Bike Touring Day 2: Lompoc to Santa Barbara

Day 2 (August 7)  started with breakfast, taking down camp, and making our way towards Santa Barbara.  We anticipated another day of just over 60 miles.

The first 16 miles of the trip were a slight, but steady climb.  Then came a fun 2 mile downhill that leads to the place where hwy 1 and 101 merge.  Again, being on the divided highway is a little strange.  Nice car/truck drivers and large shoulders made it work.

We stopped for lunch at Refugio State Beach - a beautiful beach and nice campground.  I almost wished it was our stop for the night. 

Just before our lunch stop a couple of us were talking about what we wanted to have for lunch.  Our lunches were a combination of things we took with us and bought at stores along the way.  I knew we had some tortillas and peanut butter, so I was thinking that would be a good start.  We then realized that we also had some nutella that might go nicely with the peanut butter tortilla.  Wait a minute!  How about rolling a banana in the middle of the nutella/peanut butter tortilla?!?   We thought it was pretty good :)

After a satisfying lunch we continued on toward Santa Barbara.  The tempatures were getting warmer as we made our way.  There was very little breeze coming off the ocean that day so it was an unseasonably warm day for the coast.  Even so, the bike paths of Santa Barbara are a cyclists paradise.  I also love the rows of palm trees that line the street/path along the coast.

The upper 80's made our stop at McConnell's, a really awesome local ice cream shop, taste even better. 

About 4-5 five miles later we arrived at our destination for the day - Rob's cousin's house.  They offered to have us eat/sleep inside, but in the spirit of bike packing, we set up camp in the back yard.  We did accept their offer to take a shower and do dishes in the kitchen sink, however :)

We were feeling the seat of our bikes a bit more on Day 2, but for the most part everyone was doing fine.  We enjoyed a good meal, conversation with Rob's cousins, and a good night's sleep knowing we were half way home.

Bike Touring Day 1: San Luis Obispo to Lompoc

Day 1 (August 6) was planned out to be just a bit over 60 miles. We stayed with Rob's relatives just outside of Atascadero the night before the ride.  They offered us a nice, light breakfast in the morning.  What a great way to start the day.

We met Dal at a parking lot in SLO and loaded the bikes for the adventure.  We were excited to get the trip going.  Much of Day 1 involved rolling hills, agriculture, and temps b/w 75 & 80 degrees.  Pretty awesome!

Before long we were rolling into Pismo for a brief look at the ocean.  Only minutes after the following picture was taken we encountered our first flat.  Payton's rear tire had a glass puncture.  I think we all secretly wondered how many more flats would come our way.

Our plan was to stop in Guadalupe for lunch.  We enjoyed some food, shade, and time off the bike at a middle school.  The principal was super friendly - letting us use the lunch tables and restroom.  Below you can see Dal and Rob confirming the route towards Lompoc.

The next stretch on Hwy 1 had a pretty narrow bike lane.  We were actually given a lot more room once we joined hwy 135.  Even though 135 is a divided highway (faster moving cars :) there is plenty of room for the bikes and we found the drivers to be very curteous.  Before too long we met the day's challenge: Harris Grade Road.

It offeres a steady climb for about three miles.  Not a lot of traffic (thankfully), but no bike lanes.  While going up the hill we heard a guy yell out his window while going past, "You're gonna' get yourselves killed!"  Thankfully he was wrong.  We appreciated his concern, however, and you're gonna' get yourselves killed became our slogan for the rest of the trip.

The downhill section on Harris Grade (see the video above) made the climb well worth it. Sorry for the bumpy footage.  I had to have my hand on the brakes for part of the descent and it made the camera shake. It was a fun coast down into Lompoc (pronounced lom-poke) where we enjoyed camping at River Park.  They have a nice area for tents.  $10 a site, first come - first serve.

After a good meal we all snuggled in for the night.  A good day on the bike with three more days to go!

The Big Ride

I am not really sure what to call it besides "The Big Ride" :)  We have been training for several months to prepare for a 4-day ride from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles.  Finally the months whittled down to days and the bike packing trip was upon us.  I will not go into much detail in this post, but will later give some day-by-day accounts.  If you are a cyclist or have further interest, please do not hesitate to comment or ask questions.  I'd be happy to share as much information as people find useful.

