Day 22 - Friday 10/2/2015 Carpinteria to Pacific Palisades

Another beautiful day along the coast.  The Adventure Cycling maps hugged the coast line where they could and only put us on the freeway for a short time.

For my part, (and those of you who know me may not believe it) I only got lost once.  To my defense, I didn't realize that the sign that said right lane only to Ojai, really meant it went to Ojai and and Ventura.  Hmm - but, there is an off/on ramp about a mile up the road.  And thanks to my GPS to get me back on track.

The bike route today utilized some really great bike paths, most of the time were used by Jerry, Tracy & Tom.  It was a sight to see as I drove down the 101 and saw all three stopped along the shoulder, lifting their bikes over the guard rail to get onto the bike path.  Kinda hard to stop and take a pix, but it would have been a good one.

Clear skies, not too hot - mid 70's for most of the day.

We had a great mid morning snack stop and then they were off for more miles of riding before lunch.  I was amazed by the number of motor homes out for some beach time!

A ways down the road - and some time later, we stopped at a park south end of Malibu.  I was ready for lunch making and here they come.  The first thing Jerry said was - "Are you going to tell her?"  Wish I had been there to get a picture - but this will have to do.

Tracy and Kathy made it for some lunch as well - then we were off down the road toward Pacific Palisades.  Another great day.  Can't believe we are  almost done.

Jerry's Notes:

Boy the bike paths south of Santa Barbara have really improved.  I had an opportunity to ride from Ventura to SB a few years ago and what a difference.  We really flew today with good trails, well marked (if you bother to read the signs, which I generally don't) and a tailwind to boot!

Only one thing slowed us down today, that was the local county Sheriff in Trancas who pulled us over for going through a red light.  The first thing out of my mouth was, "I told you we were going to get busted".  I had been harping on Tom the whole trip telling him he was giving us California cyclists a bad name.  Of course his comeback was, well you went through the intersection also - we both got busted, not just me.  Actually we were very careful about it and did not actually blow through - it was a true "California stop".  Once we told him we were on a bike quest from border to border he just gave us a warning.  It was a good warning as we were now entering the danger zone - Southern California, so we are now not going to fudge on any rules & regulations (really?)

The other major thing that I am enjoying is riding through the small towns that I have never seen and that most people never get to see as they fly by on the highway.  Pismo Beach is a very long, and quaint town.  So is Carpenteria, I had never stopped in San Luis Obispo, boy was I impressed.  The list goes on and on.  Ventura has an amazing boardwalk with great surf, just like Newport.  Who knew?

Notes from Tom:
Not surprising that Jerry blames the cop caper on me, but the guy was nice and didn't single me out as being the culprit.  What can I say?

Today was the longest, flattest section of road we've seen.  From Pt. Magu to Malibu--dead flat, great road surface and the tailwind Jerry mentioned.  What fun and right next the beach the whole way.  I loved it.

Stats weren't important today, but here they are.  74.2 miles, 4 hours and 39 minutes, an average of 15.9 mph due to only 1500 feet of climbing, and that was mostly in Malibu.  A really fun day.

Patty's shopping notes:

When I'm in a grocery store picking up berries, I almost always end up buying Driscoll's brand strawberries.  Today, I drove by this sign.  For the past several days, there have been numerous strawberry fields and tomato fields.  I had no idea that is how they were grown.

tomato growing huts

strawberry fields