Category Archives: Bike Tours

Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Ride Days

Day 6: Solvang to Santa Maria

Thursday April 12, 2012

40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 244 miles (393 km)

I awoke fully rested and really recharged. My tent was dry.   All the batteries were charged, and the weather looked like it might be OK. The sun was breaking through some grey clouds.   I rolled out of the clean hotel sheets, packed up the bike, and went in search of breakfast.

Solvang is swimming in breakfast restaurants. Those Danish folks must love breakfast, because there are three breakfast restaurants on every block in this town.   I picked one at random – The Belgian Waffle House – and ordered up – what else?   Belgian Waffle with eggs and bacon.   Gobbled it down and was preparing to ride out-of-town when I spotted across the street the Solvang Restaurant – Home of Arne’s Famous Aebleskiver.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Ride Days

Day 5: Lake Cachuma to Solvang

Wednesday April 11, 2012

13 miles (21 km) – Total so far: 204 miles (328 km)

What a difference a good nights sleep makes! It rained really hard last night, but I slept like a baby. Once I was sure everything inside the tent would stay dry, I actually found the sound of the rain falling on the tent very comforting. I slept till after 7:30 – very late for me.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Ride Days

Day 4: Carpenteria to Lake Cachuma

Gallery

Tuesday April 10, 2012

45 miles (72 km) – Total so far: 191 miles (307 km)

I slept really well in Carpenteria.  The hiker/biker campsites back right up against the railroad tracks, and I was afraid the trains would wake me.   Apparently the trains run silent at night, because I heard nothing until chirping birds woke me at 7:00.  I planned today to be a relatively short day – only about 32 miles.   My destination – Lake Cachuma in the Los Padres National Forest.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Ride Days

Day 3: Malibu to Carpenteria

Monday April 9, 2012

50 miles (80 km) – Total so far: 146 miles (235 km)

I woke early and ready to get on the road for day 3 of the trike adventure.

The PCH was very quiet early on Monday morning.   I was concerned there might be rush hour traffic, but those concerns were clearly unfounded.   Almost no traffic in either directions and I rode past the gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean near Point Magu.

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The Naval Air Base in Ventura

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Ride Days

Day 2: Long Beach to Malibu

Sunday April 8, 2012

65 miles (105 km) – Total so far: 146 miles (235 km)

A night in a fancy hotel with Nancy. What a nice way to start the tour!

I had locked the bike in the hotel employee parking lot right next to the security office.   In retrospect, this was probably a mistake. The trike was fine, but I worried about it all night. “What if something happens to it — the whole tour will be ruined.”  I kept waking up and thinking about it.  Definitely did not get enough sleep.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Ride Days

Day 1: Newport Beach to Long Beach

Saturday April 7, 2012

31 miles (50 km) – Total so far: 31 miles (50 km)

I’m officially on the way!

I rode from home to the Bonita Creek Park. Nancy met me there, along with Glenn, Kevin, Derek and Jim from the Trike Squadron. We all yakked for a while  and enjoyed the coffee, brownies and muffins Nancy brought along. Nancy also gave me a bright green Helium Star balloon that I attached to my flag pole.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Planning

Reality Sets In…

Sunday March 25, 2012

Well, it’s getting very close to the time when I am going to head out.  Up till now its all been daydreams.   For years I’ve thought about getting out on a long ride.   I spent most of the last two months consumed by getting myself and all my equipment ready.   I’ve actually managed to pull this off! It’s taken up a huge amount of time and energy.
Now all the dreaming, and scheming and planning is over. All that’s left is to get on the trike and ride.   But reality is setting in. I can admit I’m a little nervous. Much more nervous than I’ve been on previous trips. I’m not really sure why – but I find myself obsessively worrying about several parts of this ride.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Training

A Training Summary

Saturday March 24, 2012

I recently ran a report to see how much riding I have done. Wow! Over 1800 miles this year so far.  I knew I had ridden a lot – but that is as much as I usually do in 8-10 months!  Here is a summary by week of my rides training for this tour.   I’ll continue to update this table until I leave. I will begin to taper down the training a bit in week before the start of the tour, but will still be riding some.

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Pacific Coast Tour (Spring 2012), Training

A Presidential Training Ride

Tuesday March 20, 2012

Today is the Spring Equinox.  The first official day of Spring.  The beginning of the end to long, cold, dark winter!  This being Southern California, the long winter is not much different from the long Summer, but still the equinox marks a beginning of sorts.  And a new beginning always calls for a bike ride.   For the very first bike ride of this new spring,  I decided to ride to the nearby community of Yorba Linda and pay a visit to the memorial library of the 37th President of the United States – Richard M. Nixon.

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