Just back from having too much fun cycling around
Solvang, CA.
FYI, Solvang is a small town, a bit north of Santa Barbara,
and in March the cycling there is fantastic, as the rolling landscape is green
and temperatures are in the 70’s. Solvang
itself is a ‘Danish’ village, a bit touristy http://www.solvangusa.com/,
but it is a small walkable town in wine country (think the movie Sideways), and it has a very nice
brewery. I liked the Vahalla IPA, but
all the brews were well reviewed by our group http://www.solvangbrewing.com/. Solvang is also very welcoming to
cyclists. In fact, a few amateur teams train
there. The surrounding country side has
a fair number of high end stables, as well as wide valleys filled with nut
trees, and truck crops. In particular,
we saw a lot of broccoli on this trip.
One of the other Steves (there were 3 of us) and I got a
nice diesel exhaust experience on the climb to the reservior overlook, as a guy in a pickup
couldn’t resist stepping on it, just as he passed us. This was no accident, as Steve was a bit
ahead of me and the guy let us have it with two distinct bursts.
The ride did have some magical moments, like
when we spooked a Great Blue Heron as we crossed the grated bridge on
Nacimiento Drive where it crossed the San Antonio River. We were able to pace the huge bird as he
glided along the stream for a few hundred yards.
Day 2: The route on
this day was the Foxen Canyon/Cat Canyon 60 mi loop, starting and ending in
Solvang. Wheels were rolling at 8:15 in the
cold fog and fortunately, we only had to go a few miles to get into the
sunshine and some beautiful views.
While in the fog and mist Tom did spot a
buffalo. I missed it as my glasses were
totally fogged, and when I pulled over to wipe them, I rode directly into some
sand and nearly went down. So much for
riding ‘blind’.
Chocolate thievery:
After the steep Cat Canyon climb, the very bumpy road descends to Los Alamos
and at mile 40 we lunched at the Quackenbush Café, http://www.generalstoreca.com/html/chef.html/
. This is a comfortable little place
with great soups and sandwiches, friendly staff, and a nice outdoor patio along
the main street. Their baked goods are
also over the top. In particular, the
day we were there they had a chocolate-banana cake/bread/brownie thing that was
calling my name. I agreed to split a sandwich
and a piece of the chocolate bomb with David (my sandwich buddy), and after carefully
cutting the chocolate delight in half, proceeded to dig into my sandwich. Others at the table were commenting on how
good the desserts looked, and the lovely lady sitting next to me commented that
I had made a good choice with the chocolate/banana bread. I was astonished that she could know this, as
her food was yet to arrive, and innocently asked ‘How do you know?’ But, just
as I uttered this question, the answer became obvious. A corner of my piece was
missing! The look on my face
(shock) said it all, as the others at the table burst out laughing. Now I know who not to trust around my
chocolate!
Relativistic Cycling: I have ridden with many groups of cyclists and
find that the bulk of the conversation in most groups revolves around bike gear
and rides. Not in this group!
After
lunch the route climbs out of Los Alamos on Drum Canyon Rd. This is a bit of a climb, and to distract
ourselves from the suffering, three of us were explaining Einstein's theory of relativity to
a couple of others. You know, going through the standard train problem: “ I'm
on a train traveling 100 mph and throw a ball toward the front of the
train. You are standing still, watching
the train go by. How fast does the ball appear to be traveling to each observer,
etc”. Given my background as a nerd
geophysicist the topic is not surprising, but the then there was the
philosopher (PhD), and the chemist-business man doing much of the explaining. Beyond
that, the guy we were explaining it to is a retired judge that writes award
winning poetry! Just your usual
California biking group. On a later long
climb we discussed the fractal dimension of the landscape. Since returning home, the discovery of
gravity waves at the edge of the universe has been announced. That should get us up a couple more long
climbs.
I’m not sure if it was cosmic energy or what but after the
descent, there was no mistaking the Red-Tail Hawk that Larry and I watched as
it circled up and away with a snake dangling from its’ talons.
Day 3: Solvang to
Jalama Beach and back (75 mi). The first
section of this out-and-back route follows Santa Rosa Rd west from Buellton
through fields and orchards for about 20 miles, out to California Hwy 1. The route then continues south on Hwy 1 for
about 3 miles to Jalama Rd. From there it
is 14 miles west to the ocean and Jalama Beach.
The weather was clear and not too hot, and the biking was outstanding. One important point to note is don’t plan on
spending much time at the corner of Route 1 and Jalama road, as the stench
there is intense. Some one thing or
many fleshy things are rotting in the brush.
There was also a big pile of brussel sprouts (like a truck load) with cows
wading right into it to munch. I would
have taken a picture, but every cell in my body was telling me to move on.
Jalama Road has one big climb that comes at mile 29 from
Solvang. After that climb there are a
few more bumps, but the beach beckons, and it is easy to push on. Coming down the hill to Jalama Beach is one
beautiful ride, whether on a bike or in a car on a motorcycle, it matters not,
but after 35 miles on a bike, it looks especially good.
There is a state campground at Jalama Beach , and a small
store/grill (Jalama Beach Store and Grill.
http://www.jalamabeach.com/). That is where a second chocolate incident
occurred. To many of us recreational
riders, the food on the ride is an integral part of the experience, most folks
that ride or hike long distances eventually find the foods that best suit their
systems during their adventures. For me
it is a butter croissant and a café mocha (no whip, extra hot). It turns out that the Jalama Beach Grill was
a bit short on espresso drinks and French pastry, so I settled for half a
Jalama Patty melt with fries (again splitting with my sandwich buddy). I was just tucking into the patty melt when
Tom shows up with a humungous chili-burger and fries combo filling one of the
carryout boxes that usually holds 4 drinks, burger and fries. Several of us sat in stunned admiration as
Tom devoured a substantial fraction of that burger, noted that we would
endeavor to stay ahead of Tom on the return trip.
Then came dessert time and the Dove Bars in the store
freezer were very popular (no frozen Twix).
Rob decided that a whole Dove bar was too much, so he ate half of his and
tossed the remainder into the box, on top of the mangled remnants of the
chiliburger. Well, several of us gasped
that someone would throw away such a valuable item as half a Dove bar,
especially on top of a mangled chilli burger (you must realize that we had
ridden 35 mi, and had 35 to go on our return). That is when Sally sprang into
action, grabbed the half Dove bar from atop the chilli montage and gulped it
down in one bite. Seriously, it was gone! And Sally is a small woman who thrives on
classical music!
Somehow, I felt great on the return to Solvang and the miles
just rolled by. I ordered a Mocha
Frappuccino (actually called a Mocha Blender) at the Coffee Cabin http://www.yelp.com/biz/coffee-cabin-buellton/ on the way into Solvang, and waited until my
afternoon coffee buddies rolled in.
Note: Special thanks
to Robin and Jeff for organizing this trip, and to Cindy, Christina and Lynn
for their SAG efforts on the Jalama Beach ride.
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