October 24th

Will play catch up first..

The 22nd was a very "blah" day.  It was short - only 45 miles I think - but the skies were grey most of the day, with a tiny bit of rain.  The scenery was boring, the route had quite a lot of big trucks.
For some reason, this day was mostly just a matter of getting from point A to point B.
And the hotel!!  Apparently the hotel we were to stay in closed and we had to go to a nearby hotel that was really just a dump.
It rained at dinner time so we ate squashed into the hotel lobby....

But the 23rd, our last day of biking, was absolutely fabulous!!
It didn't start that way - it was cold (I could see my breath) and at first there was a thick fog.
But soon the fog cleared and the sun shone, and the miles just went along.
The first twenty miles were on the highway - lots of traffic whizzing by, but the shoulders were wide and pretty smooth, so we ate up the miles on our bikes.  And soon we were on the coastline and could see the waves crashing on the shore and the beautiful beaches..
Off the highway and onto the bike paths of Santa Barbara - including through the campus.  They were the cadillac of bike paths, and the campus was beautiful!
Sheila and I had decided that if we were to do 84 miles today and still have time to get ready for our farewell dinner, we would not stop for lunch, but things were going so well that we succumbed to the temptation and had a wonderful lunch in Santa Barbara.
Plus, we were biking though Montecito and saw Sue & Linda (my fellow Canadian) at a cupcake place... and had to stop for a celebratory cupcake!!
More bike paths, plus another quick five miles on the highway, and finally onto the last bike path into Ventura.
Thanks to the great tailwinds, and our now great skills and strength as the super cyclists we are, we were in by 4pm with plenty of time to get organized, showered and dressed for our dinner out!
Some people were a little ... happy by the end of the evening, but a good time was had by all.

And I did it!!  I don't know the exact numbers, but I cycled for 24 days - close to 1,600 miles, and the reports were that we climbed between 65,00 and 70,000 vertical feet!!
I actually can't believe that I did it!!!
and only a handful of people actually biked EFI - every f... inch!  for one reason or another, most people "bumped" a little (or a lot!)
I guess that my intensive training paid off....

And right now - the 24th, I am in a wonderful little boutique resort - the San Ysidro Ranch - in Santa Barbara.  It is one of the nicest places that I have ever stayed in : a cottage with a private patio with an outdoor shower and hot tub, plus a verandah out front, a living area with a fireplace, a great big luxurious looking king-sized bed and a bathroom bigger than most of the hotel rooms I've been in in the last month.  Back where I belong.....

October 21st

I had to look it up - we are in Arroyo Grande today.
It was a fantastic ride - we had to go on the highway at the beginning, but with six foot wide shoulders and very little traffic, it was not a big deal.
First stop - coffee in Morrow Bay - best latte I've had so far on this trip!
Next stop, San Luis Obispo for lunch.  The town was charming and full of people - we had a great lunch on an outdoor terrace - wonderful!!
Only 12 miles to go, so we hopped on our bikes and headed down the road.  Hmmm... an ambulance.
Turn the corner, there it is - along with a fire truck and a police car.
Oh - bikes and neon jackets just like ours... what a horrible, horrible feeling.  I got there just in time to see them load her into the ambulance.
One of the ladies fell - skidded on some gravel with a flat tire and fell, hitting her jaw on a concrete
construction barrier that was on the side of the row - she couldn't get her feet out of the pedals in time to catch herself.
She is back with us, but needs to see an oral surgeon asap so she is trying to get back to Milwaukee.
Poor lady - she is a funny, interesting 68 year old woman.
And only two days left in the trip.
Earlier on another woman went home.  She went out for a walk after dinner, fell and broke her shoulder..
Will be extra careful for the next two days...

56.7 miles today.

October 20th

October 19th -
What a lovely day!
We biked out of Monterey and onto the "17 Mile Drive" - which wound along the coast line, past Pebble Beach - it was amazing and beautiful and just spectacular again!
We had coffee in Carmel-by-the-Sea - I am not sure if we really looked like we belonged there in all our biking clothes, but they served us!!  We shopped a bit and continued on.
The sun went behind the clouds, but it was still a beautiful day and a beautiful ride... and only 46 miles!

