Bike Touring Day 9: Pt. Mugu to Los Angeles

When you  are on the last day, you let yourself think about all the nice things you are going to enjoy when you get home.  You suppress these thoughts during the trip because you don't want to torture yourself - it messes with your mind.  Once the trip is almost finished, however, you start thinking about the people you've missed, being able to cook in a kitchen, having running water and a sink to wash dishes, sleeping in a soft bed, and taking a warm shower without wearing flip flops.  (We were happy to have showers, but I had no problem letting these guys be a part of my past).

Even though we were looking forward to the modern conveniences of home, we knew we'd miss some things too.  We'd miss the great views of the countryside and ocean, the simplicity of life on the road, and being on our bikes together.  Although it is convenient to get places quickly in a car, we love the slower, more interesting way of travel.  So as you can see, the last day would have its ups and downs - much like our trip.

We did our usual morning routine and cleared the campsite.

I rode with the guys to the entrance of the park and waved goodbye.  My wife arrived only minutes after they left.  The guys would be rolling through Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, and Redondo Beach.  Then they would take surface streets for the last 20+ miles to get home.

They suffered through lunch at Chipotle in Venice without me.  From what I hear, the last day went well.  I think Payton managed to get one more flat, but otherwise they were able to keep a good pace.

In talking to Rob after the trip, he also mentioned having more aches and pains than in past tours.  The knee pain was probably from our IT bands tightening up and getting more use than usual.  We trained before the trip, but our 40 year old bodies needed more than we gave them.  (The boys had no complaints :)

Other than some strain on the body, the trip was a great experience.  The boys were proud of their accomplishment and excited to tell their friends about it at school.  God blessed us with 500 miles of fun times, beautiful views, and safety.  Amazing.

Bike Touring Day 8: Santa Barbara to Pt. Mugu

Rob and I woke up to the sound of sprinklers.  Uh-oh, was our tent about to get soaked?  Thankfully it was only the sprinklers for the bushes and plants - nothing to worry about.  We were now wide awake, however, so we got dressed and started making coffee and breakfast.  We ate, packed, said goodbye, and made our way out of the beautiful town.  It was another cool, overcast morning.

As you might guess, we encounter restrooms of all shapes, smells, and sizes.  We aren't picky when touring, but a clean and well ventilated restroom is always a nice surprise. 

We often meet other cyclists at restroom and food stops.  In Ventura we met a couple of guys who were doing a similar trip to our own.  They were college roommates twenty years ago, and plan cycling adventures each summer.  I believe one of them lives in California and the other in Minnesota.

The guys also stayed at the same campground at Pt. Mugu that night, so we got to visit with them during the evening as well.








The day went pretty much as planned.  We stopped for lunch in Oxnard and pedaled around the point and into the campground in time to put up our tents and hang out at the beach before dinner.

 Late in the afternoon a young guy - probably in his late teens or early 20's - started setting up camp near us in the hiker/biker group site.  He was a nice guy, but he was acting a little strange.  While we were finishing dinner a Ranger came buy to ask him some questions.  At first it appeared as though he was going to make him leave.  I'm not sure what the situation was, but the Ranger let him stay the night.  

After hanging out with the two guys we'd met in Ventura, we called it a night.  I was a little disappointed to be picked up in the morning.  It felt funny to leave Rob with the three boys. 

Bike Touring Day 7: Lompoc to Santa Barbara

Before going to bed the night before, we talked about how cool it would be to do a time lapse video of our morning.  Dal is our gadget guy, and he knew exactly what to do.  His iPhone app would take a picture every 3 or 4 seconds and then compile them into a video.  Sounds like fun, don't you think?  Well, let's see if we can get a link for it.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2783543/BikeTripWakeUp2013.mov

It might take a while to load, but I think you will enjoy the wait.

So... back to our 7th day of riding.  Lompoc to Santa Barbara is a fun ride because it includes several neat things.  You first ride through the country and roll along over some hills.  There is a gradual and steady climb, however, that sets you up for a great downhill on Hwy 101.  The sweet downhill is also great because it brings you back to the beautiful coastline.  No matter how many times I see the ocean, it still amazes me.  Finally, we knew the day would take us into Santa Barbara - home of some nice bike paths.  One of the paths leads through the UC Santa Barbara campus, a second path brings you further into Santa Barbara.  If that weren't enough, we also have a tradition of stopping at a really good ice cream shop once we get to the main part of town.  So now you know what to include on your next bike trip ;)

The day went much as planned.  After some oatmeal and coffee we stowed away our damp tents, loaded the bikes, and said goodbye to our campground neighbors.  About midway through the morning we met up with Grant and Larry (see previous posts) who were heading the same direction.  We stopped at the "summit" to take a picture and have a snack before coasting to the coast.

