Solvang to Santa Barbara

There was a little fog in Solvang when I got up at 6:30. I would have slept later, but the complementary continental breakfast started at 7:00 and I didn’t want to miss the “delicious assortment of breakfast breads and fruits”. I’m still trying to find them. I did get some Cheerios, a Danish (from Cosco) and a muffin. I walked away with a banana for later.

I got rolling around 8:20. The fog was starting to lift, but it was cool enough to wear long-finger gloves. After a few miles we turn onto Hwy 154 which is a major road between Solvang and Santa Barbara. We thought that traffic would be light on a Sunday. There weren’t a lot of cars, but the ones that were out there were moving very fast and close to the shoulder when we had one. I took a break at Lake Cachuma to get my nerve back. I was not the only one to be happy to turn onto Stagecoach Road at mile 17.6.

Apparently, Stagecoach road was the major route many years ago. It is now a seldom used road that is not maintained. Even so, the pavement was better than some of our earlier roads. This turn marked our climb up San Marcos Pass.

I was getting pretty hungry at around 10:30, so I pulled into Cold Spring Tavern for a real breakfast. As I was ordering French Toast and bacon, Chip came in and joined me. This is a real gathering spot for locals with food inside and outside. There were several people picnicking.

We took about 30 minutes to eat and then it was back to the climb up the pass. After the summit, the road descended for a while. We turned back onto Hwy 154 for a two-mile descent. Then we turned onto San Marcos Road for a very steep descent into Goleta.

The rest of the route was on city streets and wonderful bicycle paths. On the way we passed lots of very big houses in Hope Ranch. I arrived at the Franciscan Inn at 1:00. Here is a link to my route today.

I spent the most part of the afternoon wandering around Santa Barbara. I needed some supplies at a bike shop, some money at an ATM and some IPA and fish tacos at the Santa Barbara Brewing Company.

At 6:00, most of us who had not gone home met in the lobby a went to The Brewhouse for dinner. Because this was my fourth meal of the day, I ordered an appetizer of calamari along with an IPA. The ale at the other place was better, but this one was OK. We had a table of 12. The place was very noisy so conversation was difficult.

It’s now about 8:20. I’m going to publish this blog and then read for a while. Bed time will be early. Wake up time will be late.