Jonesin for a Ride!

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Another relatively flat day. Started with a crisp morning and at the 5 mile mark a stop at a Missile Park

We continued down route 1 to Point Mugu. Then we crushed through Malibu. Once we got to Santa Monica , we were on the beach trail all the way to Hermosa Beach.

Mugu Rock

Santa Monica pier

Good old Venice Beach

Hasn’t changed much since the 60”s

The beach hotel in Hermosa

Short day today. And also relatively flat. Started off with a cloudy morning and the police rousting the homeless off the beach. Continued for about 10 miles before stopping at a favorite coffee shop I know in Carpinteria to java up and have a small breakfast.

The tests of the day was just taking it easy with a cruise through Ventura on bike paths along the beach till we arrived in Thw south side of Oxnard right port Hume.

Paul’s brother Steve came by tonight to join us for dinner since he works in Thousand Oaks. That was a treat!

Outside our room in Santa Barbara at Hotel Milo

Time for java in Carpinteria – also great breakfast and cupcakes 🙂

Bike path along the 101 between Carpinteria and Ventura

Bike path along the 101 between Carpinteria and Ventura

As you can see, a 20 mile climb with a 3 mile drop to kickoff the day

This will be day 7 of riding. As you can tell from the graph, it will start with a long steady climb, then a quick drop to a relatively flat ride into Santa Barbara.

It was very chilly when we left Lompoc and a fog started moving in. We scooted through back streets in town till we were on a newly paved route 1 heading south and climbing.. and climbing… and climbing…

Two hours later we reach the summit and have a wild ride down the backside reaching a speed of 42 mph. Then route one merges with 101 just north of Goleta State Beach, which you ride on the shoulder of 101 overlooking the ocean for the next 18 miles till you get to Goleta.

Once in Goleta, we were on a very nice bike trail through the campus of UCSB and then along a wooded arroyo trail.

Finally we made it to Hotel Milo in Santa Barbara just north of the pier, cleaned up and asked for a funky bar nearby to watch the Rams game.

Afterwards we would walk to a recommended place for dinner by Tony called The Bluewater Grill. Pics to follow on next post… I’m too full now…

Typical bike route sign we would look for

Riding up a newly paved route one from Lompoc to the summit

Finally reached the summit, now for the downhill 🙂

Goleta State Beaxh

Sitting outside our room at the Milo Hotel

Watching the Rams game at Nieghbor’s Bar in Santa Barbara

We start usually at 8 am every morning to enjoy the crisp mornings and light traffic. Today was no different as we left Rocky Point, only for me to notice I wasn’t getting and power to the pedals. Gauges showed on and power levels, but definitely no power. Paul had a similar issue when we were test riding the bikes over the summer… and pushing on of three buttons in some kind of sequence seem to do a reboot and after a couple of miles I was back to normal power control.

Our ride definitely flattened out as we left Rocky Point and past Hearst Castle. We continue to stop about every 10 miles to take a short break – these breaks included views of sea lions on the beaches.

Cambria was another break for coffee and goodies before we continued to Morro Bay.

The stretch to morrow bay was a bit tough as it was a headwind for 20 miles and along a very boring straight part of route 1.

Once to Morrow bay it was back to smaller city roads and some bike trails to SLO. From there a downhill run to Pismo Beach where we stayed at the Palomar Inn, with a gastro brewhouse on one side and a coffee house on the other. Coincidence?

We had dinner at the brewhouse to watch the dodgers lose, and coffee and breakfast at The Steaming Bean the next morning.

We left Pismo Beach early the next day as we had another 60 mile day with a large hill climb at the end.

Days 6 ride took us through lots and lots and lots of coastal farm land. There wasn’t much in the way of towns once we left Pismo/Glover Beach area. We had mostly rolling hills and eventually past a large farming distribution area before we arrived in Guadalupe. Guadalupe is a sleepy farming town, almost something out of a twilight zone. I came across the old Far Western Tavern Saloon and Steakhouse building (They are now relocated in Orcutt)

After Guadalupe we slowly continued along route one towards Lompoc and Vandenburg AFB. Our route took us past route one to a small road called Harris Grade Road, which was a steep twisty road up, with a nice downhill glide to downtown Lompoc.

Once we checked in and cleaned up, we headed to a couple of bars in old town. First was Jaspers, a funky old bar where the locals can hang. Then a few blocks heading back to the hotel we stopped in at Solvang Brewing Company to wet our whistles, eat some pizza and watch the Dodgers win game seven!

Make sure the lights are charged and working

The original Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe [/caption
Guadalupe is a sleepy small town

Our accommodations in Lompoc

Jaspers

Sorry, was too busy eating and watching the dodgers game – didn’t take pics of the place, but is was cool old building with indoor / outdoor casual seating.