We stopped for lunch at the gorgeous Refugio State Beach.  It's one of those places you want to spend the whole day - palm trees blowing in the wind, lots of sun-soaked sand, and ocean as far as the eye can see.  Maybe some day we'll stay there over night.  Dal, aka Diet Coke, got a soda for each of us to enjoy with our lunch.  After a little R&R we were back on the bikes.  Santa Barbara or Bust!

 The rest of the ride to Santa Barbara went well. We took Hwy 101 for about ten miles, side roads for a few more, and then road through the UC Santa Barbara Campus.

We always get a kick out of the cool campus bike paths, roundabouts, signage, and the bike racks.  I wonder how many bikes are locked up when classes are in full swing?  If I'm not mistaken, I believe I saw a bike pump fastened to a rack so that students could fill up their tires.  Amazing.









  
After pedaling through campus we rode on another bike/horse/walking path towards downtown.  Before long we were on Mission Street looking for Mc Connell's ice cream shop.  The place is always busy, but we managed to pick out some awesome flavors and find a place to sit inside.   (air conditioning:)

One bit of bad news was that Dal was going to meet his wife in Santa Barbara so that they could drive home the following day.   He and Carol were planning to attend a church camping event and he needed to get home in time to make it all happen.  We had considered trying to get the trip completed in one less day, but it would be too difficult.

(I came to realize that I was probably going to need to cut the trip one day short myself and would need to get picked up at Pt. Mugu.  I'll get to more of that later).

Anyway, after we enjoyed a cold creamy treat, we meandered through Santa Barbara on our way to Rob's cousin's house.  Bruce and Dori hosted us the year before, so we were happy to camp out in their back yard again.  The uphill climb to their house wasn't severe, but enough to remind me that my knee wasn't getting any better.

 We unloaded our gear, the boys set up the tents, and Rob and I went to Trader Joe's to pick up food for dinner.  We had pasta with alfredo sauce and grilled chicken, raw carrots, salad, and focaccia bread.  Not a bad meal for bike touring!

After dinner we had a nice visit with Bruce and Dori.  Then it was off to the sleeping bags in preparations for another day.

Bike Touring Day 6: San Luis Obispo to Lompoc

Our 6th day of riding began with a great breakfast.  (Ruth's jam was so good that we didn't want to leave!)  Before long we had our bikes and equipment packed in a couple of pick-ups so that we could leave from San Luis Obispo instead of Atascadero.

Getting our gear out of the trucks brought back many memories from our trip the previous year.  We had met in the same parking lot to start our trip from (San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles).  I was really looking forward to comparing our present trip to the year before.

We topped off our tires with air, said goodbye to our friends, and embraced the misty morning air.  It was fun to see some familiar things - we even stopped at a couple of the same places.  The morning seemed to go by quickly as we pedaled through Pismo Beach and into Guadalupe.






Guadalupe is a small agricultural town.  If you ever find yourself there - but do not know where you are - just look at the side of this building!  It has a big hand pointing to where you are on the map and shows you how many miles it takes to get to more promenant places.

Do you think a lot people get lost in Guadalupe?  Maybe they pull over and go inside this Napa auto parts store to ask for directions.  After the second or third person came in to figure out how to get to Los San FranDiego, or something, the guy says to himself, "You know what I should do? I should paint a big map on the side of the store so that people don't have to ask me no more!"

Actually, the map looks pretty cool - and the people in the town are quite nice.  We stopped at a little restaurant called Romo's to get lunch. 

We took advantage of a great tail wind as we rode out of town.  There is a very gradual ascent over the miles between Guadalupe and Harris Grade Road, but the breeze blew us straight through.

I was struck by the different types of scenery we were seeing on our trip.  The hills and coastline of Big Sur, the flatter coastlines through Cambria and Pismo, and the various types of agriculture in between were all unique.

Another group of riders merged onto Highway 135 just ahead of us.  Our three boys kept pace with them for a few miles before the group broke free.  (You can sort of make out the pink riding jerseys of the other group).  I was impressed with the boys for holding the quick pace that long.  They were keeping up with hybrid bikes and 30 pounds of gear! 

Dal got a flat somewhere along the way, so he and I stopped to fix it.  The rest of the gang rode on ahead and waited for us at the turn off for Harris Grade Road.  Harris Grade would be our challenge for the day.  The rode winds around and over a range of hills and eventually intersects with Hwy 1 in Lompoc.