The trip went fabulously well.  We encoutered wonderful scenery, courteous drivers, fellow bike packers, and great places to set up camp as well.  Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite.  As I mentioned, I will give a full account later. 

Packed and ready to drive to the starting point.

Bikes ready and loaded for the trip!

A view of the famland around Harris Grade Rd.

Beautiful Santa Barbara

Dal, myself, Payton, Joseph, Zac, Rob

...and not so scenic

Wow! All I can say is... Wow! This post is a reflection on bike paths. Have you ever stopped to think about where they choose to put them?

Let me explain. During the past several days our family went out of town to visit relatives. We took a couple of bikes with us with the hope that we would get some miles in. We found out that the town (where we were visiting) had put in a bike path somewhat recently. It isn't more than a few miles, but we decided to check it out after taking a ride. It started out great - it loosely followed a river that we could see through trees and bushes. Before long, however, we started smelling something nasty. Soon we noticed some man made "ponds" of water. One of them in particular looked and smelled like raw sewage! Sure enough, we were riding right next to the water treatment plant. We had a river on one side and the bathroom on the other!

Did they really think this would be an enjoyable place to take a bike ride? It got me to thinking about some of the scenic and not so scenic places to ride. I guess it makes you appreciate the good smelling rides a bit more. I wonder what other "choice" bike paths cyclists have found. (Please warn the rest of us, if you would be so kind :)

The Scenic Route

Today's ride was just what the bike doctor ordered.  Most of the easy riding in LA county is on riverbed paths.  They are smooth and (usually) well maintained, they keep you zipping along - but the scenery can get stale.  Another addition to the monotany is the fact that they are primarily level and straight.  The upside is that you can get lots of miles in without stopping and you don't worry about getting hit by a car (just other bikes :).

The good news is that today we went for a change - some hills and curves.  It required taking surface streets (some with bike lanes), but once we got into the hills it was totally worth it.  East St. and West St. in the hills of Whittier brought us excitement in the forms of pain while going up and free coasting while riding down.  The coasting provided free air conditioning on the way down.

Perhaps the most awesome-est part was the feeling that we were 100's of miles from LA.  All the hills, curves, trees, and open space between homes was refreshing.  It was a sweet treat for a group of urban bike cowboys.  Here is a short clip of us heading down one of the hills.  (Sorry about the wind noise).

Stolen!

Do you know that feeling you get when you just realized that something has just been stolen from you?  I call it the "sinking" feeling in your stomache.  For me it feels almost like I'm free-falling and my stomache doesn't know what to do.

I'll never forget one time when we thought our van was stolen.  We had parked at the mall and gone instide a department store - a big one like Macy's or Sear's.  We had walked around the store a bit, maybe even gone to more than one store in the mall.  Anyway, we went out of the mall and couldn't find our van.  We were looking around the lot trying to make sure we were in the right spot.  I asked my wife if we had perhaps gone out of a different door than we'd entered.  That was it!  We finally caught on to where we parked and found the van exactly where we'd left it.  It sure made my stomache feel better.

I wish the same were true for my wife's bicycle this week.  We had just purchased a NEW bike for her a week ago.  She was always using one of our bikes (mine or our oldest son's) for short rides.  We had always planned to get her a bike but put it off.  She was pretty happy to have her own.  A girls bike, even!

The morning after she got it we took a short ride together and stopped for coffee.  She loooooooved it.  (or maybe it was just being with me?? - not likely :)

Anyway... she had a quick appointment for her neck at the chiropractor, so she decided to take her bike.  I gave her my lock to take with her and we both went about our day.  Almost an hour later I answer a call from her. 

"Can you pick me up?"

"What?"

"Can you pick me up.  My bike was stolen."

"You're kidding me.  Really?  What happened?"

"Look, I really don't want to explain it over the phone.  Can you come and get me?"

The chiropracor's office was in a shopping area that got plenty of foot traffic.  She had locked the bike up to a bike rack.  Yet someone had the nerve to cut the lock and take off with it.  Stolen after having the bike for one week.  ARGHH!!!

