Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
August 7 Reseda Free Day
It is 8 AM and already 78 degrees. I am hoping to see one of my friends from Heidelberg days. Craig Beeker, the RA on my floor my freshmen year is a Lutheran pastor not too far away from here. Very slow start to the morning. I slept in until 7:45 AM, that is the latest I have slept since July 10I . It was nice to sleep in.
I lounged around this morning. Chatting with our riders and thinking about what me might do on our free day, recognizing that we don't want to do too much outside since it suppose to be hotter today than yesterday.
I was able to meet up with Craig. He drove over to Reseda from his church, which is about 1/2 away with his 3 boys. We had a wonderful timing catching up over lunch. The last time I saw him was 1985 when he graduated from Heidelberg. He's been at his church for 19 1/2 years. He has twin boys 15 and a 13 year old son. All of them are in band and Craig's wife is a funeral director and avid horse person. Craig is one of those special people in your life. He made my freshmen year of college survivable and all these years later he remains a comforting warm soul. It was a blessing to see him and meet his boys.
A group of us are taking Allen out for dinner tonight. We are a bit limited on our food selection since Allen is happiest eating hotdogs and beans, and we're in So. Cal where spicy food is the food of choice. We may go bowling as well.
I lounged around this morning. Chatting with our riders and thinking about what me might do on our free day, recognizing that we don't want to do too much outside since it suppose to be hotter today than yesterday.
I was able to meet up with Craig. He drove over to Reseda from his church, which is about 1/2 away with his 3 boys. We had a wonderful timing catching up over lunch. The last time I saw him was 1985 when he graduated from Heidelberg. He's been at his church for 19 1/2 years. He has twin boys 15 and a 13 year old son. All of them are in band and Craig's wife is a funeral director and avid horse person. Craig is one of those special people in your life. He made my freshmen year of college survivable and all these years later he remains a comforting warm soul. It was a blessing to see him and meet his boys.
A group of us are taking Allen out for dinner tonight. We are a bit limited on our food selection since Allen is happiest eating hotdogs and beans, and we're in So. Cal where spicy food is the food of choice. We may go bowling as well.
August 6 Santa Barbara to Reseda
I woke up not feeling that great. My ankle was swollen again and hurting. I packed my cycling stuff in my day pack with the intention of riding in the van the fist segment and then getting out at the start of segment two to ride the rest of the way. I slept the first 25 miles in the van. We stopped like along the beach for the first rest stop. It was beautiful, and I thought about putting my cycling clothes on and riding, but it was starting to get warm.
I made the right decision not to ride. By the time we reached the second rest stop it was 90 degrees and over 100 by the third rest stop. With the antibiotic I am on, I would have died ridig in such heat and direct sunlight for 5 hours plus. It was almost unbearable in the van at rest stops.
Tomorrow we may or may not have a completely free day. It is a no ride day, but it is suppose to be a build day. The build day has been cancelled, but we may do some volunteer work in the community or at the church. It was still in the 90's at 9 PM at night.
Our host church is Kirk of the Valley, PC USA. There is a clergy couple who co-pastor the church. They are Princeton grads. The husband grew up in San Diego. The sanctuary is set up for worship in the round and has a full sound booth and instruments for a full band. The church has a K through 5 school as well. It appears to be a very happening place and according to the pastors the facility functions as both church and community gathering space.
I made the right decision not to ride. By the time we reached the second rest stop it was 90 degrees and over 100 by the third rest stop. With the antibiotic I am on, I would have died ridig in such heat and direct sunlight for 5 hours plus. It was almost unbearable in the van at rest stops.
Tomorrow we may or may not have a completely free day. It is a no ride day, but it is suppose to be a build day. The build day has been cancelled, but we may do some volunteer work in the community or at the church. It was still in the 90's at 9 PM at night.
Our host church is Kirk of the Valley, PC USA. There is a clergy couple who co-pastor the church. They are Princeton grads. The husband grew up in San Diego. The sanctuary is set up for worship in the round and has a full sound booth and instruments for a full band. The church has a K through 5 school as well. It appears to be a very happening place and according to the pastors the facility functions as both church and community gathering space.