Once Dal and I met up with the others we all got psyched up for a nice three mile climb.  I'm not sure if Payton's tire picked up some thorns in the picture above, or if it happened after we started riding again.  Whatever the case may be, he soon had a flat tire with two thorns sticking out of it.  I am glad that Rob stayed back with me to change it.  (Rob can change a tire almost as fast as the NASCAR guys).

I'm sure we didn't break any speed records on the climb, but the boys handled the incline really well.  I remember giving the boys at least one rest stop on the way up the previous year.  This time we took it all in one effort.  While resting at the summit, a kind woman who was also stopped along the side of the road offered us a cold jug of water and container of fresh strawberries.  Is that cool or what?!?

Before long we were riding through Lompoc on our way to River Park Campground.  After dropping off some gear, Dal and I headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner.  We decided to go with a Boyscout recipe.  We wrapped pieces of potatos, carrots, hamburger, onion, and peppers in tin foil and let them cook in a bed of coals.  A little ketchup made it into an amazing meal.  

The only down side of the day was that my left knee was hurting.  I'm not sure if it was because I adjusted my left foot position on the pedal (to keep my ankle from hurting), or if it was just the strain of riding.  The good news is that my knee only hurt when riding.  The bad news is that it only hurt when riding!

 

 

Bike Touring Day 5: San Simeon to Atascadero

The plan for Day 5 was to make our way to Atascadero, just under 40 miles.  We would take Pacific Coast Hwy a few miles past Cambria and then go east on Hwy 41 towards Paso Robles.  From there we would take back roads and a little bit of Hwy 101 south to Atascadero.

Normally, I like to study the route and get acquainted with everything - how many miles it is from one place to another, what the elevation changes will be, where we can stop along the way, and stuff like that.  But today would be different, and that made it pretty exciting.  Our adventure cycling maps didn't include our detour, and I didn't bother to look things up on the computer before our trip.  It was sure to be an adventure and I was very curious to know what elevation changes and scenery we would experience.

Our San Simeon Hiker/Biker Site

 Although the morning was overcast, we were not fogged in with much marine layer.  It was nice to put away dry tents for a change.  Soon we were on our way.

The cloud cover gradually faded away as the morning progressed.  It didn't get too hot, thankfully, but we could tell we would be going through some hills on our way to Paso.

At first the ascents were only 1/4 or 1/2 mile of uphill before descending again.  After 8 to 10 miles, however, we encountered a constant ascent.  The curves in the road kept us from knowing how long the uphill climb would last.  Every time we got around a corner, we'd see more hill to climb!  I should mention that though the climb was long and steady, it was not terribly steep.  And it did grant us the enjoyment of some beautiful scenery.  Since I had no idea what the road had in store for us, I was very curious about how much elevation we were gaining.

Rob and I had been hanging out in the back of the group, so when we finally reached the summit, they guys ahead of us staged a dramatic pose for us to enjoy!  The hill had definitely gotten our attention for both length of climb and total elevation.  It would mark the highest elevation of our whole trip.

As the saying goes: "It's all downhill from here."  The rest of the way to Atascadero was indeed mostly down hill.  Better yet, we started to catch an awesome tail wind.  We zipped past a few wineries (no time for wine tasting on this trip), and stopped for lunch just outside of Paso Robles. 

Vineyards outside of Paso Robles

Eating lunch outside of Target

After resting and eating lunch, we rode the last several miles to Rob's Uncle Jim and Aunt Ruth's house.  They have a nice place on the outskirts of town.  We had stayed at their place a year ago on another bike tour, so it was nice to see them again.  Rob's mom and dad were there also.  It was fun to talk about our experiences over the last number of days. 

 

It was also really nice to do some laundry.  And dinner was really good also!  Not to mention a clean shower and bathroom.  Uncle Jim even turned off the sprinklers so that our tents wouldn't get drenched :)

Bike Touring Day 4: Plaskett Creek to San Simeon

Day 4 turned out to be a short one.  It was sort of liberating to know we would only be going half of our usual mileage.  Our early plans were to go from Plaskett Creek Campground to San Luis Obispo in one day.  Rob's uncle and aunt, who live in Atascadero (not terribly far from SLO), were hopeing to host us for an evening.  It sounded like a great idea, so we wanted to find a way to squeeze it in.

