I do not have a video for this week... :/ However, to make up for it I'll give you guys a day by day summary of my rides & more! :))
Day 8: Pismo => Lompoc
Pismo beach was interesting because I stayed at a hosts house from warmshowers.com. He was an older guy named Eric, and he was leaving the next day to do a cycling tour from Vancouver back to his house. Last summer I rode a large part of what he's about to ride, and I think seeing that on my profile was the reason he agreed to host me on such short notice. Especially it being the day before his big trip. Anyways, over dinner he told me that he's been a technician at a maximum security psych ward for the last 20 or so years. I told him some of the best rides I considered down the west coast, and he told me a little about how working in a mental prison was like. I'm sure he's glad to be on a bike trip because his job didn't sound too comforting. In the morning he took his son to school and said he wouldn't be back until later. He left me with the house, and told me I could use his kitchen to make myself some breakfast before I headed out.
My morning in Pismo Beach started in the kitchen of a beachside house. It was a nice change after a week of camping. Heading out of Pismo it was foggy due to the marine layer. As soon as the highway cut east the sun was in full blossom. Rode alongside the highway on back farm roads most of the day. The sweet smell of strawberries filled the air from the plantations around me. That was probably the highlight of the ride. After that I passed the button town of Nipomo surrounded by farms and dust, and it's run of the mill shopping district. Just ahead of Santa Maria the bike bath turned to gravel and ran alongside the edge of the residential section of town. To my left was endless identical townhouses, to my right was a vast view of farms, train tracks, and a large hill. Santa Maria felt like being somewhere in Latin America except for most things were written in english.. South of there the highway is the only path to avoid 2000+ foot ascent at a 7 or 8% grade. The climb on the highway wasn't too much better. Instead of one monstrous climb it was 4 smaller but still deadly climbs with mostly gradual uphill in between each of them. Tough part of the day. My meditation on the uphills was key. Got to Lompoc tired, and in need of some food and rest. Rolling into town I looked over and saw a large sign for "Chinese Buffet." At the time I couldn't think of a better place. Contacted some people from warm showers in Lompoc, and secured another place to stay! After eating I rode a few blocks over to Andrew & Sujata's apartment.
Day 9: Lompoc => Isla Vista
Andrew & Sujata were fun to stay with. They are a young couple who do tours on their tandem bike, and are getting ready to ride the Trans America trail this summer.. They were in the process of moving, and that night Sujata had just received news that she had been given a full ride to Law School in Denver. So things were a little festive/chaotic at their apartment. I agreed to go out and celebrate with them, and so I joined them for a monday night out on the town in Lompoc. Played some pool, met all their friends, got drunk, and told them stories about crossing into Canada "naturally" last summer on a bike. Got to their house and zonked out on the floor..
Woke up feeling a little less than fresh. Ate some breakfast with my new friends. Thanked them, and headed out early. Leaving Lompoc the scenery gets nice along HWY 1. Expansive open fields with green rolling hills around. Not many cars or people in sight. Plenty of Hawks and Condors flying above, and lots of cows looking at me curiously as I pedal by them. To pass the time I was singing songs all day, and since there were no people around I could really belt them out. I noticed that the cows seemed to enjoy me singing to them, and so I made a point to sing to the cows. Some of them even trotted alongside me for a bit. The 15 miles or so of cow grazing land was a very gradual uphill through green hilled valleys, and it culminated to a tiny climb before a 3 mile 7% grade descent! I zipped down the hill all the way to the ocean. It was nice having the sea breeze again. The rolling hills along the beach got tiring as the view remained relatively the same, and having lots of cars zipping by me again wasn't fun. Got to Goleta a bit tired. A family friend, Gaby, lives in Isla Vista and she had invited me to stay at her place on my way down. I got a hold of her, and off I went to her apartment..
Day 10: Isla Vista => Oxnard
Gaby's house is right in the heart of the college party town Isla Vista. Gaby lives with three roommates in a big apartment. According to the girls it was unusually slow in town due to spring break. That was ok because I had ridden almost 100 miles in two days, and partied the night in-between in Lompoc. I was beat and went to sleep on the living room sofa. The girls went out bowling, and I went out like a light.
