Cycling Santa Barbara.....on foot!

Friday 15th November

One thing about drinking rather too much beer is that it certainly aids a good night's sleep. Our noisy neighbours had checked out yesterday morning but I think they could have had another party last night and I probably wouldn't have heard a thing!  Fortunately too much beer for me is actually a very small amount by anyone else's standards so there were no ill effects to mar another day in Paradise, aka Santa Barbara.

Once again we enjoyed breakfast sitting outside in the attractive grounds of the motel and then for what seemed about the millionth time we packed all our belonging into the back of the car.  We had decided to do some biking today as the forecast had indicated that it might be cooler and cloudier and possibly not beach weather.  Apart from which we couldn't possibly waste two whole days relaxing at the beach!

We left the car at the motel and cycled a few blocks to the north until we found the entrance to Steven's Park which in turn led to San Roque Canyon and the hiking trails of Santa Ynez mountain range. A few false starts and then we seemed to be on the right route although it was not exactly easy cycling with some very rocky sections and steep uphills.  After a couple of miles we bumped into a very chatty Englishwoman living in Santa Barbara who was out walking her dog and appeared delighted to have the chance to talk!  She gave us a lot of detailed information about the trails (most of which I promptly forgot) which she and her husband apparently cycled a lot pre-children.  We didn't ask her for about how she came to be living in California or where she came from.  It wasn't that we weren't interested it was just that the conversation had the potential to keep us there all day.  Finally managing (politely) to extricate ourselves we continued onwards and upwards.  Trying to ride the bikes was largely farcical, we got on, we cycled about 10 meters, then we reached the next rocky uphill section and got off again.

After about 3 miles of this sort of terrain we came to a fire road and then a picnic area with a water fountain and after pausing for a drink we rode off down the fire road thinking that we had finally got to the part of the trail which was good for biking. About 50 meters ahead the trail turned sharply back onto the uphill, twisty, rocky path that we were familiar with and we got off yet again to haul the bikes up more stony steps.  In some places it was so steep that it was easier to lift the bikes and carry them rather than trying to climb up and haul the bike up at the same time.  Although I had no idea why anybody would think this was a good route to cycle it was absolutely beautiful and SO peaceful, it certainly would have made for a lovely hike or run.  I tried not to think about why I was basically taking my bike for a walk and concentrate on the beauty of the hills instead.  At least my upper body and arms were getting a good work out!

We were on the Jesusita Trail which led to Inspiration Point - unusually for American trails it was not particularly well sign posted and we were unclear as to whether we had actually reached the Point, apart from that we appeared to be at the top and there were some good view points.  It was also totally unclear which way to go from here and after two false starts - both of which involved heading down tracks which shortly came to a dead end and then climbing back up them - we finally found the correct trail, a single track, very dry and dusty with sharp bends and terrifyingly steep downhills.......not to mention the inevitable rocks. For a hard core mountain biker this was probably the perfect route but it was far too technical for me and I walked nearly as much of the downhill as I had the uphill apart from a few places where I frightened myself to death by thinking that perhaps I could ride this bit........

Happily we both reached the end of the trail unscathed and then we had a nice mile or so ride, really fast down a steep roughly paved lane with no traffic and lovely swooping corners. Now that bit was fun!  We soon reached the residential lanes of Santa Barbara and wended our way through them until we came out on State Street and turned back towards the hotel.  A 12 mile bike ride had taken us 3 hours, that must be a world record!

The rest of the day followed the normal pattern - exercise completed our thoughts were firmly fixed on lunch and we decided to treat ourselves to a Wholefoods salad. This is a challenge in itself - not to fill your box with too much delicious food.  As usual I tried to select all the healthy options: lots of organic mixed leaves, fruit salad, pineapple slice, yellowfin tuna, dried cranberries....but I must confess a sweet potato cake with almonds and raisins snuck in there when I wasn't looking, also a few spicy noodles and a spoonful of salmon pasta.........

We headed down to Shoreline Drive, parked the car and went down onto Leadbetter Beach to enjoy our picnic.  Even though the forecast had been partially correct in that it was slightly cooler and there was some cloud, it was still a pretty nice day for mid November and easily warm enough to spend a couple of hours on the beach.  After we had enjoyed our delicious lunch we both spent some time reading, juggling and trying once again to swim but discovered that with the tide almost completely out it was still just too rocky to be safe or pleasant.

It was with great reluctance that we left Santa Barbara, it's a really beautiful place and one which I am quite sure we will return to again and again.  We had a 4 hour drive ahead of us up the 154 (San Marcus Pass Road) which was lovely and then onto the 101 and up past San Luis Obispo, Salinas, Gilroy and finally "home" to San Jose.  As darkness fell Martin found himself once again driving with a napping passenger for company but even so, by the time we arrived back at Erica Court we were both really tired.  It was great to see Sherry and Rich after a fortnight away but I fear we weren't very sociable guests as we really just wanted to go to sleep after another very tiring week on the road.