(Written from Tim and Sherry's house, West Los Angeles)
Miles biked: 55.4 (1,761.9 overall)
Time on bike: 3 hours, 57 minutes, 10 seconds
Maximum speed: 29.5 mph
Roads taken: Toro Canyon Road, Via Real, Santa Ynez Avenue, Carpinteria Avenue, US 101, SR 1, bike path, Ventura: Omar Raines Oceanfront bike path, Pierpoint Boulevard, Peninsula Street, Seahorse Avenue, Oyster Street ... Harbor Boulevard, Channel Islands Boulevard, Oxnard: Ventura Road ... Port Hueneme: Port Hueneme Road ... Navalair/Frontage Road, SR 1.
Places stopped: Ventura boardwalk (for a Power Bar/blood-red orange lunch and break), Point Mugu (for a snack and to admire the ocean view and the cliffs on the left side of SR 1), Leo Carrillo State Beach (to camp for the night).
It's a good thing my brakes were working Saturday morning, because they got their biggest test going down Toro Canyon Road from Barton and Vicki's house that sits some 1,250 feet above sea level.
After bidding Barton and Vicki goodbye, thanking them and discussing the possiblility of meeting up again during the week in L.A. -- where they work -- I got on the 520 just before noon and started down the hill that had nearly caused me to quit biking two days earlier.
I love going down hills as much as the next guy, but not all hills are fun to descend, and you can put the Toro Canyon beast in that category. For 2.8 miles, I didn't let go of the brakes for more than about 2 seconds lest I reach a ridiculous speed, hit a bump and go flying 43 feet in the air.
My hands were sweating by the time I reached the bottom of the hill and I had to dismount to regroup before continuing my trip south.
That was the only real drama of the day.
It was my flattest day of riding to date, which made the 55.4 miles seem like 20 miles. I wasn't pushing that hard, and I still made it to the hiker/biker campsite closest to L.A., Leo Carrillo State Beach, in less than 4 hours of biking time.
The riding was easy, but it wasn't boring. Even the 6 miles along US 101 -- I'm pretty sure I'm finally done with my major-highway riding; SR 1 doesn't quite count in that category -- was scenic, as the ocean stretched out to my right and small mountains stood in the not-so-far distance to the north and east.
It became even better once I got through the nothing-special towns of Ventura and Oxnard and merged onto the Pacific Coast Highway. As I passed Point Mugu, peaks higher than 1,000 rose steeply right on the edge of the highway. Yes, if I were a rock climber, I could have parked at a wayside and started climbing.
Not only that, but the ocean, and some decent-sized waves, was just 30 feet or so below the road on my right. I stopped on the side of the road about three times to snap pictures.
When I reached the state beach around 4:30 p.m., I really didn't want to call it a day. But I had no other plausible options. There were no more hiker/biker sites before Santa Monica, and I definitely wanted to camp a night before smelling the fumes of the city.
So I sadly got off the bike and spent most of the evening on the sandy beach, watching a large group of talented surfers take rolling waves to shore.
I got in the sleeping bag before 9, thinking about getting up at a very early hour and coasting into L.A. before the oppressive heat hit.
A COUPLE NOTES
1. I can't thank Barton and Vicki enough for welcoming me into their house and being extremely hospitable for nearly two days. It was an incredibly fun and relaxing time in the beautiful Santa Barbara hills.
2. I decided on Saturday, somewhat out of convenience and somewhat out of dedication, that I won't swim in the Pacific until I reach my final destination of San Diego. It will make running into the water -- which, hopefully, will be an accomodating temperature -- for that first time all the more intoxicating.
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