New Brighton State Beach

New Brighton State Beach 2008 08 21_8029, originally uploaded by rhanke.

Riding in Northern California provides many chances to visit the Pacific Ocean. While it has been hot here in Silicon Valley the coast has been cool. On this ride I rode out to Capitola and headed further south down the coast. There are lot of beaches to stop and take in the view. New Brighton State Beach used to be a Chinese fishing village back in the 1850s to the 1890s. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 ended that. Now it is a state park with camping sites.

I headed further down to the stawberry fields of Watsonville before turning around for the return ride.

Pigeon Lighthouse 2008 08 28_8010

Pigeon Lighthouse 2008 08 28_8010, originally uploaded by rhanke.

It was another hot day yesterday so I rode out to the ocean again. The last time I visited the Pigeon Lighthouse it was in fog. This time the sky was blue and the riding was great. While it was close to 100 degrees in the valley, out at the ocean it was a cool 70. I had lunch in Pescadero and rode back into the heat up Alpine. I rode 88 miles this day with over 6000 feet of climbing.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse: 2008 08 12_7200

Pigeon Point Lighthouse 2008 08 12_7200, originally uploaded by rhanke.

Have been riding out to the ocean to get all the miles in. The other day I rode past the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. It is north of Santa Cruz. The coast has been foggy so it was cool. This makes for fun rides since it will be in the 80's here and by the time I get to the coast it will be in the 60's.

Bikes at Saratoga Gap: 2008 08 14

Bikes at Saratoga Gap 2008 08 14_7196, originally uploaded by rhanke.

One of the amazing things about riding is that you always come across interesting sights that you just never see from a car. The other day once I made my way up Highway 9 from Saratoga, I came accross the parking lot at the top just filled with bicycles. Usally this parking lot is empty on weekdays or filled with motorcycles on weekends. On this day it was filled with a ton of bicycles which were going to be used by Google employees on a group outing. They were going to ride the 30 miles from the Saratoga gap to Santa Cruz.

One could call that cheating since from this point to Santa Cruz it is mostly downhill.

But hatsoff to Google for getting out of the office and riding bikes.

Bob 2008 07 02_5165

Bob 2008 07 02_5165, originally uploaded by rhanke.

One of the best things about riding is meeting the different people on the rides. I joined a riding club, Almaden Cycle Touring Club, and they hold many rides that members can join. One can learn a lot from the different experiences the members have had.

This photo is of Bob and the other day when it was hot he over did it and had to have his wife pick him up. It was so funny because when she got there the first thing she said was "I'm taking your bike away".

Bob is a strong rider but did not drink enough water and the heat over took him. It is important to always drink alot of fluids. It didn't help Bob's case that in the past few days he also had mechnical problems and needed his wife's assistance.

Capitola 2008 07 29_6756

Capitola 2008 07 29_6756, originally uploaded by rhanke.

I am now in the last month of training. In August I have to really put in the miles to prepare for the cross country trip. This week I have to ride over 400 miles. I usally ride out to the Pacific Ocean since it provides the best routes to get in long miles. Last week I rode out to Capitola. It is 40 miles from home and providedes over 6000 ft of climbing.

Richard at Continental Divide 2008 07 22_5613

Richard at Continental Divide 2008 07 22_5613, originally uploaded by rhanke.

On the ride from Old Faithful to Grand Teton we would rode over the Continental Divide three times. Here is a photo of the first crossing. This was my first time to be at this elevation. One could feel the lack of oxygen since little hills would leave one gasping for air.

Jeffrey at Yellowstone 2008 07 20_5682

Jeffrey at Yellowstone 2008 07 20_5682, originally uploaded by rhanke.

Our Trek Travel vacation in Yellowstone provide us a chance to bicycle 3 times with about 20 miles each time. I was afraid that the biking would be too much for Jeffrey since we only biked a few times before the trip. But Jeffrey did a great job biking there. So I would recommend this trip for any family.

Yellowstone Grizzly Discovery Center

Bear 2008 07 20_6050, originally uploaded by rhanke.

On our way into Yellowstone we stopped at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. It provided a lot of information on bears and wolfs and seems to be doing a good job caring for bears who no longer wish to eat natural. I think this is better than the alternative of killing them. We never saw a bear in Yellowstone so it appears that people are learning not to feed them. As they say a feed bear is a dead bear.

Grand Tetons

Richard 2008 07 23_5605, originally uploaded by rhanke.

Our vacation in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons was great. We went on the Trek Travel family trip and we had a blast. From hiking to river rafting and of course biking was all first class. It was a wonderful way to relax with my son.