As we left SLO, we were met with a strange phenomenon - a summer head wind. In the distance was a sea fog. This started a day which on the whole was lacking any 'wow.
12 miles in we came to Pismo Beach. This was one of the most depressing 3 miles of trip so far (on a par with Shelton, WA) - we were met by RV upon RV and the corresponding RV parks. I am willing to believe the fog was putting a negative spin on our views, but...
After Oceano we took a funny detour off hwy 1, which added 5 miles and provided us with little interest. I would have preferred a more direct route with any level of climbing.
At Guadalupe we happened upon little Mexico. We cycled down the strip and back up in search of a sandwich. We failed, instead opting for trail mix and fruit smoothies in JTZ Coffee, where our day began to improve. The owner was lovely and pointed us in the direction of a few places along our route where we could grab a sandwich - they were closed (probably for some random reason like it was Tuesday) but nonetheless she raised our spirits.
Out of Guadalupe we journeyed largely flat terrain on hwy 135. After San Antonio Road we turned onto Harris Grade Road where we climbed gently (although the lonely planets called it a steep climb) up one side, and needless to say down the other side. On hwy 1, we rolled into Lompoc where it was Tim's turn to accost some fellow tourers - Michael and Sarah..
Stuck on the edge of the hwy, our conversation turned to the Lost Coast - we needed coffee for this one. Settled outside a coffee shop we again laughed at all our similar experiences. With every new tourer we meet, comes the same loves and hates, just a week, a month, a year, a decade apart.
If any of you have any interest in watching part of the Lost Coast route that we cycled earlier in our tour, have a look at Sarah's blog: http://tourdesarah.blogspot.com Click on June on the right hand side and look for a video under Tuesday June 3 2008 (it should be right at the bottom of the page). Michael got off and pushed his bike up the part where our wheels were almost lifting away from the road. If you can get the volume up you can hear them laughing hysterically. What you can't really see is quite how steep the camber in the switch back is - this is where Tim (head to the floor) chose to pick his way.
Lompoc, with its population of 41,000 also had sandwiches. Micheal and Sarah headed off whilst we tucked into some food, then we too set off again for the last 20 miles to Solvang. Off hwy 1 we turned onto Santa Rosa Road. Finally was appealing to our senses - on we went through fruit, vegetables, vineyards and orchards. Apart form a few short sharp shocks, the road was flat. Before we knew it we were alongside yet more RVs in Buellton. 3 miles later we arrived in Solvang.
Through some bizarre logic, this was maybe the most interesting part of our day (and meeting Micheal and Sarah of course). I'm not sure if interesting is the word I mean but the Lonely Planets guide aptly described it as a Disneyfied Denmark. Anaheim had some competition on it's hands here.
1 comment:
Loving the video! That bit looked ok.... as the start of a ride to the shops!
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