Rob worked out a plan to ride to Atascadero instead of SLO.  He recommended splitting the ride from Plaskett Creek to Atascadero so that it wouldn't be too long of a ride, with too much climbing.  It seemed reasonable, so that became the new plan.

(Unfortunately, the new plan would add an extra day to our trip.  Since I had some things planned at home for Saturday, the day I thought we would be home, I would need to get picked up Saturday morning from Pt. Mugu instead of riding the last day into LA.  I contemplated putting off the obligations I had on Saturday, but knew it just couldn't be done.  Dal was also in a bind.  He was planning to go camping with his wife and a group from their church the weekend we were planning to arrive at home.  Since we would no longer get back by Friday evening, as we'd first planned, he was going to get picked up in Santa Barbara by his wife on Thursday.  More on that later).

Dal suggested we get an early start in the morning.  Sounds like a simple suggestion, right?  Well, most mornings we were up by 7am.  However, by the time we got dressed, made & ate breakfast, cleaned up after breakfast, loaded bikes, etc... we would get rolling around 8:45-9:00am.  Dal suggested that we get up a little earlier, pack our things, and eat breakfast in Gorda.  He won us over to his plan by saying he'd buy everyone breakfast at the restaurant!

His plan worked.  We got up around 6:30am, packed our things, and got out on the road about an hour later.  Before long we were parking our bikes outside the restaurant and ordering eggs, pancakes, and other stuff.  (By the way, the water in Gorda isn't potable either.  Do you think it is just a conspiracy to make you buy it for $5/gallon?)

We burned off the pancakes by riding through the rest of the Big Sur.  We took a little break mid-morning to use the restroom and get a couple of snacks at the Ragged Point Inn.  Notice in the photo below that Dal is enjoying a Diet Coke - his favorite form of hydration!  We knew that every time he walked into a convenience store, grocery store, campground store, or restaurant he'd come out with a smile on his face and a cold, caffeinated, carbonated beverage in his hand.





Now that we had completed the Big Sur portion of the coast, the next stretch was relatively flat.  We also had a great tail wind.  It was a nice change of pace.  We stopped to see the elephant seals a few miles north of San Simeon.  We also saw a zebra hanging out with a heard of cattle.
 

 

The elephant seals like to worm their way up on shore and flip sand on themselves as they sunbathe.  Their deep barks and occassional sparring had us mesmerized.

We soon road into San Simeon Village in hopes of buying groceries for lunch and dinner.  The convenience store did not have a very wide selection.  After assessing what the place had to offer, we discussed our options.  Soon we were outside putting together a wild culinary concoction.  Dal combined an onion, a jar of salsa, a can of refried beans, and a can of enchilada sauce in a pot and warmed it over one of the pocket rockets.  Soon we were dipping tortilla chips into it.  Rob sliced some cheese (the boys prefer to say he "cut the cheese") to put with the newly formed sauce on soft shell tortillas.  

It has been long hypothesized that food tastes better when you are camping.  Some people speculate that it has something to do with eating out doors, others suggest that it is caused by extaordinary hunger.  Whatever the case may be, it seems to be true.  We honestly enjoyed Dal's recipe and finished every last bite.  After finishing lunch we picked up a number of items to take with us to the campground for making dinner.  We decided to keep it simple and go with some canned spaghetti and meatballs and cheese and crackers.

We only had to ride a couple more miles before arriving at the San Simeon State Park where we would be camping for the night.  Little did we know we were in for a little suprise.  As we turned left toward the campground a car followed us into the entrance and pulled along side of us.  We were amazed to see that we recognized the two people in the car!  

John, the boys' 7th grade science teacher, and Kelly, his wife, were traveling up the coast on a vacation of their own.  He knew that we were going to be taking the trip from San Fancisco to LA, but never considered the fact that they might see us along the way.  As the two of them were driving north, he spotted our group of six bikes.  There is nothing unusual about that in itself.  Seeing three boys in the group was what caught his eye.  He decided to make a U-turn and check us out.  How cool is that!?!

Soon they were back on the road and we were making our way to a campsite in the campground.  It was nice to arrive in the early afternoon so that the boys had time to explore the beach and goof around a bit.  I enjoyed a little time to make notes about our trip and just relax a little.  We also had the pleasure of hearing stories from a fellow hiker/biker.  For both his sake and yours, I will spare you the details.  Our nickname for him was Compression Shorts - and let's just leave it at that.

After relaxing for a few hours we took advantage of the showers, had dinner, and got ready for bed.  Not only had we enjoyed a short day of biking, we were looking forward to a similar one in the morning.  Ahhhhhhhh....          Zzzzzzzz......