Great Outdoor Images

Today’s Highlights:

Our 82-mile ride from Solvang to Oxnard was filled with many different experiences.  We started the day under skies of multi layered cloud that created pleasant patterns of light.  The scenery was mediocre and we traveled on a highway with fast traffic, so I didn’t take many pictures for a while.  We traversed a huge lake, Cachuma Lake, for miles, but from the south side of the road it was hard to find a view of it.

After seventeen miles, we left the busy highway and got on Stagecoach Road.  This was a real treat.  It is a narrow winding road up a canyon, and it was very quite and very scenic.  It was also our big climb for the day, but not too difficult.  We rode in a small group and took some pictures along the way.  About half way up, we came upon Cold Spring Tavern, which has been on that road since real stagecoaches traveled it.  The rustic buildings have not changed much since those early days.  It was very interesting – a one of a kind.

We also rode under a huge arched bridge.  See the picture.  We were far below it, and then surprisingly higher than it a little while later as we neared the top of our climb.  After the climb, we took a one-lane back road, Kinevan Rd, for the first part of our descent.  It required some care going down it.  The descent continued a few miles on a highway, then onto San Marcos road for the most thrilling part of the ride.  From the top of San Marcos Road, we could see miles down a canyon, into the valley and to the ocean.  It was quite an amazing site, although a little hazy to capture well in a photograph.  On this part of the descent there were four corners marked “5 mph”, and they really meant it!  It was a great ride down, dropping 2000 feet in seven miles.

We rolled into Santa Barbara around 11:00, first riding through an area with nice houses and streets lined with palm trees and a large variety of plants and trees.  When we reached the beach, it was very foggy and visibility was only a few hundred yards. However, we could tell it was quite a nice place.  We rode passed Santa Barbara Harbor, but it was too foggy to bother stopping for photos.  Chris and I did take a side trip down a long pier, and stopped to stick his feet in the ocean when it was very near the road.  We also stopped at a polo grounds and watched part of a match.

We rode several miles along the shoreline and there were occasional great views where it was not foggy.  At one point, for five miles, we had to ride on the interstate.  There was actually a bike lane on it!  Now we can say that we rode bikes on a California freeway.  Even though it was already sixty miles into the ride, Chris and I found some extra energy to sprint the whole way so we could get out of there as quickly as possible.  Somehow, I managed to snap a few pictures while doing so.  My neighbor would say I failed an IQ test with that behavior.

Once off the freeway, we wandered through Ventura and then into Oxnard through quite neighborhoods and on local business roads.  We passed an interesting harbor or channel where there were hundreds of boats, but even more interesting were the houses that lined the water’s edge.

My body is glad that this was the last long ride of the tour.  The next two days will be less than 55 miles each.  I am looking forward to the easy finish.

Zoom Zoom Splash
Another great ride with a little of everything (and I’m not sick anymore). Here are the best parts:

The ride up Stagecoach Road had wonderful views into the canyon. And we were going slow enough to enjoy them. A few times I thought that it would be nice if a horse would pull me up the mountain, just like in the old days. The Cold Spring Tavern was an amazing place. I’ll have to come back to patronize some day.

The ride down San Marcos was wicked! Zoom zoom, eeeerrrrrrrrt zoom, don’t fly off the cliff. We flew by some suckers trying to go up this thing. What are they thinking?? I bet they’re thinking about zooming back down.

We stopped to watch a polo match. I don’t know anything about polo, but it looked like Under 6s soccer… on horses. There’s a goal at each end of the field with no goalie; someone hits the ball towards the goal; everyone rushes after it as though he/she is the only one on the field; if they get lucky, someone hits it through the goal. The horses seem to get a good workout.

The two mile stretch of RVs and campers lined bumper-to-bumper was an odd sight. They were packed so close that we couldn’t see the ocean for 2 miles even though we were 20 feet from the beach, and it wasn’t foggy yet.