October 20th -
Okay, not such a great day!  It was foggy so it was a little disconcerting to say the least; there were constant hills for the first 50 miles- and I am still thinking that I would rather bike up than bike down;
no shoulders ...  It was a challenging morning.
Lunch at Ragged Point - mediocre food and lousy service!
But the rest of the ride was pretty flat and a much easier ride!
67 miles...

October 18th

Hi Y'all!

I am now in Monterey, California!  The weather is beautiful, the town is lovely, the scenery spectacular and we had a wonderful lunch overlooking the water!
All that and an easy 46 mile ride from Santa Cruz.  We wheeled through the Salinas Valley where we saw fields of strawberries and artichokes!?? - migrant workers picking the strawberries, produce stands,
back roads - a great bike ride!  And then on to a bike path to get into Monterey - and we arrived in time for lunch, checking into the hotel, a walk around the town, laundry and dinner.
All in all, a very good day!

Yesterday was a decent ride but it was an 84 mile ride!!!  The hills were not too bad, and the weather was warm and sunny, but we didn't get lunch until almost 3pm - 70 miles into the trip!!  I was starving!!
Oh, and I had my first (and hopefully last!) flat tire.  Thank goodness, Katie & Sheila were with me -
Katie pretty much changed the tire with Sheila helping and me doing whatever I could.  Fortunately that happened just a few miles out of Santa Cruz, so we rode in and found a bike shop where they looked over the tire and I bought a couple of new tires and I am ready for the next few days!

October 16th

Ahhhh..... just spent the day with my wonderful friend, Janet Gamble.  Did you know that you can actually get around a city without pedalling??  She picked me up in her car... and we went for breakfast - had really excellent beignets (plus bacon, eggs, hash browns...)  We took the dogs for a walk at Crissy Field, I watched her make an excellent meal and then politely agreed to consume (yes, greedily!!) it all!!
And we talked...  I do miss her since she moved away from Calgary...

Okay, but maybe you want to hear about my bike ride yesterday.  It was 71 miles which sounds horrendous, but it was actually a wonderful day!!  We started off through fields and farmland, then alongside a lovely inlet, small hills, not much traffic, coffee in Mendicino (okay - I had HOMEMADE apple pie and ice cream at that first stop!)  A lovely ride through the countryside.

But our ultimate destination was San Francisco, so eventually we had to hit the urban areas.  Lunch at the Barefoot Cafe in Fairfax, and then through all sorts of little - and not so little - towns to get to the Golden Gate Bridge.  The bike routes were really well marked and so were the bike lanes, so although I was concerned about biking on city streets, it was really quite enjoyable!  I was following Virginia
(from Georgia) and she is a very focused rider and was able to follow the cue sheet so well that I did not even have to think - I just shadowed her every move.
Unfortunately, I somehow managed to lose Virginia and Sheila by the Golden Gate Bridge, but still managed to make it to the hotel on my own - somewhat of a miracle for those who know how directionally challenged I am!!
The bridge itself - amazing!!  And it was a beautiful, sunny day (all day incidentally) without any fog obscuring our view, so it was a pretty spectacular sight!!  I was on the west sidewalk which is only for bikes, so it was a memorable journey - in the best way!

Staying at the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf- it's okay...
But I had a massage Monday night and sigh... it was wonderful....

Sunny, warm. All in all, a couple of great days....

October 14th

Yesterday was a fabulous day!!!  Good weather, hills but nothing horrible.  A nice lunch along the way...  and only 60 miles.  We got in in time to go for ice cream and a walk before dinner (yep - you are not going to see a noticeably slimmer Janine, but you will see a happy one!!)  And the hotel room was wonderful - a deck overlooking the beach, a huge bed, a lovely bathroom - what more could you ask for??

Today, however, was a different story!!   Only 49 miles - a walk in the park, a piece of cake, a nice, easy day....  Wrong!!  Fog, hills, lots of hills, traffic and no shoulders - a bad combination.
However, we did stop for a lovely, lovely lunch and it was a beautiful thing.  In early enough to sit outside and soak up some sunshine (finally!!)

Tomorrow - San Francisco!!  Hopefully I will see Janet - and I have an appointment for a massage tomorrow evening - in a beautiful spa....

Dinner INSIDE tonight - very odd to eat without freezing to death!