The good news is that it is covered by insurance.  The bad news is that people can really be jerks.  I don't know about you, but it really can make a guy angry.  I really try not to let myself get too wrapped up into material things.  I'd much rather deal with this hastle than physical harm or something that cannot be replaced.  I guess we live in a fallen world, yes?  I can still hardly believe it.  Stolen!

Epic ride of...

As a rule, I dislike the use of the term epic.  It seems to be used as a popular adjective or catch phrase without having significant meaning.  (Much like the word awesome from my childhood :)  My son (12 years old) and his friends use it constantly.  One time they added "of doom" to each epic statement.

"The epic movie of doom."

"The epic bicycle of doom."

Each statement followed by laughter and an effort to think of a new, funnier statement.

So... I cautiously use the word epic to describe our latest bike ride.  Every cyclist has their own list of epic rides.  Most are far more grand than ours.  But for us, this one was pretty cool.  My buddy, his son, myself, and my son went for an over-nighter.  We wanted to get some practice in before a longer trip in the summer, so it was a great opportunity to make sure we could carry all our gear and still get in the miles we needed.  Our overnight stopping point was in Sierra Madre (CA), so our plan was to take the San Gabriel River bike path on the way up and take the Rio Hondo/LA River bike path on the way back.

We left on Friday afternoon at about 2pm.  It was a warm ride, but we were excited for the journey.  We didn't meet many other riders, but the few that were on the trail seemed grateful to see a few other people who were sweating as much as they.  Since our turn-off point from the San Gabriel path was a bit short of the end of the bike path, we contemplated continueing until we reached the end of the path.  None of us had ever actually taken the path to its starting point, so it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.  It added about 6 miles to the ride, but it was totally worth it.

Should this be called the path to nowhere?

After backtracking to our turn off, we navigated some city streets, bike lanes, and a bike path to get to our camping spot.  The last few miles turned out to be the most difficult.  Although the elevation of Sierra Madre is only in the 800's, it seemed like we gained it all in the last 2-3 miles.  By the time we got to our camping spot we were hungry and tired.  Our camping spot consisted of a friend's backyard.  They were kind enough to lend us their bathroom and a place to refill water bottles.

You know you are a city slicker when...

The plan for day two was to take the Rio Hondo and LA River paths towards home.  We got started at about 8am and were feeling pretty good.  That may have been because the first few miles were downhill :)  We navigated our way to what we thought was the start of the trail, but it was unpaved.  It was marked for walking, biking, or horse riders, but we didn't know if the loose dirt would navigate well.  We took it slow and gave it a go.  It turned out to be a fun little quarter of a mile that brought us to the paved part of the trail.

No wipe outs or flats (sigh).

As we rode down the bike path we started to contemplate another interesting proposition.  Since we were starting at the origin of another bike path, it would be really epic to take it all the way to the ocean.  My buddy called home to rearrange his afternoon and we were set.

But wait, there was one more epic possibility to consider.  Since we would be on the coast we could pedal to the San Gabriel River bike path and take it from the ocean up to the stop near our houses.  It would add some miles to our original plan, but how could we pass up the opportunity to ride a loop that included both pathways in their entirety as part of one bike-packing trip.  We had to do it.

The southbound trip included a stiff headwind, but we pushed on with only a couple of breaks.  Finally we got to the ocean and snapped a picture at the lighthouse.  

A lighthouse near the end of the tunnel.

We figured we'd hit In-n-Out for lunch on the way to the San Gabriel River.  That would give us the energy boost we needed to complete the trip.  The burgers, fries, and shakes did not disappoint.

 See the yellow arrow?  (drool)

After a satisfying lunch we made our way to the last leg of the trip.  

From the mouth of the river we had a 10 mile push to the end of our loop.  The excitement of finishing the ride gave us the incentive we needed to zip home - or was it the tailwind?  Either way, we finished the epic ride with smiles on our faces.  All told it was about a hundred miles and six bananas, four clif bars, a bag of trailmix, ...

After we got home we told the rest of our family about the epic ride.  My four year old pondered the thought for a moment and asked, "Do you mean an epic ride of doom?"

Hmmm... maybe :)