John Aylward Photography

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

West Coast Bike Day 19

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/20/2012, 8:00:5

Duration: 06:46:46

Ascent/Descent: 3028 ft 3524 ft

Distance: 85.07 M

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

West Coast Bike Day 18

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/19/2012, 7:37:4

Duration: 05:28:19

Ascent/Descent: 3912 ft 3492 ft

Distance: 62.47 M

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

West Coast Bike Day 17

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/18/2012, 8:05:4

Duration: 04:51:53

Ascent/Descent: 3167 ft 3163 ft

Distance: 56.53 M

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

West Coast Bike Day 16

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 9/17/2012, 7:07:4

Duration: 08:28:02

Ascent/Descent: 3021 ft 2709 ft

Distance: 74.42 M