And four of us - Angela, Virginia, Sheila and I - watched the old Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds,
tonight.  It was filmed right here in Bodega Bay.  Glad we are wearing bike helmets - should help save us should we be attacked!!

PLUS : We have now biked 1, 045 miles and climbed over 50,000 vertical feet - impressive, huh??

October 12th

If this is Friday, I must be in Fort Bragg??
What a day today!!  We kept hearing about this horrendous hill that was coming up - four miles long, a real killer.  Actually it was okay - just a 7% grade - no problem.
However... they didn't talk about how cold it was going to be going down the other side - 12 miles of downhill on a twisty, steep hill with no shoulders and I froze!!  and then there was the other hill - God knows how long it was, but the grade was between 6 and 11%!!  Yikes!
Then we finally got out of the forests and into the sun - overlooking that fabulous coastline - but there were short, steep hills ...
Anyway, I made it - all 67 miles and I feel good about it!!  It felt like a real accomplishment.
We got in just in time for a quick shower and a stretch before dinner (yes, Natalie, I am still using your yoga stretches every day after a ride).  After dinner though, four of us walked into town and had blackberry pie and ice cream - life is good!!

PS  Climbed 5,200 vertical feet today...

October 11th

Avenue of the Giants -
doesn't that sound great???
That was part of the route that we did today and it is a road that goes through the redwoods.
Traffic was light and the forests were astounding!
What a treat to bike through there.
Now, it was cool and overcast in the morning, but eventually the sun came out which made a big
difference.
And it was 80 miles!
It is still hard to believe that I can do that...
15 cycling days done - 13 left to go!

Interesting note : apparently this area is known for having secret pot crops deep in the woods and it is harvest time.  There are a lot of ... interesting people hanging around town today...

October 10th

82 miles - a 4,500 ft - and one 7 mile hill to start off the day...  it was a challenging day!  We arrived just in time for dinner - they actually held dinner for us and we ate in our cycling clothes.  Yikes!  What a day!!!!  I was ready to quit at mile 55 - in the middle of the third (and last) horrendous hill of the day, but Sheila and I decided that we could soldier on.  I think that at least half of the group "bumped" today-
We have decided that we won't kill ourselves, but we are going to do our best to do the whole trip without bumping.  We have made it to the halfway mark - 12 days of cycling behind us and 12 days ahead of us.  Crazy!

But really, it is all worth it - we biked through a redwood forest today - magnificent, spectacular, awe-inspiring!  And we were back on the coast line for part of the day - wow!!

Got some stats last night - 31 women and the average age is 63.4 - 2 women in their 40s, 7 in their 50s,
6 over 70 and the rest in their 60s. It is quite inspiring actually - no, it is very inspiring!!

Our chef, Patty, is leaving us today, so Lin sang a song for her (Lin, in her 70s, sings a song that she has composed while cycling once in a while - such a treat) , and Sheila composed a poem in her honour - such an interesting group of women to say the least.

A day of rest today in Eureka, California (oh, did I mention that we have now arrived in California?)
A sad little town (is that just the reflection of the weather - cool and misty??) but I managed to get my laundry done, plus I bought a new bike seat - please Lord, let this make my bike ride less painful??!!

And six of us went out for dinner - we were looking for steak and steak we got!  Such a treat to eat sitting at a table - inside out of the cold - and able to decide what we were going to eat.  Life is good!

Another 80 mile ride tomorrow, but apparently without the hills of yesterday....

October 8th

Wow!  What a study in contrast!
Yesterday was pretty much miserable - it was cold in the morning and we spent most of the day in the mist so that there was very little to see except for the road and trees alongside the road.  Oh, except that  it is pretty hard to miss the logging trucks and RVs.               Only 55 miles though.

Today on the other hand, was bright and sunny and just a little cool in the morning.
In the first few hours, we rode up and down some hills... nothing major... but the last half of the day was pretty much flat.
But the viewpoints in the morning!  There were far too many to stop at, but each one offered an amazing view of the coastline.  Hope the pictures turn out!! And just 60 miles today.

Yikes!  I just heard thunder!!  Hope that this is just an overnight storm............

Managed to find someone in the group that has her own kettle and tea - what a treat.. and another one just dropped off a chocolate bar for me to try - life is good!!
Now just as long as there is no rain tomorrow... oh, and that I can find a new bicycle seat in Eureka!

