Friday, 13 September 2013
Day 8. Rest Day in Sunny Santa Barbara
Lovely long lie till about 9.00 am then after a light breakfast headed out for a wander. Most of the Motels we stay in provide breakfast but it is very meagre by our standards - coffee, juice, different cakes and pastries, waffle machine if you are lucky and that is it. Enough to get us on the road but still in need of a second breakfast, any excuse. Beautiful hot sunny day, found it more exhausting sightseeing than being on the bike, on the bike you create a breeze which keeps you cool. Like Santa Barbara very much, clean, vibrant, pretty, lively but not too busy at this time of year. I expect in the summer it is mobbed. We briefly visited the the Museum of SB, apparently when the first Spanish/Mexicans arrived here there were 15000/17000 Chumash Indians living in the area. After a generation there numbers were decimated through illness and disease and they had lost their old way of life. We then walked to the end of Stearns Wharf, a long pier with shops and restaurants, it was windy but lovely and cool, out in the Pacific we counted 10 oil rigs. Headed back to the Motel, sun bathed and relaxed, a good way to end the day, ready to hit the road again tomorrow. A week on the road already, another week to go.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Day 7. Lompoc to Santa Barbara. 57.5 miles. Beautiful.
Looking forward to today, last of the big hills and arriving in Santa Barbara. A steady, gradual, climb to 1000ft meant we had the hills over in the first 20 miles, and a bonus, the sun came out by 10.00 am. Lovely. After that we had a mostly flat, straight route to S.B,we could see oil rigs, out to sea, in the distance. We passed through the campus of University College Santa Barbara, beautiful grounds, must be a joy to study here, students on all types of bikes going about their business. The road into S.B. was busy but as we continue to find there is excellent provision for cyclists. All roads have bike lanes, with a lane for parked cars near the pavement - parked cars, bikes, cars. At junctions, with no lights, the cars slow and wave us through, unbelievable. Everywhere you look there are young, bronzed bodies on bikes, skateboards, walking, jogging, playing baseball - Murray and I fit in just fine. I really like the look of S.B., palm trees, wonderful beach, we are making good progress so plan to take tomorrow off. Think we will do little touring and spend time on the beach, can't be bad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)