Vive espana

You can follow my next journey through France to Spain at www.wezoworld1.blogspot.com

Some stats...

Day 5:

Time: 5hrs 17mins 8secs
Distance: 64.56 miles
Average: 12.2mph
Max speed: 30.2mph
Total: 296.8 miles

Something I forgot...

It's funny how little conversations can give you faith in the world.. something I forgot to mention, which should have been in one of the first blogs was a little moment I had at a bank in Vancouver.

Reflection and thanks.

It's been just over a month since I completed the ride from Vancouver to Los Angeles, so I thought I would just reflect on what I now feel was an exceptional achievement. I have to admit that I was unbelievably jadded for the first few weeks of being back in England. The ride had taken a lot out of me, and ultimately exhausted me more than I had thought it would, or could.

Day 30. Los Angeles

After such a lovely cycle from Santa Barbara to Malibu, there was little that could dampen my spirits. A mere 20 miles or so from LAX with the finish line in sight. I thought I would give the bike a quick once over, lube the chain and squeeky cogs, and put her to bed for the night.

Day 29. Malibu Wezley

I awoke to another beautiful day in southern california. It has to be said that the whole cycling thing is so much nicer when it is sunny, and so much easier when it is flat! Coming out of Santa Barbara was probably more beautiful than going into it, the place really does look like a fantastic holiday destination so I'll have to put that on the list for another time. It would have been nice to hang around but not this time, not when I'm so close.

Day 28. Santa Santa Santa

Today was one of the nicest rides of the trip so far. Beautiful blue skies, the sun shining all day and very little wind made for a quite lovely little cycle. The scenery is improving as I go futher down the coast, although I've a feeling that has something to do with the weather as well. There were some nice looking beaches in Oregon and north California, but when it is grey and raining they just don't look that appealing. When the sun is out and you can actually see people enjoying a bit of beach time everything is that little bit better.

Day 27. That was a long one

It's funny how the longer days do not feel as long as the shorter days. Clearly this makes no sense, but it's got to the point now where the mileage is not actually that relevant - I know that if I have to make 50-60 miles then I need to leave by 11.00 in the morning at the latest, if I need to get 60-70 miles, I need to leave by 10. 

Day 26. The Hills are Annoying

Actually, it's not so much the hills I am getting annoyed with. It's more at the time I am going downhill, after just climbing a hill, and looking ahead to see another hill. It's annoying because you've just made so much effort to get up to that height, but then the road starts to take you downhill. Why take you downhill when you are only going to have to go up again, I mean, it's just rude?!

Day 25. Big Hills, Sur!

I decided to do another short one today - I'm coming up to another section where it seems the cost of staying in certain places is rather expensive. There are quite a few places to stay along the coast but I'm not really interested in paying extortionate rates at this stage in the game.

Day 24. Monterey

The ride round from Santa Cruz to Monterey was nice. It was reletively flat coming out of Santa Cruz and I was actually able to cycle without the struggle of a hill for quite a while. The weight I'm carrying is such an advantage on the flat, in the same way it is such a disadvantage cycling uphill.

Day 23. Santa Cruz

After another brief stay in another motel just by an American highway I headed on from Half Moon Bay, with Santa Cruz in the sights. Although the sun wasn't shining it was still reletively warm and apart from a tiny smathering of rain a fairly nothing day. Which is good, I'm coming to enjoy the days that don't involve getting soaked or fixing punctures.

Day 22. Half Moon Bay

The couple of rest days in San Francisco turned into 3.. not because I wanted to do lots more sightseeing, but because I thought giving the legs an extra days rest might mean I actually make it to Los Angeles sometime in the near future.

Day 21. San Francisco!

I awoke on Sunday morning with slightly more of a spring in my step than I expected.. the last two days had been quite tough and when I went to bed on Saturday night I wasn't so sure the legs would have it in them today. The good thing was that I didn't have far to go to San Francisco, the bad thing was that not far was still almost 40 miles!