A Nice Ride (Again!)

After an early morning goodbye to my sweetheart, Diana, Tom and I drove to Cambria, where I would have ended my ride yesterday, had the road been open. I rode south to Morro Bay in a cool breezy fog off the ocean. It was impossible to see Morro Rock until you were almost on top of it. Along the way I continued to notice beautiful flowers and plants that I have never seen before. This is one example, from Morro Bay.


I also had a rest stop at "Dinosaur Cave Park" in Shell Beach. This is a location where a 1950's entrepreneur created a huge concrete dinosaur to attract people to an 80 foot tunnel studded with fake gemstones leading to caves formed in the cliffs by wave action on the soft rock. He regaled tourists with tales of dinosaur remains found in the caves, although that was never the case. Here's a shot of the scenic cliffs and park.


From there the ride took me south through San Luis Obispo, and on to Pismo Beach. Tom and I had lunch at the Rock & Roll Diner, that consisted of two old dining cars on a railroad siding, alongside of Highway 1. They were decorated with a 50's rock and roll theme, so I'm please to say that it was "a little before my time" since my rock was the 60's era. :-)

The ride continued south through Oceano, then down to Guadalupe and into Santa Maria. It was only 2631 feet vertical gain for the whole 70 miles, and included only one climb that was challenging at all. I was very thankful to God to feel strong and well on the bike again. I truly enjoyed the ride. I hope the remaining five days go as well, although the first two are both around 85 miles. Please pray that I can continue to complete each ride down to Mexico, with joy and in safety.