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.....