Total Distance - 1,645 miles
If you're wondering, that ain't a typo in the distance and time. Today, I found out just where six months training followed by a month on the road has got me. It's got me fast. To be fair, the conditions and roads were almost perfect being generally overcast and about 15C with a slight tailwind on virtually flat roads all day, but still, I definitely surprised myself, so apologies in advance for my trumpet blowing in the rest of today's blog.
I think I also surprised a fair few other folk on the road. Now, as you may just have realised from my previous posts, I get a bit of a monumental buzz from passing folk out on their road bikes (me, overly competitive? Never.) But to pass a whole group of about ten guys all out in their matching team kit? Surely not. But I did, and they didn't respond. Well one of them tried but, to my amazement, I just dropped him. And they weren't the only ones, there was the group of four after 50 miles - reeled in, passed, left trailing in my wake. But the one I enjoyed the most was the guy out in full time trial gear who zipped past me in a bit of a blur after 20 miles. Now anyone who knows me knows there was absolutely no way that I was going to resist a challenge like that so I set off on a chase like no other going full throttle for the next 10 miles at 20-25 mph, but always just unable to close that final 20 second gap before he turned off. Still, it had been a chase to remember. Although it had cost me another 2 rear wheel spokes.
On the wildlife front, it was dolphins today as after 18 miles I joined Highway 101 and spotted the distinctive dorsal fins of a pod of at least half a dozen or so chasing the fish into the shallows of the breaking waves. Alas, being the highway I was a bit frustrated I couldn't stop to watch them but I suspect I was about the only one of thousands zipping past on the road that even noticed they were there.
After 60 miles I passed the Malibu sign proudly announcing 27 miles of paradise to follow, I beg to differ as the cycling on that stretch was some of the least enjoyable of the trip along a busy road past far too many a parked cars on the shoulder. Or is it parked? Or is it about to pull out? Have they seen me? Nope!
So it was with no small element of delight that I looked to my right after 80 miles and saw the start of a cycle track winding it's way along the beach which I relief. One bit of advice though, when cycling through sand on a path don't even think about trying to turn the handlebars. It all goes comically wrong very quickly. But I was enjoying the ride, so much so I accidentally found myself cycling past tonight's hotel.
Getting here early (3pm) means I get the bonus of getting two full meals to refuel the tank. Meal number one has been a visit to Subway where the current marketing campaign centres around the culinary beast that is a 'footlong' sub sandwich. Well, to add to that today's promotion was buy one get one free (yesterday's was meet the LA Lakers cheerleaders - damn that day delay when I was ill in Ferndale!) Well, I did the bogof promo, sat down, and surprised myself quickly finishing both feet without feeling the slightest bit full. Which left me with plenty of time to fly my kite down on the beach in the weak evening sun.