Santa Barbra was super foggy and not much to see. But I did get to go in the ocean!! It was the first time I touched the water in California. That’s kind of sad; there should be more time to play.

We had a Pizza Party tonight. It was really just eating pizza, hold the party. The festivities are actually tomorrow night, our last night together as a group, awwwwwww. Oh, my goodness, we’re almost done!

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

We had our shortest ride of the trip today – only 41 miles.  It almost felt like an actual vacation day!  We started thirty minutes later than usual, at 8:30 am, and arrived at our destination town of Solvang just before noon.  This is a really great town to explore.  Its Danish architecture in a mountain valley setting is quite unique and very attractive.  It has many gift shops, chocolate shops, bakeries and restaurants to visit.  There are also many wine tasting rooms. Other than the two previous rest days we had, this was the only time we were able to explore a town that we stopped in.  We really enjoyed the extra few hours, and had a nice lunch, visited an old mission and walked the streets checking out a few shops.

The first part of our ride was through more farmlands, which still amazed us in their size and productivity.  Fields were in different stages of farming, from fresh plowed, to new planting, to harvesting.  It appears to be a year-round, multi-harvest operation.

As we rose in elevation, we left the farms and entered ranch country.  We basically had one long hill in the first part of the day, with a steep section near its top.  While traversing up and down the canyon, the views were spectacular.

We saw two tarantulas today!  We were told that they were common in one area of our ride.  Chris and I spotting one and took a quick look, but I chose not to photograph it.  I expected to see a more, but we rode many more miles before finally seeing another.  I made sure to stop and take a picture of that one.

Hello, Little Denmark
I’m only a little sick today, but still a bit tired. I’m blaming it on my cold. It couldn’t have anything to do with the 88 hours of riding 1,245 miles with 65,300 feet of climbing. That’s not why I’m tired. I feel better and tomorrow should be great – a nice 81 mile ride in the park.

I don’t know what to say that Dad didn’t already say. The ride was great again. We passed so many beautiful wineries it was hard not to stop and relax with a glass. We saw tarantulas and a wild boar. Awesome! It was great to get into town early and actually have some time to explore. And what a great town to explore. The pics tell the story and we did it all.

Chris

p.s. 65,000ft of climb is like climbing Mount McKinley (tallest in North America) over three times. Hey, Joe, I’m going to ride up to your house when I get home, while I’m still in shape. http://connect.garmin.com/course/1536393#.UF1NFhYBQ2c.email

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

The conversation around the breakfast table this morning was how this ride is much more difficult than riding cross country.  Many of the cyclist on this ride have ridden cross country previously, and although the west-to-east coast rides are much longer, the hills are not as demanding day after day.  This trip’s terrain has taken its toll on a few of our cyclists.  However, today the hills were in our favor, as we had a lot more downhill and flats sections than climbing. Everyone enjoyed the ride.

Since Paso Robles is far from the shore, the morning started with sunshine instead of fog and with comfortable temperatures. After a little riding through town, passed malls and businesses, we were again on nice rural winding roads that rolling gently up and down. The landscape was mostly hills of golden grass with a sprinkling of oak trees, but as we got further west the density of trees increased and eventually covered entire hills and mountains. We had one significant climb seventeen miles into the ride, but it was not as long as I anticipated – a pleasant surprise.  At nineteen miles, we started a ten mile downhill and it was a thrilling ride!

We reached the Pacific ocean again in the town of Morro Bay.  There is a huge “rock” in the bay called Morro Rock (clever, huh).  It is so huge that it reminded me of Yosemite’s Half Dome when I first saw it from a distance on our way into town.  It is very unique compared to the rest of the landscape.  Morrow Bay is a very cute seaside town.  We also saw sea lions on a dock in the harbor.

