Solvang to Ventura

Mike in white and Kristina in green

Dionne in upper left corner in green

Solvang to Ventura

Today is Friday but, also costume day.  There were some doozies.  The "cop" is named Hunter and he is from Idaho.  Yesterday, he had a full beard.  Dionne called him "Fuzzy Face".  He obviously changed that situation for costume day.  One guy was dressed like Captain America.  There was Gumby, and finally there was a guy who dressed up in fishnet stockings (red), corset (red), a wig (blonde) and then underwear that were blue with stars.  Similar to what you would expect Capt. America to wear.  He and Hunter wore their costumes with pride.

Gumby- Don't know who was underneath, but it had to get warm in there!

I am feeling pretty good in the legs department.  They feel used, but not out of gas.  We have a significant climb today.  Its anywhere from 3-5 miles, depending on who you talk to.  The frosting on the cake and something everybody agrees on is that the descent is an 8-mile drop with a very high "WooooHoooo" factor.  So far, the hills have been challenging, but not any more so than we ride in the Napa/Sonoma area.  Of course, pace has a huge impact.  This climb (San Marcos Pass) comes around 17 miles into todays stage.  Can't you here Phil, Paul and Bob saying that?  When the climb comes, I started with Rob, the NCO I talked about in previous posts.  He took off up the hill.  Not knowing the climb, I just started climbing steadily.  The grade didn't get above 6% and frequently dropped to 4%.  I caught up to Rob with a mile to go (it was a little more than 3 miles).  We rode to the top together.  For our group, we were the first two to the top and Dionne was third,  but not by much.  We almost got "chicked".  Getting chicked is when a girl passes you on a climb.  Never a good thing!!
Now the descent.  We are cleared to go at our own pace, which we do.  Six of us went down quickly.  Not quite at terminal velocity, but not because we didn't try.  There were two lanes going down the hill, which gave cars one lane to themselves.  We utilized the other one and nothing with four wheels came close to passing us.

Melannie

From there we rolled through Santa Barbara for lunch.  After lunch,  I told Todd, our leader, that I would watch our  back end since the normal guy, Sean, was not there.  I enjoyed sitting/riding in the back of the bus.  I don't like riding in the middle of the bunch.  Too much yo-yo action.  It's either front or back for me.  So, nobody gets behind me. For the last half of the ride, I rode with Melannie.  She has some lower back and right leg problems (nerve damage).  She basically pedals with her left leg with the right one helping as able.  She is one of the riders that had never ridden a bike before this ride.  She wasn't great on skills, but she also didn't give up.   Its me and then the Shimano support vehicle.  Robert, one of the R2R staffers, was also back there.  He likes to move up and down the line a lot.  At one point as we were riding down Highway 1, he came to me and told me he was going to ride on the wet, hard packed sand when we got to one particular section.  Sure enough, next thing I know he stopped carried his bike over the rock wall to get to the beach.  It wasn't long before I saw him flying up the beach on his bike "WhooHooing" and waving at everybody.  It was kind of cool riding down PCH although it was rough road.
At our arrival at the Marriott in Ventura, we were greeted with In-n-Out burgers (double-double's).  There was an In-n-Out across the street from our hotel and I guess they made us a bunch of burgers.  It didn't last long in my hands.  It was SO good.  Yeah, I was that hungry.
We ate at the Kiwanis Lodge for dinner.  We were joined by a WWII veteran.  His name is Artie and he was a Tuskegee Airman.  Impressive.  He also impressed me with his grip.  He almost broke my hand!  Almost.  It is always somebody's birthday at dinner, whether it actually is or not.  Unfortunately, yesterday was mine.  When it is your "birthday" you have to stand on your chair while John Wordin (ride director) roasts you and then everybody sings Happy Birthday to you.  Barb told him I had been helping her tape and so it became my birthday.   It was a nice gesture, although unnecessary.
Tomorrow is our last day.  It has been a fast week.  I thought the week would be more difficult.  I am not saying I didn't work hard, because I did.  I had just imagined something different.  I imagined being more wiped out than I am.  I am stiff (the hot tub last night helped) and my butt and hands/wrists need a break.  Overall, I am doing well.  Until tomorrow, Ciao.