Two Wheels in Transit: Cycling the Left Coast: Dodging Brussel Sprouts

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

We enjoyed our continental breakfast this morning in our room. Why our room? Well, the construction crew that were staying at the motel were having a 'safety' meeting in the breakfast room. The room only had about 6 tables and they were using 4 of them. I was tempted to suggest that there was probably more appropriate places to have their meeting and that other people would like to use the breakfast room but I thought better of it. There were a couple of guys bigger than me...so for once I used my 'brain' and not my 'mouth'. I must be getting more mature...nah!

We were on the road by 7:35. We had planned a long day. The riding was really good today. We had long stretches of flat riding through vegetable growing areas along the coast. Every once in a while, just to keep us on our toes, a climb was thrown in. The area is known for growing pumpkins, artichokes, brussel sprouts, christmas trees, and flowers. We saw leaks being grown and transported to market. But the strangest thing was all the brussel sprouts strewn along the side of the road. We saw acres and acres of them being grown and wagon loads being transported down the highway. We were literally 'dodging' brussel sprouts today.

The only town we passed through was Davenport. It had 5 places to eat side by side. It appeared like that was the whole town. Towering over the town was a large cement plant but we were unsure if it was in operation or not.

We were having such a good ride. The sun was shining and the wind was partly in our back. We had cycled 60 kilometers by noon. As the saying goes, all good things have to come to an end. We hit Santa Cruz. Have I mentioned lately the 'distaste' I have for riding in urban areas? Well Santa Cruz presented a new twist. The ACA route seemed to be a good one but it was interrupted by a detour...a bridge was out. Now most detours that we have ever come across put signage up to get you around and back on route. Not in this town. The detour sign pointed left and that was the end of the signs. So that put us off route without a city map. We 'muddled' along and happened upon a Tourist Information place. They got us back on the route and actually the rest of the ride was on a dedicated bike lane...It was almost nice to ride except by this time we were in rush hour traffic. Way too many cars to say the least.

We are camping in the Biker Site in New Brighton State Beach Park. After dark a couple more cyclists have arrived.

Trip Distance = 91.64 km. Time on the Bikes = 6 hours 2 minutes. Average Speed = 15.18 km. Maximum Speed = 50.39 km. Wildlife Sightings = Ruddy Ducks, Shovellors, Coots, Great Egret, Snowy Egrets, Brown Pelicans, Stellar Jay, Oregon Juncos, Monarch Butterflies.