The landscape continues to surprise me on our travels.  Leaving Morro Bay, there were large mountains to the east rising up from the wetlands of the bay.  We turned east from there and entered grassy ranges again, but this time with mountains in the background.  A little climb over a hill brought us into another farm valley, and we enjoyed some flat roads for several miles until reaching the ocean again at Pismo Beach.  Pismo Beach was beautiful and long, and had nice rolling waves.  It would have been nice to lay there or swim, but we had a snack at the SAG truck and then continued our ride.

Heading inland again, we were back among huge farms that stretch as far as you could see.  It is so impressive, and interesting to see the different phases of the land preparation, plantings and harvesting.  They produce a lot of food here!  Our final eight miles into Santa Maria was a flat straight of road, and we were pushed along by a tail wind that allowed us to cruise at 24 mph with little effort.  It was a great way to end our 85-mile ride.

Long but Easier, and Just as Beautiful
As Dad said, there are a lot of seasoned riders on this trip and they all say the same thing: This ride is one of the hardest but the most beautiful ABB ride. So I have to ask myself: Where do I ride after this?

I was still pretty sick today so the first part of the ride was a chore. I just had no energy, and I left a trail of snot from the hotel to the first SAG. And for real, the buzzards were waiting for me again at every hill (pic 10). I’ll admit that when I’m working so hard to just pedal I don’t always see all the sites. Good thing Dad takes so many good pictures. But like yesterday, riding actually makes me feel better. Luckily, this 85 mile day was the easiest ride so far. A little climbing at first and then almost all down hill, and flat at the end. And the weather was perfect.

Both SAGs were in great locations, too. The rock at Morrow Bay was something else. And we saw a ton of sea lions again; they’re all over the place. Their favorite past times are lying on the dock, barking, and biting each others’ faces. So cute! And when we reached Pismo Beach I just wanted to stop and jump in the ocean. They could come back and pick me up later.

Short ride tomorrow so we get to sleep in. Nice!

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

The ride from King City to Paso Robles showed me a view of California that I did not expect.  It seemed very remote, almost like eastern Wyoming except it had trees.  In the sixty two miles we traveled there were signs of land ownership, like fences, but very rarely a barn or house or livestock.  We started our day in heavy fog with temps in the 50s.  There were a few miles of slight climbing at a good pace, fast enough to be quite chilly.  After three miles, we started a 1000-foot climb which got very steep on the last two miles of it.  That last stretch warmed all of us up.  After cresting the top of that hill, we immediately were out of the fog and had bright blue skies.  The rest of the day remained that way and temperatures slowly climbed to 95 by the end of the ride.  We had one flat stretch near the Fort Hunter Liggett army base, but otherwise it was a very hilly ride with many steep sections.  The day ended with almost 4000 feet of climbing.

The landscape along the entire route was dry grassy fields and hillsides with big oak trees.  Occasionally, we saw some livestock, a few barns and several big gates that led to ranches far out of site.  After a very big climb around mile 43, we had great views into the valley that we climbed out of, and impressive views of Lake Nacimiento down the other side.  In this dry landscape, a large lake is a very soothing site.  The lake seemed very far below us, but the ride down the hill to reach it was fast and took only several minutes.  We rode over the dam that made the lake, then proceeded to Paso Robels over many more steep hills.

Chris and I enjoyed a very big lunch in town at Big Bubba’s BBQ since we ended our ride a little after 1:00 today.

Nacimiento is Spanish for Dragon
I’m writing late because I was both very sick and very busy; no time for blogging. I’ve been working up a cold for a couple days (it’s going around) and today it hit me good. The day started with a giant climb in the cold fog and I thought I was going to call it quits right away. I know the buzzards were circling for me again, but I couldn’t see them in the fog. I couldn’t see my front wheel (pic 6). As soon as we crested the mountain, the fog and clouds lifted and the warm sunshine did me good. I still felt pretty bad and the many hills didn’t help, but I made it. Take that, buzzards.

I was also struck by how ’empty’ the landscape was. Lots of big empty ranges. There’d be one big house on the top of a hill and then miles of fence (pic 37, 39). That’s a lot of land to own. I wonder what a piece of land like that goes for. Probably the same as a rowhouse in DC.

