Saturday, September 22, 2012

RTW - Day 21 - Solvang to Oxnard, CA

82 miles, 3800 feet of climb (cumulative 1351 miles, 74500 feet of climb)

Another great day on Ride The West and it was finally a warm morning. After the first few miles out of Solvang, I rode with just my regular cycling jersey and shorts. This was the last of the longer mileage days of the tour. Tomorrow and Monday, our final two days, the mileage is only in the 50's.

Our route out of Solvang was on Highway 154, a rather busy road. I rode with Jeff today and after missing any tarantula sightings yesterday, we saw one today as it crossed the busy highway.


Tarantula!


Early morning, on busy highway 154

At mile 17, we turned onto an old stagecoach road used in the late 1800's to get through a mountain range at San Marco Pass. It meandered up the mountain from the valley, through the pass, and part way down the other side of the mountain. There was an old tavern on the route where stagecoaches would stop for lunch. We had our first SAG stop in that area.

On the old stagecoach road

The bridge for the main highway. The stagecoach road meandered up from the valley.



Tavern on the old stagecoach road

Next was a quick descent down the other side of the mountain. Eventually, we reached the Pacific Ocean, which we followed to Ventura and then on to Oxnard. We did stop at the Santa Barbara polo club and watched a polo match for a little while. Jeff and I also had In and Out Double Doubles at Ventura before the final ten miles into Oxnard. The ice cream count is now up to seven for the tour.

Polo at the Santa Barbara Polo Club

Bike path along the Pacific, near Ventura



Today's ride:

No comments:

Post a Comment