I was up way too late last night for no good reason and I was feeling it today. I woke up around 6:30 after finally falling to sleep around 1:00. One of the disadvantages of staying in a hotel is that you can get distracted with stupid stuff like TV and Internet, lose track of time, and next thing you know the sun is rising. First world problems I know.
I’m glad I slept as late as I did. The plan was to go to a joint named Huckleberry’s for breakfast and then it didn’t open until 7:00 anyway. It would suck to wake up at 5:30 only to wait around for them to open. I wanted to avoid another Starbucks breakfast because today was going to be a heavier one. 75+ miles and 4k+ elevation according to Garmin.
As I rode over to breakfast the marine layer real low and I was getting that mist/fog thing going on again. Didn’t even make it to the restaurant before my glasses were a wreck from the moisture. I hoped that by the time I was done with breakfast it would lift some and make my ride a little drier.
Once at the restaurant, I couldn’t find a decent place to leave Shadow. I said heck with it and brought him inside and parked him in their reception area out of the flow of traffic. Checked with the hostess and she said it was fine unless they got slammed. I said I should be done in less than an hour anyway and she sat me in eye shot of him.
Went with the official breakfast of this ride, a french toast combo. Even went and had her add the side of fruit so I can say I’m being healthy. Overall everything was great and hit the spot. All fueled up I was ready to head out.
Sadly there wasn’t really much to look at. At one point I felt like I was back in the Watsonville area again. Nothing but farmland and farm roads as far as the eye could see. At one point I did catch up to this farm tractor pulling a piece of equipment. I got behind it and started feeling a tow. It got me thinking about Joe Ruggles and our ride out to the Jean Quarry. I made a quick video and took a picture from behind it.
I sent that picture to Joe and be damned not 2 minutes later he was calling. I eventually pulled over because riding and talking on the phone isn’t the brightest thing I’ve ever done. Enjoyed a good ten minute chit chat session before saying our goodbyes and I rolled on.
I eventually came to the town of Guadalupe. It was a quaint little farm town with an old school main street. Spotted a couple cool little details as I rode through that I took some pictures of. Really liked the old theater marquis.
After Guadalupe it was more riding on CA-1. Just south of Orcutt it merged with CA-135 and became more like a freeway. It wasn’t too busy and had a huge shoulder. During one of the climbs a pair of cyclists rode by and said hello and giving me a good job. It was nice and put a little spring in my spin. There was no way I was going to keep up with them on the climb, but after creating the hill I saw them way off down the way. I got into the drops and started cruising on this downhill leg. Was having a blast doing about 25 MPH. I did catch them, but only after they’d stopped to turn around and go back up the climb we’d just come down. They gave me another enthusiastic wave which I returned and we went our separate ways.
Not long after the road went back to a quiet two lane highway. It didn’t matter too much because a little further on I made a turn onto Harris Grade Road. With the word “grade” in the name I should have known I was in for climbing and this road didn’t disappoint. 640 feet in just shy of three miles. Certainly one of the tougher climbs of the trip.
I did see a cyclist on a MTB coming the other way. I gave a wave and an enthusiastic “Yeawe” as he was flying. He returned the favor by saying “Nearly there. Nearly there”. Thank heavens it wasn’t much longer after he’d said that. There was a pull out at the summit and I stopped to take a picture and short video. It was a really cool spot. Having regained my breath I set off to ride the well deserved descent.
At the end of that descent was the town of Lompoc. I snapped a picture of their old drive in movie theater and found a place to stop for lunch. At this point in the ride I was just wanting a place to rest and eat. Just get fuel in me, I didn’t need anything fancy. So Chevron lunch it was. Can’t always have a nice chicken sandwich and hard cider for lunch.
After Lompoc, it was nothing but climbing to get back to US-101 and the coast. Mile 45 to 62 it was climbing. Sure is started at less than 1% but it ended up being nearly 1,000 feet in total. Sitting here now reflecting on it I’m not surprised I felt like garbage when I finally got to the coast. Legs were toast. Hands were numb. Backside was angry. Bleh.
Finally made it to camp and did all the camp things. Grabbed my chair to sit, relax, and write. Got a pleasant surprise phone call from the little darling and we talked for nearly an hour. Afterwards I went back to writing.
That about does it for the day. Was considering a rest day tomorrow, but there is nothing around in the way of food and I didn’t bring anything with me. May take an extra day at Point Mugu. Going to play it by ear for now.
New bike fund: $11.51 (+$0.01)
76.11 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
Mostly cloudy-Sunny, 55°F-90°F, Feels like 57°F-96°F, Humidity 99%-35%, Wind WNW 1mph-WSW 6mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: -9.8%
Headwind: 6% @ 4.2-5.6mph
Longest Headwind: 28m 39s
Air Speed: 12mph
Temp: 55-77.7°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —
Max elevation: 1088 ft
Min elevation: 15 ft
Total climbing: 3960 ft
Total descent: -4012 ft
Total time: 07:42:33
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