Lake Nacimiento is my new favorite lake because it’s shaped like a dragon. I almost got a Lake Nacimiento t-shirt at our ABB Shirt Swap, but some one stole it from me.

I was sick and I was busy. I was going to go to bed early (earlier than I did) but I didn’t want to be a party pooper for the t-shirt swap. So I was busy having fun. Everyone brought a shirt (most were cycling themed, but not all) and an amazing story about that shirt (not all of them true). We put all the shirts on the table and all drew numbers and then took our turn to choose a shirt. We could choose a shirt from the table OR take a shirt from someone else, but the third person to take a shirt gets to keep it for good. I had the dragon shirt but someone took it, boo hoo hoo. It was super fun. I ended with the coveted ‘Manchester’ shirt from Tim, who’s here from… you guessed it, Manchester… but at the end of the game I traded it to Herb for his El Tour de Tucson. He liked the Manchester and I thought it’d be nice to have a souvenir from Herb. Then I went right to bed. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

We had a FANTASTIC ride today!  Breakfast at the Los Laureles Lodge was very nice, especially the selection of fresh fruit.  We were on our bikes at 8:00 in the crisp 48 degree morning air.  I dressed lightly today, because our route started with a twenty mile climb which required enough energy to keep me warm.  We rode in a very rural environment winding up and around hills of golden grass and live oaks and occasional ranches.  The clouds draped the tops of the hills for the first hour or so.  And by the time we reach the highest point, after 2000 feet of climbing, the sun was out and temps in the 60s and quickly rising.  We saw deer and turkeys and two eagle during the climb, and many beautiful landscapes.  To top it off, there was almost no traffic the entire morning.

As always, our work on the ascent was rewarded by a great descent, winding for miles down into the valley with great views of ranches and farms, backdropped by the the Santa Lucia Mountains.  At thirty miles, we started seeing vineyards again and an interesting small canyon of the Arroyo Seco River.  After crossing that river, we entered the town of Greenfield in a huge valley with immense farms.  Then we turned south and traversed the Salinas River valley and its huge farms until reaching King City.

It was a glorious ride. We ending earlier than other days, since it was our shortest mileage ride so far.  It might have also been the best weather we had throughout the day so far.  We had time for lunch, laundry and bike cleaning before meeting for route rap and dinner.

Dedication
What a glorious day! I’m still impressed with the variety of the landscape on this trip. As you can see from the pictures, today was beautiful. I’d like to dedicate this ride to my Grandma and my Mother-in-Law. Happy birthday to you both. I hope you’re day was as great as ours.

There’s also a rumor that Dad talked to Neil Young today. I’m not sure, but it’s possible. He told us to keep climbing because we’re not at the top yet. Thanks a lot, Neil.

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

Today’s ride started out differently, with a 7:00 departure and a stop two miles down the road for breakfast. We immediately continued from the restaurant for a very gloomy twenty miles on typical business roads, then finally reached farm land.  We passed huge fields of strawberry, avocado, lettuce and other produce I did not recognize.  One amazing part of the farming process I saw was workers covering acres of land with plastic, which they do prior to planting.  Our route through the farmland eventually took us back to the Pacific and once again we saw the fertile fields extend out to where the horizon met ocean.

The gloomy skies finally broke around 11:00 when we were on a bike path on our way to Monterey.  We reached the bay and were rewarded with very nice views.  The best part of the ride was actually not riding, but stopping for lunch at Old Fisherman’s Wharf, sitting in a sunny spot near the water and enjoying a relaxing meal.

Our ride continued on a bike path along Ocean Blvd and Sunset Blvd with nice views along the bay and ocean.  We saw some seals on the way.  Later we rode most of 17 Mile Drive with the shoreline on our right and Pebble Beach golf course and large mansions on our left.

After sixty miles, we turned inland and headed to Carmel Valley.  We ended our 74-mile ride around 3:30 at the Los Laureles Lodge and enjoyed a nice dinner on the premises tonight.

