Getting up out of Paso Robles is nothing special the roads are all good, there usually isn’t too much wind that early in the morning, the climb isn’t that hard, slow and steady going. Rest stop just where it starts to get steep, we rest and try to avoid going on, for the Evil Twins are next
Ah, the Evil Twins, we call them the “Evil Twins” because first of all there isn’t two of them, there are three, well maybe more than that I’ll let you know, but every time you think you have reached the top, you discover you haven’t.
That’s’ what makes them evil.
Once you finally reach the top, only short way to go and what do you know, there is a big open area where you can see the coast (on a clear day) and that is;
Halfway to LA
Halfway to Los Angeles - we joke that we made it halfway, might as well go on – I’m known for saying, “I’m over this ride, I think I’ll go back”
But we stop and take pictures, standing on rocks with the coast in the background – Long lines, everyone wants to get their picture taken, maybe this year I will actually get up on that rock myself.
Coffee trucks sometimes wait for us there –and fans that have brought us cookies and candy, it is really an unofficial rest stop.
After awhile it is long ride downhill, and I mean long, the speed you can get going is pretty scary, so I feather my brakes and take it easy. Sometimes there is a freaky side winds that can blow you about a bit. Once you reach the bottom, you head south, and that side wind if present is now a tail wind, so you can really fly.
Down the coast a bit is our second rest stop, last year it was Sailor Boys, nice, but as nice as the scenery is, we have miles to go before we rest, and the wind was blowing. So back on our bikes we go, heading south to Morro Bay. When you see the rock, we start heading inland; we are heading to the college at San Luis Obispo, where we have lunch. They have another fundraiser there that the college kids put on the supports AIDS Awareness & Prevention, on Campus is also a Memorial Grove.
After Lunch we head south & east to end up in Santa Maria. The roads tend to blur together after awhile, but after San Luis Obispo is where we get on the Highway 101 for awhile ((it is our second time really, we got on before Bradley (yesterday), but it were on the freeway for just for 500 feet)), and it is really scary when a semi goes traveling past you at seventy and there you are on a bicycle on the freeway, sure you are riding on the shoulder, but that shoulder has those bumps that are every 15 feet to wake up sleepy drivers, so cyclists try to ride in that 4 inch groove that is close to the edge of the pavement and the shoulder that is smooth.
After we get done with our few miles of freeway, we get back to the farmlands, we make a circuit of Santa Maria, and come in and get to camp.
Actually this day is longer than I’m telling you, it is our second longest day of the ride, and the last part of it is windy and dusty, we see Llamas and get terrible side winds. I hate this day, it just seems so long and you pray that a rest stop is soon. Once you actually get to rest stop 4, you are grateful, for that side wind turns into a tailwind. And though you have been on the bike for a long time, and are tired, that tail wind allows you to rest while riding.
Last year my brother came and picked me up before rest-stop 4. He came down to see the ride, and stopped and helped people fix their bikes, fix their flats, etc. After we checked in at camp (one must turn in your bike at the end of every day) he treated me to a motel room. I was so happy to get a shower, and to sleep in real bed.
We went to get dinner, and then watched TV for bit, then I fell asleep.
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