Getting up at 6 to ride before weekend traffic was a great idea! Sh, don’t tell anyone. I rode with my friend Bryony from our friendly “banana belt” neighborhood, south to San Andreas Road and Sunset beach.
Strawberry fields wafting strawberry scent in our direction, and the colors of the day were just exactly like those old lithograph produce labels: rich green, bright blue, smooth color gradients. I’m sure it wasn’t just the tint of my glasses.
We did our 3 hour ride with few stops. Nice and smooth.
Interactions with Animals:
- A gnat or a fly or something smacked right into my forehead, right between the eyes.
- A towhee or sparrow threatened to do the same thing! That was an odd moment.
- A big stick in the road looked exactly like a chicken foot. Ok, I guess that wasn’t exactly an animal interaction.
On the way back, we were concerned about the various “gauntlets” we must travel on Soquel Dr, but we passed them all with zero to no incident! hooray. As John Irving says in the second to last paragraph of The Water Method Man,
“So what if dog puke still lurked unseen in the laundry room! In good company we can be brave.”
Tags: beautiful scenery, cycling, training ride