Strawberry Fields Forever
The first part of the day was a little dreary, but the miles and miles of produce was something to see. I now believe that everything I eat comes from California. And then we passed a random llama farm.

Once the the sun came out the ride along the cost was pretty. We had a good time in Monterey. The seals were out in mass, playing in the surf. I don’t think that 17 Mile Drive is all it was hyped to be. I did enjoy the Cyprus trees. I guess the other big draw is the golf courses; maybe if I played golf then I would have appreciated them more. I enjoyed the ride around Ocean Blvd much better. Still… another great day.

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

Our 92-mile ride today was the longest of this tour and included over 5100 feet of climbing.  However, it was a very enjoyable ride and the hours went by fast.  I guess we are getting well conditioned for this.

We left San Francisco at 8:00 this morning with low clouds shrouding the Golden Gate Bridge, but not obscuring our view of the shoreline, parks and neighborhoods.  It was cool, but an early climb around the northwest corner of the city warmed me right up.  We reached Ocean Beach after several miles and enjoyed another morning ride along the seashore.

The first half of the ride included a few big climbs, but nothing like we had in Oregon.  One was significant and offered nice views into the eastern valley behind us on the climb and then into another valley on the west side during the descent.  The ride down was great!  It was a steep, wide, winding highway, so we were able to keep some good speed all the way down.

We also rode several miles on a bike path that traversed reservoirs along the way.  It was not a flat rail trail, but instead was very winding and rolling through the woods, and just delightful.

The last 50 miles were mostly along the shore with no major hills, and we had a nice tailwind.  I enjoyed the scenery and the relatively easy ride.  The most interesting thing to me were several farms that seemed to extend to the edge of the bluffs above the ocean.  Generally the soil is very sandy this close to the ocean, but here it is quite fertile. We rode passed many strawberry farms, yum.

Chris and I reached the Santa Cruz town line a little after 3:00 pm, and the route wandered to a shoreline drive with very nice houses and a spectacular shoreline with colorful cliffs.  Surfing is obviously popular here, as we saw many practicing in the cold water.  We made a stop at a small lighthouse/museum, and then cruised slowly down the beach boulevard that had all the usual tourist attractions, plus a full amusement park.  We finally arrived at the hotel around 4pm.

Another Great Day
This really is a beautiful trip. And the weather has cooperated nicely. If only we had time to actually take a swim in this beautiful ocean. But it was a long ride today. In fact, it was my longest ride ever. Go me! I felt pretty good. I felt sluggish the last two rides, but I got my “Built 4 Speed” back on my bike and I felt fast again. Or maybe it was the rest day. Either way, I did shake the buzzards. Ever since our climb into Garberville there have been vultures circling overhead as I crest each hill. They were just waiting for me to keel over before I reach the top. But today there were only hawks overhead – lots of them. Much more auspicious.

We left our hearts, I mean some riders in San Francisco: Rick, and John & Barb – our two week riders – and Derek, Rick & Denise, and Alan & Cindy – our one week riders. I will miss you guys. You are way fun and I truly hope I get to ride with y’all again some time. We had three new rides join us for the last leg of the trip: Tim, Jim, and Leticia. We rode with Tim for a good stretch today – a very nice bloke from Manchester. Jim will be our new roommate for a most of the remaining nights (but not tonight). New friends and new adventures. Woohoo!!

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

This morning Chris and I met with Carl who rode cross country with me in 2002, and we caught up on each others biking adventures.  Later in the morning my sister and brother, June and Richard, arrived and we spent the day touring San Francisco.  Carl had recommended one of the bay sightseeing cruises, so that is what we started with.  We had a perfect sunny day for it, the scenery was fabulous and we learned a lot.  We saw many dolphins and one seal, in addition to great views of the impressive Golden Gate Bridge, the hills of Sausalito and neighboring towns, Alcatraz, Angel Island, many sailboat, and of course the skyline and hills of San Francisco.  Thanks Carl for the great suggestion!

