Day 24 and 25.5

Day 24 

I woke up in Santa Maria/Orcutt, CA.  Well rested and ready to go.  Today I face the last two large hills of the ride…two 1000ft hills over the course of 20miles.  They went perfectly.  Smooth, easy, fun.  I was in a great mood and I was singing to myself.  Sometimes I think its good i am traveling alone :)

Here is my mental playlist:

Some Nights ~ Fun

Lodi Dodi ~ Snoop Dogg

Halleluja ~ Jeff Buckley 

and my personal favorite…Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!

You have to keep in mind these songs will pop in and out of my head from one moment to the next and usually for a verse, two at most.  

Outside of Lompoc, I happened upon a couple riding together, on their way back to San Diego.  I passed them just as we summited the LAST hill.  I could not help but stand up, sprint and yell, "WOOOOOOOO!"  Holy crap I made it to SoCal!  This was my last major land mark before San Diego and I couldn't have been happier during my 1000 foot descent towards the ocean.  I had planned on eating shortly after the hill, but what I understood to be a town was a vending machine at a rest area.  Soooooo I kept motoring down the coast.  I finally ate in Goleta, 65 miles from my starting point!  I was hungry!  I swung into the first bike shop I could find and got a tune up and a new chain.  I stomped on my pedals and rolled into Carpinteria at about 4:30pm.  I had heard bad things about the Carpinteria Hiker-Biker site so I was not excited to spent the rest of the day there.  The next logical thing to do…find a brewery.  I quickly made friends with a nice couple from Orange County.  We traded a couple rounds of beer and they invited me to stay with them.  This was a huge relief and I Gladly accepted.  The only problem was the rounds of beer got me quite drunk.  Good conversation and good beer made me forget that I had biked 88 miles and only eaten a chicken wrap.  Call it good planning or good luck, but the campsite was a 3 minute walk from the brewery and so I walked back with my new friends, hopped through a shower and found a burrito in town.  

Day 25

A restless night awaited me.  Camp noise, raccoons and stomach pain kept me awake most the night.  I put my kit together at about 5:30am and was on the road by 6:15.  The plan was to meet Shay in Oxnard at 10:40 and he would accompany me home.  I admit I was really excited to get on the road this morning.  I stopped at a Starbucks to calm my stomach a bit and catch up with Shay via phone.  The train situation in SD was a pain and he wouldn't be arriving in Oxnard till 2pm.  All good and well, but now I had 28miles to go and 6 hours to do it.  I have done 80miles in that much time, so I decided to put my feet up and relax in Starbucks.  As I was about to leave I bumped into Debrah, Chris and Brian.  They were my cycling friends from two days earlier.  We rode the first 25 miles together.  It was nice to have the company and I definitely took advantage of the draft.  I have a nother 75 miles to go today so I didn't feel too bad.  

Now I am in a coffee shop in Oxnard waiting for Shay.  So consider this a mid-day update.  

Sorry no pictures….just cycling.