August 5 Santa Barbara Free Day
The mornings are always more relaxed on free days. No set wake up time, breakfast on your own and because it is Sunday worship with either the host church or a church of one's choosing. Five us decided to attend First Congregational Church of Santa Barbara, UCC. We rode our bikes there. It was about 2.5 miles from our host. I had left a voice mail and e-mail message for the pastor the night before.
She warmly greeted us the moment we arrived. There were 36 visitors in worship, including us. There was a baptism, which accounted for some of the other visitors. The congregation was very welcoming and warm. I think we spoke to nearly everyone in worship. I was able to bring greetings from the Central Atlantic Conference and the Conference Minister John D. First Cong. Santa Barbara is John's home church. I was able to speak about the ride and the work of the Fuller Center.
After worship we continued to speak with folks from the congregation. Santa Barbara holds its annual Fiesta this weekend. We learned from the husband of the Christian Ed director at our host church to go to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church for authentic Mexican food and avoid the Fiesta, which is exactly what we did. It was amazing and loads of fun. Then we headed to the beach, rode on the pier and just enjoyed the waterfront of Santa Barbara before heading down State Street and back to the church.
We parked our bikes and jumped on the bus to go back downtown for dinner. We caught the tail end of the outdoor symphony concert by the West Coast Symphony. It was magical. We spoke with a few members of the symphony and got good local suggestions on where to get some reasonably priced pasta in not so reasonably priced Santa Barbara. We bummed into the same people later in the evening, when we went into a restaurant where some of the other cyclists were getting hamburgers. The people who had recommended the Italian restaurant were sitting next to the cyclist we went in to see.
Taxi ride home, which was more expensive than planned, but it was taxi or walk 4 miles.
She warmly greeted us the moment we arrived. There were 36 visitors in worship, including us. There was a baptism, which accounted for some of the other visitors. The congregation was very welcoming and warm. I think we spoke to nearly everyone in worship. I was able to bring greetings from the Central Atlantic Conference and the Conference Minister John D. First Cong. Santa Barbara is John's home church. I was able to speak about the ride and the work of the Fuller Center.
After worship we continued to speak with folks from the congregation. Santa Barbara holds its annual Fiesta this weekend. We learned from the husband of the Christian Ed director at our host church to go to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church for authentic Mexican food and avoid the Fiesta, which is exactly what we did. It was amazing and loads of fun. Then we headed to the beach, rode on the pier and just enjoyed the waterfront of Santa Barbara before heading down State Street and back to the church.
We parked our bikes and jumped on the bus to go back downtown for dinner. We caught the tail end of the outdoor symphony concert by the West Coast Symphony. It was magical. We spoke with a few members of the symphony and got good local suggestions on where to get some reasonably priced pasta in not so reasonably priced Santa Barbara. We bummed into the same people later in the evening, when we went into a restaurant where some of the other cyclists were getting hamburgers. The people who had recommended the Italian restaurant were sitting next to the cyclist we went in to see.
Taxi ride home, which was more expensive than planned, but it was taxi or walk 4 miles.
August 4 Santa Maria to Santa Barbara
Santa Maria to Santa Barbara 74.8 miles 5 hours and 8 minutes.
Back on the bike. I was prepared to stop and ride in the van if necessary depending on how I felt on this new antibiotic and how my energy the Staph infection had sapped from my body.
I was a little sluggish into the first rest stop, but overall I was feeling pretty good. I rode with several different people and rode by myself for a number of miles. My pace was not as fast as other days, so I could not keep up with the faster riders and it was not as slow as some of the the other folks, although everyone was riding a bit slower after 105 plus mile day the day before.
