I know that there are people on this forum who never go to The Lounge. There is a gathering at Thinkcooper's house this weekend with a ride on Saturday followed by a barbeque and fire show. There will probably be tons of pictures in The Lounge.

I arrived a day early and took my camera with me for a ride up the coast. It was windy on an epic proportion so I headed north into the wind. The Cabrillo highway heads north out of town heading towards San Francisco. Along the way you see farms raising anything from pumpkins to brussels sprouts. The moist air coming off the ocean must promote some great growing conditions. There are beachs towards Santa Cruz, but heading north, you mostly see cliffs.

More of the coast. Here is a close up of a flowering plant. I crashed on my mountain bike years ago and landed in a patch of this kind of plant. I slid like I landed in mud and spent the rest of ride with a slimy back.

The last picture showing the boardwalk area of SC. I loved "The Lost Boys".

If anyone is interested in reading more about "Ice Plant"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpobrotus_edulis

Looking forward to seeing you again Bill!

Well you picked a good time to leave home. Hard to believe these pictures are on the same planet! I'm heading over to the lounge for a beer and to look at pics from the weekend...

Well you picked a good time to leave home. Hard to believe these pictures are on the same planet! I'm heading over to the lounge for a beer and to look at pics from the weekend...


I have tanlines. I am even a little pink.

That looks really, really nice.

How was traffic?

Bet you'll lose those tanlines in a hurry back home.

That looks really, really nice.

How was traffic?

Bet you'll lose those tanlines in a hurry back home.


Santa Cruz is bike heaven. Almost every street has a bike lane and the cars respect them. There are a couple of streets that are too narrow for a bike lane so they have a sign telling the bike to take the lane and for cars to not pass. Highway 1 heading North has a nice shoulder although there are quite a few cars. Honestly, I have commuted so many times in non-bike friendly areas that I don't even notice the cars passing me.

Bill, finding that overlook of the boardwalk was a score. Most folks cruise right past that walkway out to the point never finding that view. Good on ya.

The mouth of the San Lorenzo River was right below you. It drains the San Lorenzo Valley and much of the southern section of the Santa Cruz mountain range on the peninsula. So when we get our big winter storms, the river swells and washes out the fallen timber and forest debris. After the storms, it's pretty common to see 10+ foot diameter chunks of second growth redwood floating out to the sea and washing back up on the beach behind that overlook. The city opens the gate to the beach and lets local drive out in trucks to haul away the piles of amazing driftwood and trees. Makes for a great bonfire!

It was great meeting you! You are a powerhouse!

Looks like you made it as far as Davenport. Believe it or not, it gets even more beautiful further up the coast.

In the second to last picture, at the top of the other side of the big dip in the road, you can hang a left on to Bonny Doon Road. It's a tough climb, deep into the redwoods. If I recall, it's about 10% for about 3 miles. Then you have lots of small old lumber roads as options before connecting to the big roads back into Santa Cruz.

Looks like you made it as far as Davenport. Believe it or not, it gets even more beautiful further up the coast.

In the second to last picture, at the top of the other side of the big dip in the road, you can hang a left on to Bonny Doon Road. It's a tough climb, deep into the redwoods. If I recall, it's about 10% for about 3 miles. Then you have lots of small old lumber roads as options before connecting to the big roads back into Santa Cruz.


I did an out and back on Bonny Doon on the way back to SC. It was one of my favorite places of the weekend. The flowering bushes hang out over the road so you get brushed with flowers while you ride. I felt like the Dali Lama. On a bike.

Great pics Bill. I was bummed I couldn't make it down for the ride. We were already committed to the Pardee Party near Jackson, CA and I couldn't get out of it. The ride you did is one of my wife's favorites. We ride from Half Moon Bay down to Santa Cruz and back or vice versa depending on the wind. We love to time it to where we average 10 or 11 mph one way and then 25-28 on the way back. Crazy open with great rollers off and on there. Did you make it up to the lighthouse?

I was bummed I couldn't make it down for the ride.

Sorry that you could not make it. My flight from BWI to San Jose stopped in Reno around 6:00 p.m. on Friday. I looked from the plane window to see if you were riding down there, but if you were, I missed you. :)

Now, you would have had plenty of lawyerly protection if you had come on the ride. Other than the tail end of the peloton's riding through a few yellow and red lights, we observed all laws. But, there is no guarantee that your security clearance would have remained intact after the party at Coopers. <a href="http://www.clipartof.com"><img src="http://www.clipartof.com/images/emoticons/thumbnail2/787_flame_thrower_gun.gif" alt="Free Smileys & Emoticons at Clipart of.com" border="0"></a>

Sorry that you could not make it. My flight from BWI to San Jose stopped in Reno around 6:00 p.m. on Friday. I looked from the plane window to see if you were riding down there, but if you were, I missed you. :)

Now, you would have had plenty of lawyerly protection if you have come on the ride. Other than the tail end of the peloton's riding through a few yellow and red lights, we observed all laws. But, there is no guarantee that your security clearance would have remained intact after the party at Coopers. <a href="http://www.clipartof.com"><img src="http://www.clipartof.com/images/emoticons/thumbnail2/787_flame_thrower_gun.gif" alt="Free Smileys & Emoticons at Clipart of.com" border="0"></a>

Mark, FWIW, I'm pretty sure there are no regulations against Bonefire Recreational Flamethrowers in Maryland. Thinking aloud here - you might need to acquire one for clearing weeds along your driveway.You were a natural handling the Bonefire, and if the propane tank hadn't froze up, I bet you would have taken top honors for flame height.

http://bonefire.com/index.html

Mark, FWIW, I'm pretty sure there are no regulations against Bonefire Recreational Flamethrowers in Maryland. Thinking aloud here - you might need to acquire one for clearing weeds along your driveway.You were a natural handling the Bonefire, and if the propane tank hadn't froze up, I bet you would have taken top honors for flame height.

http://bonefire.com/index.html

I enjoyed the pyrotechnics, but Silas was the true natural with the flamethrower. I don't think, however, that a flamethrower would go over too well in San Francisco.

I enjoyed the pyrotechnics, but Silas was the true natural with the flamethrower. I don't think, however, that a flamethrower would go over too well in San Francisco.
I don't know, Eddy was pretty good too.

I'm thinking of taking the flamethrower out and scaring all the double parkers on my street.

I'm thinking of taking the flamethrower out and scaring all the double parkers on my street.

Is that the kind of non-violence that you learned in your Quaker school? Or were you schooled by "Fighting Quakers?"

"Fight, fight, Inner Light, / Kill, Quakers, kill! / Knock 'em down, beat 'em senseless, / Do it till we reach consensus!"

Is that the kind of non-violence that you learned in your Quaker school? Or were you schooled by "Fighting Quakers?"

"Fight, fight, Inner Light, / Kill, Quakers, kill! / Knock 'em down, beat 'em senseless, / Do it till we reach consensus!"

You have the strangest bits of knowledge trapped in your hard drive......

I bet you are killer on any of the old versions of Trivial Pursuit.