Yesterday I drove down to Santa Barbara with John. He dropped me off at the hotel and went back to Saratoga.
This morning, I woke up early and went to Starbucks for breakfast. It was overcast and in the low sixties. I walked around a little on the way back to the hotel to check out Santa Barbara. The downtown section is called Old town and has a bunch of unique buildings. One of them, The Ablitt House, had been designed by Jeff Shelton Architect (visit: http://www.jeffsheltonarchitect.com/Buildings_graphics/ablit_destination/index.htm) and is worth checking out.
I wanted to go take a light spin around town to keep my legs in shape. I printed out a few ride suggestions from the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition (www.sbbike.org) so I gave them a try. The first route was in the mountains on West and East Mountain Drive. The houses along this route were very impressive. I just had finished climbing to the top of West Mountain Drive when I spotted something moving on the road. It turned out to be a huge tarantula. It was the first time for me to see one in the wild. A lady walking her dog told me that this is the season for them.
The rest of the ride was non eventful but the scenery sure was nice. I reached the coast near the Biltmore Hotel and headed back into town via Channel Drive. I rode a second route from the coalition that took me north of the city and then back along bike trails to the coast. Santa Barbara is really bike friendly with all the trails they have established. Eventually I ended up coming back into town on Clive Drive and Shoreline. It had cleared up by then and the marina was full of boats and people walking along the beach.
At 5 we had our pre trip meeting where we meet everyone and the guides for the trip. There are eight of us for trip so we should get to know one another well.
Tomorrow we start. I have ridden 10,000 miles so far this year so lets bring on the next 3,300. Charleston here we come.
You can visit more photos from today at my Flickr site.
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