Day 52 ? Party Up! ? 107.28 km
I set out in the morning once again full of energy. The first eighteen or so miles of the day consisted of a slight uphill portion, which was then followed by a very enjoyable and steep two miles of downhill. Don?t get me wrong, it was hot. It is going to be much hotter in Mexico, where I will most likely have to take siestas during the middle of the day to avoid getting heat stroke.
I made it to Goleta, which is practically connected to Santa Barbara, in record time. In fact, I made it here about 1 PM whereas I was supposed to be here at 5 PM! Deciding to take advantage of the extra time I had I decided it was time to do some maintenance on my bicycle. I had to change out my rear cassette (the gears in the back) as they had been worn down after so many miles as well as my chain. Since I was changing my gearing anyway I decided to go with something that would be slightly easier on my legs on the uphill portions as I hear that the Baja region of Mexico is quite mountainous. $112 later my bicycle was once again in perfect working condition. Although I can?t really complain since parts alone cost me $80, and I also bought a pair of socks for $11. Although very pricy, these expensive socks last forever, as an added bonus the color matches my bike. I decided that it was time for a new pair since my old one?s smelled worse than death itself.
Even after my bicycle was fixed I still had plenty of time to spare, so I decided to head down to downtown Santa Barbara. Although this was about 7 miles away or so, it proved to be a very worthwhile trip. The town itself is very beautiful; the architecture resembles a Mexican look. The streets are lined with chic shops as well as towering palm trees. I of course just had to stop into a Starbucks for a frappuchino. Santa Barbara and the surrounding area is however a very expensive place in which to live. In fact, on my way into town I saw a sign advertising homes from the low two millions.
I just so happened to pick one of the best weekends of the year to come to Santa Barbara, as today happened to be the summer solstice festival. Let me tell you, these people really know how to party. The downtown area was filled with music and people. I then headed over to a certain park a little further from the center where I heard the bulk of the festivities were going on. Here were found countless food tents, live music, other entertainment, as well as thousands of people. I must say that I was quite impressed. It seems that this is in fact quite the party town since University of California: Santa Barbara was voted the number one party school in the United States several years ago. If I went here I doubt I would get much studying done!
At this point I got in touch with sygyzy from Anandtech, more commonly known to the world as David, who I would be staying with tonight. He invited me over to a house party a little ways away from the park, how could I turn that down? Here the spirits flowed freely and there was as much food as one could eat. A live band played on the porch and everyone simply relaxed on the lawn. After being all partied out we headed on a long trek back to David?s car so that I could drop my bags off in his trunk. As much as he would have wanted to give me a ride back to his place, it just wasn?t physically possible. Even so, just removing my bags was a great help as riding without those is virtually effortless, feeling as if a lead ball and chain have been removed from my foot
Over at David?s place I was able to do laundry for the first time in quite a long while, I won?t say exactly how long in order to avoid scaring you all. Afterwards we headed back downtown in order to grab something to eat. This time I didn?t really feel like biking half an hour each way in the dark, so I decided to get a ride. We went to a very cool restaurant called ?The Palace Grill?. Although not cheap, the food was truly excellent. You have to spoil yourself every once in awhile!
Being all full we decided to head back to David?s place. Being as it was still early we had to pass the hours by somehow. We decided to watch not one, but two movies. Today?s movies included: ?Vacancy? and ?The Proposition?. It?s kind of funny that I watched more movies today than I have in the whole last two months!
Day 53 ? Suburban Sprawl - 110.56 km
Today in the morning I awoke refreshed on a very comfy couch. I take the term couch surfing quite literally! Sygyzy, or as the rest of the world likes to call him, David, made us an excellent breakfast of pancakes. Best of all was the true Canadian syrup that accompanied them. A taste of home!
Before I head out onto the road David gave me some cycling specific, scientifically engineered food. The first were some organic, electrolyte filled shark gummy bears, which I must say were actually quite good. The second of which was something called ?Gu?. Basically the name says it all: it?s a goo. Although they claim its orange flavored, I can hardly say that it tasted like oranges at all. Sure, it may be full of vitamins and electrolytes, but that goo tasted like? I can?t even find the words to describe it, but it was pretty bad. The things I do to stay well nourished on this trip!
Today?s road wasn?t difficult due to winds or hills, but it was simply tiresome. The challenges started off right from the very morning. David told me I should take a bike path that runs through the University of California: Santa Barbara campus as it is a bicycle path on which there are no cars. Not a bad idea, but he omitted a small detail, there?s a bunch of bike paths there and they all look identical! The path I was supposed to take was only labeled in certain areas, but there were countless twists and turns. I felt as if I were in a maze! Eventually I managed to make it out in one piece, but boy was my head spinning! Both the campus and the city of Santa Barbara itself are very nice, as I also mentioned yesterday. The town simply has a very enjoyable and laid back feel to it which is quite relaxing. Today I took the bicycle path along the beach, which also provided me with great views of the ocean and the palm tree lines boulevards.
Nearly the whole time I was riding through towns and cities. This is convenient as there are always places to stop and grab a bite to eat, but at the same time this is also quite a hassle. You have to be extra cautious of traffic, especially when bicycling on busy freeways. Additionally, stop lights and stop signs are quite a pain since you have to stop and unclip your shoes. I?ve actually developed a bad habit of running quite a bit of these if they are only three-ways, where there is no traffic on my side. Although not the safest thing in the world, it saves me a bunch of time.
Earlier someone left me a comment that should a see a place called In-N-Out Burger I must absolutely drop by. Anytime anyone leaves me a suggestion, I must of course follow through on it, so when I saw this place today I dropped in. This is simply a burger joint where the menu basically consists of three options: burger with two beef patties and two slices of cheese, burger with one beef patty and one slice of cheese, burger with one beef patty. All of these are served with lettuce and all that other good stuff, then they come with fries and a drink on the side.
The décor of the place is quite neat as it has the style of an old retro burger joint, but I must say that the food was substandard. The fries were truly quite miserable and in fact were almost painful to digest, but as I need my nutrition I struggled through them anyway. The burger was actually half decent for being fast food, but I must say that I have had better. I guess it?s just hard to compare a mere burger such as this one to the likes of a delicious two pound burger that I was served in Vancouver. All in all, not the worst place in the world, but then again nowhere near one of my favorites.
Thus far I have encountered some strange people as well as some strange signs here in California. Today I saw a sign near the road that almost made me fall off my bike not only from shock but also from laughter. The sign read, and I quote directly: ?Nude Girls Car Wash & ?Hot? Wax?. Unfortunately I was a little short on time so I did not sidetrack in order to see what was going on (for educational purposes of course). Either way, pictures from such a car wash probably wouldn?t be too appropriate for this blog! These crazy Californians I tell you!
The road later left the cities for a bit and headed next to a very large air force facility which seemed to stretch on and on forever. This provided me with a much needed break from the hustle and the bustle of the city. From what I have heard the next few days of riding will be quite challenging as they will be always spent in the cities, following countless twists and turns on numerous bicycle paths. As for now, I am currently camped at the Sycamore Canyon Campground where I was charged only a mere $3 for camping.
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