing it that fast makes my legs ache. But what really makes me need to sit down is the fact that Leipheimer occasionally climbs the hill multiple times on the same training ride. Riding it gives you a whole new appreciation of the Tour de France.

The beauty of the Tour de Sonoma, though, is that you can contemplate such feats while relaxing with a lovely Chardonnay back down at Robert Young Estate Winery (4960 Red Winery Road, Geyserville, Web site) when your journey is complete.

Sept. 8: Giants-Dodgers game
The Giants ballpark is one of the best in the game. (Consult StubHub! for tickets.) But if you really want to experience the stadium, take the short walk to the piers before the game and rent a kayak at City Kayak (The Embarcadero at Townsend Street, Web site), then paddle over for batting practice in the best seat in San Francisco – McCovey Cove.

The cove population has decreased significantly since Barry Bonds broke the home run record, and that substantially increases your chances of getting a ball during batting practice. Paddle around for an hour or so, talk with cove regulars such as Larry Ellison and Jay Austin and enjoy the finest view in sports.

"It's never a waste of time,'' Austin told me earlier this summer. Other fans, he says, "are just jealous and they don't even know what it is they're missing. If they only knew. If they only knew the secret.''

It sure beats hanging around the parking lot at Shea Stadium.

Sept. 9: Lions-Raiders game
Detroit and Oakland went a combined 5-27 last season, so you're excused if you would rather spend the day watching the Giants and Dodgers again, biking over to the Marin headlands and Muir Woods or just wandering one of the world's great cities. (The ride up Mount Tamalpais is a wonderful climb at just the proper grade).

But you really owe it to yourself to experience the Black Hole once in your life. And since the Raiders are playing the Lions, the Black Hole may be in a friendly mood for a change … or at least a forgiving mood. (Buy tickets.)

Sept. 10: 49ers-Cardinals game
OK, it's been awhile since the glory days for the Niners or Monday Night Football, but MNF is still a great experience. Generally speaking, it's smarter to rely on public transportation in San Francisco (parking at some hotels goes for $42 and up), but in this case you might want to rent a car just so you can tailgate at Candlestick (chowder and crab?) before the game, then drive to the airport to catch a red-eye or spend the night before your next flight. (Buy tickets.)

If, that is, you want to leave. After this sort of weekend, you may choose to move here permanently.

THE MAILBAG

My buddies and I want to take a three-day bike ride down the Highway 1 coast. With road bikes, is 50 to 75 miles per day a good amount? Also, where do you recommend that we start and finish? Thanks.
Ross in Turlock, Calif.

Road Warrior assumes since you're considering such a trip in the first place that you're probably in a pretty decent cycling shape. So, yeah, 50 to 75 miles a day is a good plan. You'll definitely want to start in the north and head south to have the prevailing wind at your back, and you absolutely MUST include the Big Sur section from Monterey/Carmel to Cambria (which has better lodging and dining options than San Simeon).

There aren't a lot of places to stop in between those two towns, so you may want to make that day a long ride (about 100 miles), though there are lodging possibilities at Lucia and Ragged Point. RW rode the Carmel to Cambria section last year for the Best Buddies Challenge, and it's a great stretch.

RW would go from Carmel to Santa Barbara – but Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz (50 miles), Santa Cruz to Carmel (50 miles) and Carmel to Cambia would be excellent as well. Good luck; that's a great ride.

I will be attending a Texas Longhorn football game for the first time. Would like to know if you have any suggestions as to where to go or a must-do to have an unforgettable game-day experience. Thank you!
Robert B.

Yeah. Wear an Aggie's shirt to the game. You'll be sure to have a memorable experience. Seriously though, the friendly folks at the UT Alumni Association recommend dropping by their tailgate concert before the game, or you can take in any of the massive tailgating opportunities along San Jacinto by the stadium. The Posse East sports bar also comes highly recommended. Be sure to walk through campus and check out the UT Tower. After the game, just wander over to Sixth Street for the best party scene this side of Matthew McConaughey's backyard.

(Got a question or need a sports trip suggestion? Contact the Road Warrior here.)

THE BOOKSHELF

"Babylon by Bus: Or, the true story of two friends who gave up their valuable franchise selling YANKEES SUCKS t-shirts at Fenway to find true meaning and adventure in Iraq, where they came employed by the Occupation in jobs for which they lacked qualification and witnessed much that amazed and disturbed them'' by Ray LeMoine, Jeff Neumann and Donovan Webster.

If ever a subtitle summed up a book, that one does. Road Warrior has read several books on the war and occupation of Iraq, none better than "Imperial Life in the Emerald City'' by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. But in some ways, "Babylon by Bus" is the most disturbing because it shows how two well-meaning but appallingly unqualified, booze- and pill-seeking young men could become part of America's "rebuilding'' of Iraq on little more than an impulse.

The book bogs down from time to time, but their unofficial view from beneath the radar reveals just how poorly planned, executed and messed up the entire war has been. Guys who hawked YANKEES SUCK shirts and get into meaningless fistfights with Jordanian shop owners were part of our "reconstruction''? No wonder Iraq is a quagmire.

Jim Caple, a k a The Road Warrior, is a senior writer for ESPN.com. His Web site is at jimcaple.net, with more installments of "24 College Avenue." His new book with Steve Buckley, "The Best Boston Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Boston Fans," is on sale now.