3: Kathy and Rog and the Blustery Day

Holy tornado!  Well, not tornados, but great gracious the wind did blow today!  We left Fillmore and headed west toward Ventura - Telegraph Road was a nice ride through the avocado and lemon orchards that had me thinking about guacamole!  But it was not long before those ocean breezes began to assert themselves, and by the time we reached Santa Paula we knew that the day would be epic. And it was.

We had our first flat today.  Not a big deal, but getting the tire off with the packs and fenders is a chore.  I think we figured it took about 30 minutes to repair.  Not too long after that, we had another delay as I needed to stop in at a medical clinic to get a couple of staples removed from my head.  Yes, I have had staples in my head for a week!  I ran into some ductwork in the basement last week, and had to get stitched up, and so we had to find a clinic where they could be removed.  All in all, a relatively painless diversion, but it did eat up another hour of the day.

Kathy stops to have her head examined

Then, some lunch, and we headed up the coast in earnest.  We were on the Pacific Coast route, and facing stiff headwinds.  A short bit south of Carpinteria, you have to get on the 101 for about  half a mile.  At this point, the road crosses a railroad and goes between two hills.  The effect was stunning.  We were knocked off the bike twice.  I climbed off and said, "no way." Roger and I had to pull and push the bike up the hill over that train crossing, and literally at times could not move!  I was hanging onto the guard rail to hold myself upright. Blimey!

You can get some sense of the wind from this shot.

I don't have enough Internet connection to upload the video tonight, but I will try to share later.  It was a riot.  I thought about the hardy pioneers who crossed the mountains pushing and shoving their wagons!


So, once again, a change of plans.  We had hoped to make it to El Capitan campground.  But the combination of the howling winds, and the prospect of setting up a camp in those conditions, swayed us.

We rode through Santa Barbara, always lovely, with drops coming down. Would we get a reply from our last-minute requests of several Warm Showers hosts?  Alas, no.

But we felt like we could make it just a little further down the road, and decided in favor of a little hotel in Goleta.  Turns out they do still leave the light on for you!

Why do we call this one "pacific"?