Later we drove around the city and through the park for just a glimpse of other things the city offers.  Everywhere we went had interesting architecture and landscapes.  We had a fantastic dinner at Capannina that exceeded our expectations.

It was a special treat to see my sister and brother again since we live on opposite coasts.  We had a wonderful day.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Today’s Highlights:

Every day of this adventure we have experienced new sites, and today we transported ourselves into an entirely different world.  After spending twelve days along nearly uninhabited beaches, silent mystical forest, farms that stretch to the horizon, and tiny towns with no more than a general store, a restaurant and a gift shop, we reached San Francisco.  What a change!  In the time it took us to crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, I think more cars and trucks passed by us than in the previous two weeks combined.  This is a very busy place!

The morning started with a ride down the main drag in Petaluma, which looked like a very nice town to explore.  However, once again we were simply on the move.  We got off the main route and back into farmland.  There were a couple big hill climbs in the morning along with smaller rolling terrain.  We enjoyed more views of farms with golden fields dotted with oak trees and small herds of cattle and occasionally a horse or two.  The clouds hung low, rolling over the tops of the hills.  After 20 miles or so, the clouds began to lift and eventually we had nice blue skies again.

The last half of today’s route took us through suburban streets in Mill Valley with lots of stop and go.  A bike path led us into Sausalito where we stopped at Mike’s Bikeshop to pick up a few essentials.  Then we stopped at the Renovo Bike showroom, which unfortunately was closed.  We left our nose prints on the window after gazing at their fine handcrafted wooden bikes.  On we went through the nice town of Sausalito.  Many of our riders stopped there for lunch.  Chris and I pressed on, but did stop to take pictures.

Finally, we reach the Golden Gate Bridge.  It is an amazing site, as is the San Francisco skyline on the other side of the bay.  While the scenery and engineering marvel were interesting, the noise and crowd were not exactly my favorite.  Once off the bridge, it was an easy travel into the city.  We reached the hotel in late afternoon.

This evening we had dinner at Lori’s Cafe, a 1950’s style dinner.  Then we visited the Ghirardelli chocolate shop, bought some good stuff to fuel our bodies for the next ride, and had a delicious dessert.

Tomorrow is a “rest” day.  I’m sure we will be out exploring many of the sites.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
Zoom and pan the map to explore the route. Click the name or ‘View Detail’ to view more information at Garmin Connect.

Chris:

Today’s Highlights:

We had spectacular weather today – sunny blue skies with wispy clouds, comfortable morning temperatures and a warm finish in the afternoon.  Our route took us through wine country for about 30 miles, passing one vineyard after another.  Some vines were bursting with purple grapes and others were newly planted.  The roads were rural and quite, allowing us to meander along in small groups enjoying the scenery.

For the next 20 miles or so, we traveled more quite country roads, but in wooded rolling hills and through very small towns.  The town center of Occidental was inviting, with small shops and cafes.  A stop at a bakery would have been a good idea, but we rolled through it and continued our ride.

Around the town of Valley Ford, the vistas opened up, with large farmed spreading across rolling hills.  The golden hills reaching to the blue sky was a pretty sight.

We reached Petaluma around 2:00 after 70 miles of riding.  It was another great day.

America the Beautiful
Great variety today. I never imagined how large the vineyards are. They stretched on forever like Midwestern corn fields. Unfortunately we start our ride early and the wine tastings don’t start until 11am. By then we’d already moved into cow country.

All of these small towns are very cute. I have noticed that the smaller the town the more art galleries and craft stores it has. I guess if they had something else to market then it wouldn’t be a small town. We’ll hit the big city tomorrow. San Fran, here we come.

I love the “oldest and youngest riders” pics. You’ll notice that Herb is always ahead of me.

Chris

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
Zoom and pan the map to explore the route. Click the name or ‘View Detail’ to view more information at Garmin Connect.

Chris: