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DAY 15
THE WEATHER GODS ARE SMILING
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Back to West RidersDAY 15
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| ROUTE: San Francisco to Santa Cruz CA | DISTANCE: 82 Miles | WINDS: Light at departure, NW 10-15 in the late afternoon. |
| WEATHER: Mild, clear, sunny afternoon-high 65 | TERRAIN: Hilly, especially leaving SF | TOTAL CLIMBING: 4916 Feet |
DAILY REPORT:
Well, another "rest" day is in the books. I think the riders had a good day off touring the sights of the city and trying to relax for the last 9 day punch to Costa Mesa. Barb and I spent the morning resting and touring the waterfront. We toured the display ships moored in the harbor. One such ship was a cargo sailing vessel that we thoroughly enjoyed. Seeing how they lived for the 5 months it took to get from Europe to the US was an eye opener. I highly recommend that tour to anyone...and it's easy. I'm not sure what everyone did, but I didn't see anyone the entire day so they must have been to the 4 corners. But now it's back to work...we have a ride to do.
Even though we were in the big city, the route out
of town was pretty easy...if you just count navigation and suitable roads.
Most of our route was on a published bike route out of town and after Pacifica,
we were only highway 1 with the ocean to our right...pretty easy if you ask me.
Plus, the scenery leaving town was awesome. The Golden Gate Bridge (GGB)
was shining in the clear morning as we left along Lincoln Drive. I
couldn't resist taking tons of photos of the bridge...I
probably have more photos of the
GGB than anything else we see on the trip aside from the Grand Teton Mountains.
Aside from all that, the
pedaling was pretty challenging as we were up and down over bluffs overlooking
the bay and ocean all the way out of town.
As I said, after leaving town, we found ourselves on hwy 1 for the remainder of the day
until we got into Santa Cruz. Hwy 1 was a very suitable road with a nice
shoulder except for one short section climbing out of Pacifica. After peaking
out on top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, the riders were treated with
breath taking scenes all the way to town. I'll probably just show riding
shots in the photo section below...there were just too many great shots
throughout the day to pass up. In addition to the beautiful scenery and
nice roads, the afternoon brought kicking tailwinds to help the riders finish
easily in spite of all the ups and downs.
Santa Cruz looks like something out of Baywatch. As we entered town, we rode along a rustic coast line in the outskirts of the city...premium housing along the coast I'm sure. As we neared the downtown, the shoreline turned to sandy beaches lined with volleyball courts and an amusement park. Not sure the park added to the beauty of the beach scene, but someone in their infinite wisdom decided they needed them. All along the way, we saw surfers of varying degrees of ability trying to catch that perfect wave to take them down the shoreline while tourists (and some of us) marveled from the cliff's edge. Boy that water looked cold from where I was standing.
The only things out of the
ordinary today were the fact that Cy returned to the ride after leaving in
Crescent City to take part in a triathlon in Portland where he qualified for the
Worlds next year...great going Cy! Also, we had a slight boo boo today as
Big Mike got stung by something during the ride. Karen had to pick him up
as he was stung in the lower lip. From the looks of his lip, it was
something pretty big. He should be back in form tomorrow...don't know how
the bee made out.
Our evening was blessed with new friends who came to take us out to dinner...Mike and Nina Kaping. A rider from our North Ride, Tom Randal, called me a couple weeks ago and set it up. Mike and Nina brought their church bus and picked us all up after RAP and took us to a great cafe on the outskirts of town...great food, great company, and good fellowship. Thanks Tom for your thoughtful giving and thank you Mike and Nina for taking the time to share your lives with us. It was a delight meeting you and sharing the evening with you.
All in all it was another perfect riding day...great weather, great scenery, great fellowship after the ride, and everyone got in safely. We miss the riders who left in San Francisco: The Tres Amigos, Marc, and Bob. Best wishes to you all and hope you'll come and ride with us again sometime. Tomorrow we head toward Carmel Valley and on our way we ride through the Monterey Peninsula. I hope we don't have fog tomorrow, it would be a shame to miss those views. Tune in tomorrow for some photos of 17 mile drive...if we can see it. M
| HEARD DURING THE DAY: "Are there any downhills on today's route?" "You sure don't see many fat people walking around in San Francisco." "If at first you don't succeed, redefine success." "I was thinking at mile 20 that we'd not finish until 8:00 tonight." "When I look at the surf, I see surfers...when a shark looks at the same thing, he sees a smorgasbord." |
ONLY FROM OUR
GROUP: Tonight at dinner our host asked what states people were from. Answers started to fly...California, Alabama, Ohio, Colorado were the retorts. When it came to Dan, he said, "Boston." Yep, we get them from all kinds of states...but mostly from the "state of confusion." |
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SCENES OF THE DAY |
|
 The GGB was in all it's glory this
morning. |
 In it's glory from all angles. |
 Our last view was just as impressive as
the first. |
 On our day off, several went to see the
Family Kite Flying Day on Marina Drive. There were some Mac Daddy
kites flying to say the least. |
 Has anyone seen our last bottle of
sunscreen? |
 Never let it be said Ron is not
comfortable with his masculinity...here he's waiting for the pink pump while
wearing a pink jersey. Wonder if he'll ask for directions? |
 "Hello Tom, did you have a good day?" |
 Now
that's what I call a "Perfect" ice cream shop. |
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