June 3rd
Well, we started the day pretty merrily; early morning wake-up with breakfast from the camping stove. We rolled out going up and down sizeable hills...sometimes on random bike paths (does a college path through UC Santa Barbara count as a bike path?) and again on the freeway (not as scary now that I know they planned for bikers).
Personally, I thought today's scenery was the most picturesque...it was also pretty challenging. Mountains. We started out toasting our usual pace...until we stopped for lunch, which, although it was only 24 miles from camp seemed just about as far away as our morning camp. Imagine getting on your bike after lunch unknowingly launching the foot of a 2 MILE steep incline (steepest, highest, and longest hill between Santa Barbara and San Fran). At the bottom, already 10 minutes into the ride (incline the whole time) coming around the bend, seeing that mountain as I was already in gear 1 (aka the easiest), I really did feel like I could let go and cry. It seemed insurmountable. David kept me going; Let's just say I am not very excited about the next set of those...and they're coming first thing tomorrow morning. As I sat on my seat, I contemplated all the things I could take out and ship as soon as we got to our next stop...if I got there.
Things were falling off our bikes by the very end, but we are staying with David Schulwitz, a nice gentleman who also toured recently and has opened his home to bicyclists... laundry on site, I took a BATH!, and he made us smoothies! SMOOTHIES! We're sleeping on a blow-up mattress. This is wonderful. Hopefully I sleep better than last night. David's already sleeping, so I need to go pull the laundry and get to bed soon as well.
About Us
- David and Kristen Mrdjanov
- We got hitched last summer, are enjoying starting life together here in Chicago, and are ready for some real adventure.
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Kristen, my dear, it's just a hill! You made it once, you can make it again. All these opportunities are chances to develop mental toughness. When I used to ride (actually raced my bike for awhile!) I often wanted to just stop and WAH!!! Hurts! Every time you master the challenge you can stare it down again and say, "Bring it ON!!" Your body will always want to quit before your mind will. Master it mentally. Sweet scenery, sweet company, enjoy the journey!
ReplyDeleteSeparately, our little bridelet squealed like a little piggie when she saw all those necklaces! Especially her own. Right now she's trying to figure out a way to keep them all. More later, but not on the blog!
Love to you and David,
A. Toni
Thought about you guys and kept you in my prayers as I rode my bike for a tiny little flatlander ride today. Love you guys!
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