46 Degrees of Separation

Wednesday Sept 19, 2012  King City to Paso Robles, California

Starting temp today was 49 degrees Fahrenheit, during the first climb it dropped to 45 degrees and on arrival in Paso Robles the temp was 91 degrees Fahrenheit.  I'm not good at math, as all or most of you know, but even I can do the math here and figure out that we experienced a 46 degree temperature rise today.

Speaking of math, I'd also like to point out that prior to coming on this ride, the tour company sends you a list of clothing and equipment. You aren't allowed to have your bag weigh any more than 35 pounds and your knapsack or computer bag can't be more than 15 pounds for a total of...50 pounds?  Are you kidding me?  50 pounds for 3 1/2 weeks? I need 50 pounds for 3 1/2 days.  On Mark's cross country ride, several riders got busted for overweight bags.  I was sure I'd be able to get away with an overweight bag if I just smiled and distracted the person loading the bags. Today I got busted. Here is a picture Joe was quick to take, of my bag being weighed.  I just hope they don't weigh my knapsack tomorrow.

Jim weighs my bag.  I smiled and apologized and he's letting me slide.

I spent another day in the van today.  I really want to be sure that when I ride, I can keep going and finish this thing.  Today was another brutal day of climbing and there were as many as 4 of us in the van at various times.  Mark Koltz was feeling really lousy having caught Joe's cold.  I actually felt bad for him when Barb Munk (tour leader) made him put on a mask to sit in the van but he fell asleep quickly despite the mask.  It was an especially attractive site.  

Who says surgical masks don't improve appearance?

The sites today were mostly ranches and farmland with a few more vineyards thrown in for good measure.  Mark rode most of the day with his Gelding buddies minus Mark Koltz.  Here is a really nice picture Mike Munk took today that will give you a sense for the scenery and isolation out here.

Tomorrow we head for Santa Maria.  We will head back towards the coast, through San Louis Obispo (Madonna Inn) to Santa Maria.  It's 84 miles but not too much climbing and I'm planning to ride the whole way.  Then it's one night each in Solvang (the town in the movie Sideways), Oxnard, Marina del Rey and then finally to Newport Beach.