Day 10 - Almost there! (Friday's Post)

DAY 10 of the Asmi Cali Coastal Tour

Lompoc to Santa Barbara (60 miles)

Last night, I was really sick.  I was feverish & coughing up all sorts of 'guck' (sorry!). Mike was making contingency plans to get me home but I said I was riding no matter what! Mucinex & a good night's rest did the trick - I'd say I'm at about 70%.

Refugio State Beach

Today was our longest ride & it was also our last & highest climb.  We woke up this morning to an unexpected  drizzle.  The sky quickly opened up but the temperatures rained cool most of the morning.  Highway 1 out of Lompoc takes you through beautiful rolling hills dotted with oak trees & livestock.  

We had a 13.5 mile climb up but it was gradual & quite scenic.  When we got to the top, this was a welcome sign:

We were on Highway 101 for quite a stretch but there was a wide shoulder & it was nice to get back to the coast.

We saw this mileage sign & realized that we are almost home!

We decided to have lunch in Isla Vista 

& ride through the UC Santa Barbara campus.  We had gone to the UC Alumni Family Camp for 5 summers when the kids were little & it was fun to see the area again.  Man, did we feel OLD!

From UCSB to Santa Barbara (about 10 miles) is all on bike paths which was great.  We ran into some enterprising little girls selling lemonade for 25 cents

& had to stop, remembering when our girls had lemonade stands with the Baskauskases.

Santa Barbara is such a beautiful town with it's Spanish architecture & red-tiled roofs.  On one side, you have the ocean & on the other, gorgeous hills.  We rode along the bike path on the beach & onto the pier

before checking into the Motel 6 which is only a half a block from the beach.  It isn't exactly the Ritz but it'll do.

View from Motel 6

Tomorrow our friends Doug & Amir are joining us in Ventura for the ride into Leo Carrillo State Park.  Can't believe we've made it this far & that the trip is almost over.

 Last Sunset

- Suzanne & Azul (Suzanne's Bike)