The thing I most remember about today's ride was the long slow climb between rest one and two. The rode was bumpy due to the type of pavement, which makes one slower to begin with becuase one's rolling efficiency is so much less. I was pedaling at a good cadence and only able to maintain a speed of about 10 or 11 miles an hour, which is very slow on fairly level ground. There was also a bit of a headwind. Riding long strentches under such conditions becomes very demoralizing. I started to wonder why I was putting myself through this and praying for smoother pavement and less wind. What I did not realize at the time was I was going up hill as well. This became clear when the climb got more steep and then I rode downhill for 5 minutes or more at 28 miles an hour. Not only had I been riding on very rough pavement, I had also been pedaling uphill.
Much of the final stage into Santa Barbara was along the ocean. It was beautiful and soul renewing to ride along the seashore.
Santa Barbara is the end of segment 3 and Dean the rider who joined us in San Fran will be leaving. Our host church is the First Baptist Church of Santa Barbara, an American Baptist Church. Hans, the longboard skateboarder is the senior pastor. He is what one might imagine a So. Cal surfing pastor would be like.
Tomorrow we have a free day in Santa Barbara. I have always heard good things about the town of Santa Barbara. I'm looking forward to exploring the downtown and the waterfront.
Back on the bike. I was prepared to stop and ride in the van if necessary depending on how I felt on this new antibiotic and how my energy the Staph infection had sapped from my body.
I was a little sluggish into the first rest stop, but overall I was feeling pretty good. I rode with several different people and rode by myself for a number of miles. My pace was not as fast as other days, so I could not keep up with the faster riders and it was not as slow as some of the the other folks, although everyone was riding a bit slower after 105 plus mile day the day before.
The thing I most remember about today's ride was the long slow climb between rest one and two. The rode was bumpy due to the type of pavement, which makes one slower to begin with becuase one's rolling efficiency is so much less. I was pedaling at a good cadence and only able to maintain a speed of about 10 or 11 miles an hour, which is very slow on fairly level ground. There was also a bit of a headwind. Riding long strentches under such conditions becomes very demoralizing. I started to wonder why I was putting myself through this and praying for smoother pavement and less wind. What I did not realize at the time was I was going up hill as well. This became clear when the climb got more steep and then I rode downhill for 5 minutes or more at 28 miles an hour. Not only had I been riding on very rough pavement, I had also been pedaling uphill.
Much of the final stage into Santa Barbara was along the ocean. It was beautiful and soul renewing to ride along the seashore.
Santa Barbara is the end of segment 3 and Dean the rider who joined us in San Fran will be leaving. Our host church is the First Baptist Church of Santa Barbara, an American Baptist Church. Hans, the longboard skateboarder is the senior pastor. He is what one might imagine a So. Cal surfing pastor would be like.
Tomorrow we have a free day in Santa Barbara. I have always heard good things about the town of Santa Barbara. I'm looking forward to exploring the downtown and the waterfront.
August 3 Cambria to Santa Maria
I did not feel all that great when I woke up so I made the decision to ride in the van. Turns out this was a very wise decision. The ride route was not very scenic and I received a phone call from the doctor's office in San Fran that treated on Monday. The doctor told me I needed to stop taking the antibiotic I was put on in San Fran, because I had a Staph infection and Staph is resistant to the antibiotic I was taking.
By the end of the day I was on my third antibiotic in less than 3 weeks. Bactrim, which is broad spectrum antibiotic is my new drug of choice. I sure hope this antibiotic works.
By the end of the day I was on my third antibiotic in less than 3 weeks. Bactrim, which is broad spectrum antibiotic is my new drug of choice. I sure hope this antibiotic works.
August 2 Carmel to Cambria
Carmel to Cambria 107 miles 7 hours 44 minutes.
Early morning in order to hit the road before too much traffic joins us on the road. Today's ride will mostly be on CA-1, which means I'll be riding along the coast line and crossing Big Sur. The ride started at dawn in 50ish degree weather. I thought about wearing my tights along with my long sleeve shirt. I took the tights off, but stuck with the long sleeve shirt for two reasons: one it was cool and two the hyper sensitivity to UV rays caused by the antibiotic I'm on.
