Day 41: Santa Barbara - McGrath State Beach, 62km

It feels like an eternity since we were last on our bikes - in reality it's only been 3 days. As we left Santa Barbara, the sun was high in the sky and our speedo was reading 2000 miles. There were no strong winds to mention and it felt really great to be in rapid transit again. As we gradually move further South, Conurbations merge and we were no longer allowed on long stretches of the highway. Instead our route tends to side highways, only crossing it if there are rich bike path pickings on the other side.

Having travelled through Summerland and Carpenteria we joined hwy 101 for a few miles on a fairly miserable stretch of road. The shoulder was strewn with blown tyres and broken carburettor's (I'm sure - if only I knew what one looked like), and for the majority, also dedicated to parking for surfers. One of the biggest shames about America, which I do admit is a bonus for us as cyclists, is how you never seem to be more than a mile or so from the highway. Could you imagine surfing just off the M4?

Hwy 1, mysteriously appeared for a few miles, albeit for the soul purpose of RV camping and cyclists - or so it seemed. Towards the end my indestructible Schwable Marathons failed me. With a big bang I had a flat. 10 cyclists must have passed as I obstinately told Tim I was going to change the tube myself. Apparently Lance Armstrong's team can do one in 10 seconds - it took me 10 minutes alone just to get the tyre off. Nonetheless, I got it sorted.

At the end of the road, we followed the on-ramp for the freeway - emblazoned with 'No Cyclists' signs we fearlessly followed the directions of our map which true to its words delivered us a bike path along the highway. Ventura didn't seem that great - another city of 100,000+ but out the other side we found the Marina and lunch. More to the point we started cycling past massive houses, behind which were masts - I wondered what weird garden structures they all had. Perhaps they were gaining inspiration from the ocean like unoriginal porthole windows in ocean side mansions.

We had to cycle back into Ventura as we had missed our last food stop and then out again to McGrath State Beach. Another short day was justified by our ferry journey from Ventura to Santa Cruz island the following morning. Tim got chatting to a lovely couple (Megan and Guy) and their niece (Clare) who were touring in a camper van. In reality I think Tim was eager to poke his head in and have a look, and they had so many space saving/technological/structural/mechanical modifications that they were happy to oblige.