October 6th

I was in Florence last night - no, not the statue of David Florence, but Florence,Oregon.  You know, the place that they dynamited a whale  (check it out on youtube..)
Actually quite a cute little town.
A quick 50 mile ride - but it took most of the day because we stopped to eat, and we stopped at most of the viewpoints and we stopped at the SeaLions Cave (don't go there - big tourist rip-off)...  and all of that takes time you know!

Today I am in ...  just a sec, I will look it up - I am in Bandon, Oregon (it was on the side of the cup).
A long ride today - 75 miles - and it really wasn't very interesting scenery.  Apparently we are in the area that is sand dunes all along the coast, but for obvious reasons, they do not build the road beside the dunes.

Still a sore bum - am thinking of buying a new bike seat at the next bike store - any suggestions???
advice???

October 1st

Wow!  It's been three days and sooooo many miles!!

First day after our rest day in Bremerton was only 54 miles - all the way to Elma.
A few hills - nothing terrible and I am doing okay.

September 30th we rode from Elma to Long Beach - 84 miles!!!!
And it was a terrible, horrible, awful start to the day.
When I woke up and looked outside there was a lovely mist hugging the ground - it looked quite beautiful with the rising sun...
Hah!!  It was freezing cold and damp and just plain miserable for the first two hours!  It was a
"I hate this day" kind of experience!
But eventually the sun came out and we were on beautiful roads with a six foot shoulder - with smooth pavement.  Hardly any traffic and going through forests and farmland - it was an absolute delight.
Two of us stopped for lunch at a place on the side of the road - I swear the man that served us was ...
intellectually challenged.  (cousins marrying cousins??)  He had to ask us what our order was about three times.  But that is all part of the adventure, isn't it??

Our destination last night - did I mention that it was 84 miles???? - was Long Beach and it was gorgeous!!  A wide, sweeping beach that went on for miles.  Too bad that I was too tired to spend much time out there - plus the wind was really quite cool, especially after the sun went down.

Today was almost a rest day it was so easy.  Only about 45 miles - with only one major hill to climb.
Oh, and a four mile bridge!!!  It was insane!  A barely-there shoulder, with a major drop to the water on one side and logging trucks passing you on the other.  PLUS  the bridge sloped up - drop to your lowest gear slope - AND there was bridge construction at the top, and single lane.  I got to the other side and almost dropped to kiss the ground.  It felt very much like a near-death experience.
We had to stop at Starbucks to recover - thank God for coffee shops!
Otherwise the ride was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Cannon Beach at noon, so another bowl of clam chowder and we were able to get into the hotel rooms.
The beach here was beautiful - check out the Haystack - a rock formation in the water off of the beach.
I will try to get some pictures onto Facebook.

Almost eight o'clock - I am up late tonight!!

October 4th,

Ahhhhh.... a rest day in - just a second, I know - in Newport, Oregon!  Two nights in the same hotel - what luxury!!  And I was sooo excited to see this hotel room.  Funny - if Kent and I checked into this hotel, I would be unimpressed, but after some of the places we have been in, this is the height of luxury!

So... to catch up...

I spent my 53rd birthday (October 2nd in case you didn't remember!) in Pacific City.  A .... town that has definitely seen better days!  It is very odd to spend your birthday with strangers - especially when they have no clue that it is your birthday.  They did sing Happy Birthday to me though!
And I did bike 70 miles that day! The scenery is becoming spectacular each and every day now..
We even saw a potty for fisherman out on a river - complete with a line-up!

Yesterday was a wonderful ride - the best so far I think.  There was one horrendous hill but I made it!
You just keep on pedalling!  And the uphills usually result in unparalleled viewpoints.  We even saw whales today - very, very, very far away, but it still counts!!  Only 50 miles today - it seems as though it is hardly any effort at all!
And this may sound pathetic, but last night, I went into a restaurant and ordered a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream - wished myself a silent Happy Birthday - and stuffed my face!!

Today I walked around the town - it is a quaint little place and ran a few errands.  Bought toothpaste,
and a People magazine - got a new helmet (safety first!), some Emergen-C, and a couple of new books.
PLUS I had a massage - that was heaven!!!

The weather has been warm and sunny, but sometimes cold and misty in the mornings....