We had four scheduled rest stops on today's ride: 25 miles, 45 miles, 65 miles, and 85 miles. My goal was to make it to the first rest stop and see how I was feeling at that point. I did not ride particularly fast during the first segment. There were lots of ups and downs on CA-1 with glimpses of the ocean through the thick fog. I knew the ocean was beneath me because of the steep drops and the sound of the surf from time-to-time. I stopped to take a photo of a "valley" where the fog was beneath me and looked more like a ceiling than fog covering the ocean and valley below.
The area around Big Sur was covered in fog as well. In fact, most of the 95 miles on CA-1 were fogged in, which made the ride cooler, temp wise, but somewhat less interesting from a visual standpoint.
I was ready to stop at mile 25, but I kept going to the next rest stop at mile 45 again, I was ready to stop. By mile 45, I had climbed a very long hill that had a short downhill and lots and lots of smaller hills. The ride had the feel of an uphill ride from the start to nearly the finish. I pushed on to the next rest stop at mile 65. I was feeling better by this time and riding with more easy. I kept my long sleeve shirt on and kept applying sunscreen to my exposed areas.
There was one more big climb and a number of rollers betweenn mile 65 and 85. The 20 miles or so were pretty flat, and I still had enough energy to ride at 20 plus miles an hour on the flats. I stopped to take photos of the Elephant Seals at Elephtant Seal Beach. In the town of Cambria there is a bakery/restaurant that makes wonderful pies. I had learned this from Turbo Tom's son who lives in LA county and buys pies from this bakery whenever he has the opportunity. Turbo Tom, Jenn, Erik and I made a bee-line for Linn's once we reached Cambria. The pies were better than imagined. Of course, after 105 miles on a bicycle almost anything tastes good. Two more miles to the church and my first Century plus ride was under my belt.
Early morning in order to hit the road before too much traffic joins us on the road. Today's ride will mostly be on CA-1, which means I'll be riding along the coast line and crossing Big Sur. The ride started at dawn in 50ish degree weather. I thought about wearing my tights along with my long sleeve shirt. I took the tights off, but stuck with the long sleeve shirt for two reasons: one it was cool and two the hyper sensitivity to UV rays caused by the antibiotic I'm on.
We had four scheduled rest stops on today's ride: 25 miles, 45 miles, 65 miles, and 85 miles. My goal was to make it to the first rest stop and see how I was feeling at that point. I did not ride particularly fast during the first segment. There were lots of ups and downs on CA-1 with glimpses of the ocean through the thick fog. I knew the ocean was beneath me because of the steep drops and the sound of the surf from time-to-time. I stopped to take a photo of a "valley" where the fog was beneath me and looked more like a ceiling than fog covering the ocean and valley below.
The area around Big Sur was covered in fog as well. In fact, most of the 95 miles on CA-1 were fogged in, which made the ride cooler, temp wise, but somewhat less interesting from a visual standpoint.
I was ready to stop at mile 25, but I kept going to the next rest stop at mile 45 again, I was ready to stop. By mile 45, I had climbed a very long hill that had a short downhill and lots and lots of smaller hills. The ride had the feel of an uphill ride from the start to nearly the finish. I pushed on to the next rest stop at mile 65. I was feeling better by this time and riding with more easy. I kept my long sleeve shirt on and kept applying sunscreen to my exposed areas.
There was one more big climb and a number of rollers betweenn mile 65 and 85. The 20 miles or so were pretty flat, and I still had enough energy to ride at 20 plus miles an hour on the flats. I stopped to take photos of the Elephant Seals at Elephtant Seal Beach. In the town of Cambria there is a bakery/restaurant that makes wonderful pies. I had learned this from Turbo Tom's son who lives in LA county and buys pies from this bakery whenever he has the opportunity. Turbo Tom, Jenn, Erik and I made a bee-line for Linn's once we reached Cambria. The pies were better than imagined. Of course, after 105 miles on a bicycle almost anything tastes good. Two more miles to the church and my first Century plus ride was under my belt.
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