Matt's Corner

Sun: Coastal Conquest, Cambria to Lompoc



a beautiful morning in Cambria
another beautiful day to ride... :)



& good morning to you too...



goodness, how incredible this coastline is...



the pic below was our quick stop off (& map check) before we hit Morro Bay,
where we stopped in & met friends for yummy cappuccinos
if you look closely, you can see the Morro Bay rock on the left hand side of the picture...





after leaving the coffee shop we sped along at a good clip...
for a whopping 5 miles...
till we had to change out the tube on my front tire...





20 miles later and it was time for lunch...
@ a Mexican restaurant in Pismo Beach...
bike and dine.. kinda our thing...
yes, a culinary/bike tour of the coast ;)
sign me up!



we tried to stay on the H1
but there was that pesky white sign again... the one with the black letters that amounted to "no bikers"...
so we pulled over into the gore zone & got out "the map"
the same map that Chuck now has big plans to burn...
not even a minute later a highway patrol officer pulls up, lights flashing....


we exited the freeway
he followed us
ten minutes later he had handwritten new and improved directions for us :) :) :)
 & sent us on our way...





the directions led us into the middle of no-man's-land...
& right into the steepest hill of our entire ride...
doozy hill
 where Chuck almost got hit by a light blue Prius at the top because the driver was wack...!!!


after acres and acres of pastures, we finally merged back onto the H1 (legally)
Matt found us on this hill...



he had already driven the rest of the route into Lompoc...
he told us
& I quote,
"you have about 5 miles to go... just one more hill...
it's not even that bad...
you'll just graze the side of the mountain...
then go downhill till it dead ends...
turn left at the Vandenberg Air Force Base,
and you're there..."



we do hit that next hill...
"graze the side of the mountain?"
uuummm... ???
my back tire felt like it was almost directly underneath my front one...
and that went on for a llllloooooonnnnngggggg time...
it was, in fact, one of our hardest climbs...



but ok, we hit the Naval Base...
then turned left like Matt said, 
since it's the home stretch, we take off...
& I mean take off...
I didn't look at my Garmin, but I know we were pushing over 30mph
ready for a comfy chair & cool drink...


however, I did look down and see that we had gone 8 miles since we last saw Matt...
we must be close...


but our Embassy Suites was no where to be found...


we did hit another hill...
then another...
and another...
oh and then one more...
then a final hill...
none of which were the easy, rolling kind...
Matt?



13 miles later we do arrive at the hotel...
:)
making our grand total for today 94.5 miles :) :) :)


Barbie is there to greet us and shows me to my "garden room"...
"Where's Matt?"
"He never did pass us again?"
whereupon, it falls to her to inform me that Matt had to call a tow truck...
apparently, he tried to turn around in a gravel turn-around and sunk in...
when I dial him up, he's still stuck...
& the tow truck, is now, also stuck...?...
he was now waiting for the police to come & shut down lane of traffic so another tow truck could get them both out...
...
JJ took it like a champ, "playa car" and all...



as for the rest of the night...
La Coneja Loco...
aka. The Crazy Rabbit...
yes, that about sums it up :) 

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