I was slow to get up the next day. Didn't roll out of Gaby's apartment until 12:30pm or later. Good thing the bike roads along the 101 were nice and flat almost the entire beginning stretch of the day. Biked through the centers of Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria. South of Carpinteria things got a little hairy. There was construction along the 101 that included part of the bike path. I was stuck and the sign said I had to take a detour. Problem was the detour was up and over large canyons and an extra 20 or so miles. The sign was near the north tip of a bay. I could see all the way to the other side where there was a pier, and what looked like a little town. From my vantage point it looked like the portion of the 101 and bike path under construction was actually freshly paved all the way across to the little town on the other end.. I figured from that little town there must be a bike path heading south. I took my chances and rode on the closed road. At first it was very nice. Essentially I had my own full car sized lane that was paved with immaculate asphalt, and I was shielded by the cars with a nice little wall to my left. It remained like this for about 2 miles all across the bay. Things changed about 200 feet from the town where a large tractor impeded me going forward and the road turned to un-rideable dirt.. There was an opening in the wall to the 101 (for the tractors) and the town was only roughly 200 feet away. It was the moment of truth; tiny shoulder on the freeway that was already missing a lane for 200 feet, or backtrack 2 miles to ride a +20 mile detour up and over canyons........... I took my chances, and I must admit I've never had that much of an adrenaline rush riding my bike. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that path to anyone. But when the dust settled I got to the other side, and turned 20 miles into 2. So I don't regret it, but that shit was scary to say the least.. The rest of the ride was smooth flat bike paths through Ventura. Just passed the Oxnard line I arrived at the beachfront Mcgrath Campground, aaaand it was closed. I had ridden 45 miles to get there, it was starting to get dark, and I remembered from searching campgrounds online that it was the only one in that area. I decided to sneak through the gate and give the campground a little peek before riding out aimlessly into the night.
It was a large empty campground with unmaintained lawns, and sandbags blocking the entrances to the bathrooms. The sun was setting, and I knew that I only had 30 minutes or so of sunlight left. I decided to take my chances again, and for the second time that day I ignored a 'closed' sign. I rested my bike against a tree, and scouted for the best site. All the numbered camp sites were visible from the roads, and I figured it wouldn't be good to be visible in case the rangers came to check in or worse if late-night hooligans used the site when no one was around... I found a spot surrounded by low swooping trees in between two of the sites. I set up my tent and hid my bike there too. It was good timing because literally 10 minutes later a ranger drove around the campsite and didn't spot me! The most important thing is that I had made it, and stayed on schedule. Even if I had to break some rules... It was a windy night! Thankfully I was surrounded by trees, and even so my tent would have definitely flown away had I not been lying in it!
Day 11: Oxnard => Los Angelés
Woke up suddenly to the sound of wheels on gravel. It was early and for a second I thought they may have spotted me. I peeked my head out the tent and saw a ranger driving around the site. 0 rangers 2 me.. They drove around and then left. It was a relief not having to deal with them. I got my things together and packed out. Was on the road by 7 am.. Tried to find a coffee shop in Oxnard but man is that place spread out.. Large farm lands followed by a large airport followed by a large residential area, and no places for wifi in sight... I cycled about 4 miles away from the coast road before I decided to continue south and eventually cut back to the coast road. On my way back I ran into a coffee bean :). Plotted my route for the day, and realized that I could just make it all the way home to LA if I pushed it. Riding out of Oxnard I stopped at the last farm stand I saw, figuring it would be the last one I'd see for a while. I bought a pound of delicious strawberries for 3 dollars. I was excited to reach the Santa Monica Mountains. I could feel that I was getting near, and the rest of the ride would mostly be beautiful coast scenery. I stopped at the Sycamore State beach to make some breakfast, and take a little refreshing dip in the ocean. I got to the last campsite in Malibu at 1 pm and there was no way I was stopping there! Soon I was in Zuma beach and from there I knew I was within striking distance. I really pushed it, and made it to my moms house before the sun went down! We went out for dinner, and finally I'd have some days off the bike!
Days 12-14: Resting in L.A.
