blown away

Well, I did it again. I signed up for the Solvang century.
I did this the last time in 2006. My joke was that is was ok. Except for the Rain, and the hail, And the the sleet. And the snow.
It started out. I had to goto the bank and cash a check, Then I went to Coates Cyclery and got a new tire for my bike and then REI in Arcadia for some honey gels, and then bent up in Van Nuys for some shorts.
The drive up was very pretty:

I finally got to Lompoc about 2:30.

I was going to put my new tire and head to the beach and back – a nice 20 mile ride.
But then my pump broke. so I went to the bike shop and bought a new one. And they happen to have my Favorite a Topeak Morph (Works just like a regular pump, but you can take it with you!
Only except it didn't have a Gage- which is again is no problem. Topeak is one of the few companies that still use modular design, so all I had to do is unscrew the gauge off the old one and stick it on the new one. Divine Providence or just lucky? I'll let you be the judge.
My plan was to do the half century route twice, so started out and rode over to Solvang.


I had noticed that several rides going the other way saying that the wind was strong, I wound up walking a couple of hills, and got knocked over by the wind once, right here:

In retrospect, I brought the wrong bike. Listening to that still small voice – I formulated plan “b” - ride to the beach and go back to the hotel. alittle break coming down the hill to Lompoc:

I did stop at the rest stop, and most of my buddies were going to back the direct route.
Tom does look bushed:
Fred and Sylvia look better:

The Coast Starlight at the beach


The winds were still pretty bad , but a lot more manageable. I did not stay long at the beach, as I was shooed away by an Air Force MP (it's on Vandenburg AFB property) I couldn't get any closer to the beach as it was high tide, and there was a Rip tide alert.
some pretty wildflowers:

Coming was a breeze in more ways than one. The only issue was that I wouldn't have that 100 miles – I thought about riding halfway back to Solvang, but in the end decided that 100 was just a magic number – I already done about 7 hours, and felt like a I had done a century. , so I headed back to the Motel 6. I got a shower changed clothes, and walked across PCH to get a couple of Tacos.
I decided to check out the La Purisma Mission:
This old Porcelain reminded me of my mom:

There were some re-enactors:

I was thinking about how pretty the old chapel was(this was restored by the CCC):

It was also dark. this one was not retouched:

The graveyard could use some work:

I then went on to Solvang. It's an Town that was founded by danish immigrants, and everything has a Danish flavor:

I bought some butter cookies to take to work, and then had dinner:

Sunday Morning, we had our traditional breakfast: Æbelskivers.

Yes, Æ is a English letter.
Tom was on a special diet:

Ready to chow down:

I stopped in Santa Barbara to chat with my Family back in Missouri:

So even though I didn't do what I had set out to do, I still had lot of fun. It's just knowing when to change your plans