I spent two days in Santa Barbara. I had heard that Santa Barbara was ‘small’, but I think my definition of small varied quite drastically from the definitions of the people with whom I had talked – the town is quite large and for a while I found myself wishing I was back in Pie Town. However, I still had a great time enjoying the beach, cruising in the plethora of bike lanes, and even going whale watching courtesy of my awesome parents.
But, the clock kept ticking and my feet grew itchy quickly, so James, Chad, and I took off up the 154 and over the San Marcos Pass, climbing the consistent 8% grade for quite a while, but admiring the novel views of the ocean from the mountainside the entire way. Upon cresting the pass, we began a long decent into the Lake Cachuma Recreation Area, which was covered by a thick floor of white fog. We decended the sunny mountainside down into the fog and were soon engulfed by its presence and before we knew it we were riding through cold, dark country underneath a impenetrable roof of fog.
We continued for another 70 miles or so to complete the 90 mile day in Grover Beach, where I had called the local church and told them about us and our ride to San Francisco to ask if they could help. Pastor Ron was unbelievably generous and not only gave us a place to stay, but also invited us to have dinner with his family and clean up at his house. Although we already had plans for dinner with Vant’s aunt, the astounding generosity was touching and inspiring.
We had the aforementioned dinner with Vant’s aunt, which was awesome, and then we went down to the beach and had a campfire that made me feel like I was living Laguna Beach.
But, the clock kept ticking and my feet grew itchy quickly, so James, Chad, and I took off up the 154 and over the San Marcos Pass, climbing the consistent 8% grade for quite a while, but admiring the novel views of the ocean from the mountainside the entire way. Upon cresting the pass, we began a long decent into the Lake Cachuma Recreation Area, which was covered by a thick floor of white fog. We decended the sunny mountainside down into the fog and were soon engulfed by its presence and before we knew it we were riding through cold, dark country underneath a impenetrable roof of fog.
We continued for another 70 miles or so to complete the 90 mile day in Grover Beach, where I had called the local church and told them about us and our ride to San Francisco to ask if they could help. Pastor Ron was unbelievably generous and not only gave us a place to stay, but also invited us to have dinner with his family and clean up at his house. Although we already had plans for dinner with Vant’s aunt, the astounding generosity was touching and inspiring.
We had the aforementioned dinner with Vant’s aunt, which was awesome, and then we went down to the beach and had a campfire that made me feel like I was living Laguna Beach.
In the morning, we got up and began the ride into Cambria along the beautiful, yet rocky and foggy California coast. We stopped for lunch, after the fog had cleared up and turned the day into what felt like a beautiful, crisp fall day, at the Elfin forest – a back-barrier sand-dune-land that is vegetated by low-lying vegetation. The lunch spot overlooked Morro rock – a large rock at the corner of Morro bay that sticks up out of the ocean, seemingly guarding a forebidden land. At the docks by the bay, sea lions swam and barked at us, giving us quite the show whether they knew it or not.
We eventually finished the ride along the coast, full of amazing views and mountains dropping into the sea, at a wonderful lady’s house in Cambria. I had gotten in contact with her by calling the local church, who were not able to host us but instead asked at service if anyone could do so. We arrived at her house, which was an amazing sight in itself, to find that she and her family were also amazingly generous. They took us to dinner where we learned more about all of them, including that she had invented the Bumpit – a hair styling product that gained widespread popularity a few years back! In the morning she cooked us a delicious breakfast and provided us with much food before we went on our way. These acts of generosity from people who didn’t even know us while we traveled up the coast were the most inspiring part of my trip, even moreso than the scenery.
