Day 21, Solvang, CA to Oxnard, CA.  81 miles and 3675 feet of climbing.  Left Solvang under sunny skies and a balmy 56 degrees.  By the time I arrived in Oxnard it was still sunny and the temp was pushing 80 degrees with a slight tail wind.  Another perfect day for bicycling!  Within 2 miles of the motel I had a flat tire.  Put in a new tube and then discovered that my portable pump no longer works.  Waited a few minutes for Jim to come by, got it aired up and was on my way.  A half mile further and I had another flat.  This time Jim had gone ahead, so I had to call and get him to come back.  Not a good way to begin a day!  From there things went up, as in climbing up!  The first 30 miles of the day were spent climbing to get out of Solvang and to the top of the mountains so that we could get down to Santa Barbara.  It was a chore, but the views were incredible and the down hill rides were nail biters.  On one down hill the decline was measured at 29% and the curves were sharp hair pins.  By the time I got to the bottom my hands were sore from applying the breaks.  It was fun riding thru Santa Barbara. Lots of people were out enjoying a perfect Saturday.  From there we rode thru Faria Beach and Ventura Beach on our way down to Oxnard.  As I noted yesterday, we are now down in the heavily populated area.  The traffic was awful.  We spent some time on highway 101 and the traffic was so constant and loud you could not hear yourself think.  Also spent quite a bit of time on historic Highway 1.  There again, lots of traffic and people.  The most challenging part of today's ride was all of the navigating.  Our "ride sheet" consisted of 2 full pages with 2 columns each.  There were lots of turns to be looking for.  We were seldom on the same road for more than a couple miles.  I rewarded myself with a milk shake from DQ when I got into town.  Ummm.  Only 2 days left.  Hard to believe that this adventure is close to coming to an end.  Tomorrow nite we have our banquet.  As the end comes I am having mixed emotions.  On the one hand I am definitely home sick and looking forward to getting back to Eville, Leisa and Jackster (maybe even Gage too).  On the other hand this has been a blast.  The riding has been incredible.  My fellow riders are all top notch individuals and riders too.  The staff off America By Bicycle are the best.  I will leave here with lots of good memories.

An update on Jim and his getting extra money for rooming with me:  I have put that behind me.  If someone thinks that he needed to be compensated for rooming with me what do I care?  It didn't cost me anything.   But today while I was out there slogging thru those climbs I got to thinking.  Every nite I have to give Shorty a boost to get him into bed.  Without me he would have to sleep on the floor.  Now I'm not complaining.  He is a good guy and an excellent roommate.  But perhaps a little compensation is in order for my added responsibility.  I will check into that tomorrow.

 

View leaving Solvang.

 

First glimples of the Pacific after getting close to the top of the mountains.

 

Looking down on Santa Barbara

 

Heading down.

 

Polo anyone?  The Santa Barbara polo grounds were on our route.  Apparently they will be playing tomorrow.

 

On Highway 1 lookingback towards Santa Barbara.

 

 

For two miles on Highway 1 it is lined with RV's, trailers and motor homes.  The sites are all paved and marked off.  The rigs are in there bumper to bumper.  There are no facilities.  Many rigs have their own generators.  Interesting!

 

Now that is ocean front camping!!