Season 3 Episode 17 (10/24-26) Chicken Soup for the Soul

Season 3 Episode 17 (10/24-26) Chicken Soup for the Soul –

10/24 Lompoc to Santa Barbara, CA. 58 miles 2640’ climb.

Whenever we stay at a hotel, we stay on the ground floor if possible as it’s easier than getting bikes in and out of elevators. Although we are proficient at it by now.

Our day started with a first for us. We were on the second floor and found a sign that said “Elevator out of order. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

At least it was only one flight of stairs to carry our bikes down. As we ride for the Reeve Foundation, Heather asked a critical question: what’s a person who uses a wheel chair supposed to do in a hotel or apartment building in such a situation?

We enjoyed scenic riding with a wide shoulder.

A risk is a hubcap flying off a moving car. If you’ve ever seen it actually happen, they fly really fast and can cause serious injury. Luck is with us so far.

I navigate using Adventure Cycling Association maps, Google Maps and Ride with GPS. Here all 3 brought us to this point. Sometimes there is a bike path ahead that cars cannot use so all turns out fine and we don’t worry.

Not today. It’s the second time in 3 hours we are carrying our bikes.

Felt like rugged southwest or mountain states.

Construction site as a lunch spot. At least it was sunny with a water view. Nothing but the finest for my Heather.

As extreme a grade as we’ve seen. And then it went immediately into an equally steep climb.

Well one of us rode happily, and one of us walked and swore “that’s it for bike paths!”

University California Santa Barbara (UCSB) is tucked between the Santa Ynez mountains to the east and the Pacific on its western edge. It’s a breathtaking setting. I never knew the area was called the American Riviera.

It is also completely flat - ideal for bikes, scooters and skateboards. The paths through campus were perfectly paved and marked for safety. There were more student bikes next to buildings than I’d seen on any other campus. Makes sense with ideal weather year round.

To satisfy Heather’s craving, we supported the Asian Students Sorority that was selling Krispy Kreme donuts. She loves KK donuts and once ate 4 in one sitting.

American Riviera

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10/25 Santa Barbara to Ventura, CA. 34 miles 1238’ climb.

Definitely our easiest ride of the trip as we deliberately set up a short ride instead of a day off in our final week. A tailwind and downhill slope much of the way made this ride mostly relaxed.

Omer Raines Coastal bikeway.

It was the first day I felt like I’d like to ride longer. But was elated not to as we had a most relaxing, spacious, beautiful homestay up in the hills so kindly offered to us by Kathy and Tim. They had lived in Larchmont before moving here and although we knew of one another by our daughters playing soccer together, we hadn’t socialized together. They heard from another Larchmont friend about our adventure and warmly invited us to stay in their home even though they would be out of town. They are avid cyclists and sent us detailed welcome emails that they had provided for every one of our needs from food and drink to bike pump, directions and repair items, as well as a car. The stay was perfect except for them being away and us missing the chance to hang out with them. Their trust and hospitality speak loudly to their generosity and I think also speaks to the very special community fabric of Larchmont. Thank you Kathy and Tim, and to Diane for making the connection.

They even left us delicious, homemade chicken soup for dinner. Yum!!

Being in a home is so much more restoring than a hotel. We are very grateful.

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10/26 Ventura to Santa Monica, CA. 61 miles 1476’ climb.

Another amazing ride! It helps that it was our third consecutive day of perfect cycling weather - sunny and in the high 60’s. Warm but not hot! It also helped that the first 5 miles were a descent out of the hills. And thank you tailwind!

We rode by Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

We then entered the Santa Monica National Recreation Area, a spectacular slice of road between the Santa Monica Mountains and the ocean. This brought us to several beaches including famous Zuma before Malibu.

Riding through Malibu, we would alternate between gazing high to our left at homes perched on cliffs with two stories of all glass, or to our right and the endless ocean sight lines.

I like this photo of utility poles.

After Malibu there was a stretch on the Pacific Coast Highway that Heather and any sane rider would describe as unpleasant. So of course I loved it. It wasn’t really what we think of a highway. But there were many cars.

The challenge was the bike lane was full of parked cars and it was trash day so people had their bins out. I loved weaving in and out of this obstacle course. Sometimes to the right, sometimes forced left into the road, sometimes like a slalom skier between them depending on the layout. I only caromed off one bin.

The Santa Monica bike path was a great relaxed way to finish.

Hmmm, Route 66. That’s a 2448-mile idea for a future ride.

Copyright Mark Segal 2023.