Day 34: Dag Gummit, I'm Gonna Miss This

Ride: Grover Beach to Refugio state beach
Distance: 71.2 miles
Total Trip Distance: 1,881 miles

Note: that is not a selfie of me after eating gas station cuisine for a month- (for those who don't know), it's the one and only Hoss Cartwright who frequently used "dag Gummit" to make a point.......like if Hop Sing was late with dinner or someone had trespassed onto Ponderosa Land.....But I digress.

Tonight is my last night camping, and tomorrow will be the last day of pedaling, and I have to admit that I'm going to miss it dag Gummit!

I won't miss this:

That is the yard sale that transpires when you get a flat and (of course) get to fix it. This happened in Guadalupe (next to a lovely lettuce field) , but it's the same mess wherever it happens..... On a positive note, I improved my repair time by 7 minutes (from 31 down to 24), so I may have a second career with NASCAR.

The first 25 miles of riding today were quite forgettable. Although I was once again impressed with how much food is grown in California. Once I turned onto HWY 135, things got more scenic and enjoyable. Not Big Sur scenic, but pleasant riding.

Then I tackled one of the bigger climbs of the tour: Harris Grade Rd. reminded me of some of the climbs at home: steep, twisty, and sustained - I thoroughly enjoyed it!

At the top of climb looking down into Lompoc:

A fun descent into Lompoc:

I topped off my water in Lompoc because I knew I had another good climb to get back to the 101 (my old buddy!). This one was longer, less steep and into an annoying headwind. I didn't enjoy this one as much - It was as if my mojo had developed a slow leak..... Fun at first...... Less fun..... Ok, where the hell is the summit..... I was really stoked to see this sign:

Then it was a quick ride back to the coast where the good old afternoon tailwind pushed me into camp. Mojo restored.

Refugio has the hiker/biker site right off the beach which is AOK with me :)

So I think I'll mosey down to the beach and enjoy my last sunset of the trip. And remind myself how lucky I am to have been able to do all of this :)

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