Mon: Coastal Conquest, Lompoc to Santa Barbra

last day!

calls for a "late start," don't ya think? ;)

the map told us that our biggest climb/greatest elevation gain/ longest hill would be today...

but honestly, it wasn't bad...

we cruised the H1 almost the entire way today... :)

John had to stop and ring the bell... ;)

13 miles till Santa Barbra!

as we exit the freeway, Chuck throws his chain... :(

we (& by we, I mean the boys) Macgyver it enough to get it to the nearest bike shop...

they bandage us up...

we continue to cruise on down the road...

then, before we know it...

that's right!  Coastal Conquest 2012... WE DID IT!!!

big smiles all around...

total mileage today:  55.5

Coastal Conquest 2012 Total Mileage:  378!!!

we celebrated at Holdrons Steak & Seafood...

you know the food is good, when conversation ceases between the first and last bite...

 Here's to:

new friends, the stunning California coast,

flat tires, naps on the freeway shoulder, highway patrol cars, broken Spanish, "glympse" on the iphone,

the map

beach towns, crystal blue water, fruit juice, oysters, the H1, good food, bruised bootays,  tow trucks

training rides, neon jerseys, gorgeous weather, chapped lips, farmers tans, strawberry fields, protein bars, singing, par 3's,

laughter,

more laughter,

Starbucks, zip fizz, hotels with comfy beds, no cell reception, vino, macaroons, playlists,

redwoods, sunshine, the wind at our backs...

to 378 miles...

to:  our beloved Barbie & Ken SAG crew

to:  Chuck & El Diablo Vaquero (the devil cowboy),

to:  JJ & El Toro De Hambre (the hungry bull) / El Oso Fuerte (the strong bear)

to:  Me & La Coneja Loco (the crazy rabbit)

To great friends and the experience of a lifetime!!!   

   

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 :) 

Sat: Coastal Conquest, Big Sur to Cambria

we rode out into a canopy of towering redwoods...

with sunlight streaming in through tall, tall trees..

inhaling the fresh mountain air & the lovely scent of pine...

perhaps much like the California of long ago...

not even 3minutes into today's ride we hit a monster hill...
monster
we climbed up, up, up...
into the fog
up, up, up...
above the fog...
up
up
up

but you know what they say,
what goes up, gets to come down...
:)

♥ this California coast!
LOVE!!!

after crossing a bridge & more pedaling on down the road,

I look back,

no one behind me...

???

so, I waited here...

still here... still waiting...

looking for those bright, neon colored jersey's to appear at any moment...

oh, you thought I was kidding about the neon jersey's?


I took more pictures, began to get worried...
I was about to go back, when a cyclist stopped and told me,
"your friends are fine, they just had a tire issue..."


for the next 30 minutes I did this on the side of the freeway...

JJ had 2 tubes go kaput & then decided to change out his tire... 


by the way,
"the nap is highly under-rated..."
the nap & "brownies" that is... :)


lunch @ Whale Watcher Cafe in Gorda...

we had 2 more ridiculous hills to climb...
they both kept going & going & going...

& then...
about 20miles out from Cambria, our views turned into this...


 

pedaling alongside a splendidly flat road :) 
running parallel to the magnificent Pacific ocean :) :) :)

I did not tire of looking over my right shoulder at this...

all the way into Cambria... :) :) :)

tonight's dinner also goes on the highlight list...
Barbie (bless her) waited in line for an hour to get us a seat at the Sea Chest oyster bar...
so worth it
so, so worth it
their seafood was first-class...
their menu, full of specialties..
their location, a stone's throw from  Moonstone beach...
their ambiance, wonderfully unique, as our dinner was prepared exhibition style directly in front of us...
two thumbs up!!

afterwards, we headed for the par3 course associated with our hotel...
man, did we have a few good laughs!!!
correction...
man, did we have a lot of great laughs!!!


I so wished I had brought my camera...
because Matt was carrying 5 clubs over his shoulder with swagger...
off into the distance...
as the sun set over the ocean!


today's mileage total:  70.8 :)

Fri: Coastal Conquest, Santa Cruz to Big Sur

well today had a few twists and turns :)


take for instance, the fact that before we had even begun to ride,

my back tire was flat & had to be changed...

then, JJ opened the back of the car & 4 bottles of vino splattered all over the hotel parking lot...

:(


but then,

there was the map...

trump card...

the map

for 3+ hours there was a lot of this...

& strawberry fields galore...

more of this...

a stop for this.... + more studying of zee map...

@ noon we still had 60miles to go...

"must get to Big Sur before dark..."

we finally did make our way back onto the H1

(and chose not to look at the white sign that said no bikes/ no cyclist)

zooming along we were...

oh look! a real bike path!

...

♥ that it took us here...

hello Monterey Bay!... even with my silly, old point-and-shoot camera you are beautiful...

hello bright, clean sand...

hello stunning blue & turquoise ocean...

we continued to follow the map...

bad decision

our glorious bike path was leading us astray...

very much astray

so much so, that Matt & Barbie had to come find us...

there was not a chance we were getting in that car

not. a. chance.

somewhere in the twist and turn of it all, Chuck earned his nickname...

El Diablo Vaquero! ... the devil cowboy...

guess he figured that at some point we were going to have to climb...

and it might as well me now...

forget the plan...

there the Devil Cowboy went... the crazy

& the hill went on and on... like, forever...

after lunch on a sunny patio we were happy (so, so happy) to get back on the H1

a lengthy stretch of views amazing!!!

see pictures below...

first flat out on the open road...

but with views like these, who cares?

she & I did this...

snapping pictures of famous bridges & such...

we had the most incredible panoramas all the way into Big Sur...

even more breathtaking at 16mph... you bet!

I don't know how many hours we sat on those bikes...?

I do know that this was my favorite stretch of coastline...

& also that I began to serenade the others 10miles out of Big Sur...

...

next thing I knew, there was Matt... we were there!!!

Total Miles:  82

no one was happier than this guy...

we dined at Big Sur River Inn...

on the patio

next to the river

surrounded by ginormous trees

breathing in the fresh mountain air :)