Day 1: Santa Barbara to Valencia - September 14, 2008

Cross Country Group 2008 09 14_0575, originally uploaded by rhanke.

Miles: 76 Miles
Ride Time: 4 hours 36 minutes
Avg. Speed: 16.75
Total Climbing: 3386 feet
Work: 3201 kJ

The first day of the Trek cross country trip. We gathered at the Fess Parker’s Fountain for our group photo and send off. Once we had the bikes checked and loaded we headed over to the Pacific Ocean to dip our rear wheel into the water. In forty days we will dip the front into the Atlantic.

At 8:30 we were off. Our route followed the coast for the first 25 miles before we turned inland at Ventura. We had our first break and water refill there. Back on our bikes we continued through Ventura and after only a few miles of urban sprawl we were into the agriculture fields of California. First it was orange groves, then pumpkins, then peppers, then tomatoes in hot house and then back to oranges and more oranges. California is truly grows a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables. Through the fields we enjoyed a great tail wind and we were off. We made good time and got to lunch just as it started to warm up.

Dave our guide had put together a great spread. After eating too much we were back on the bikes. At first we took it easy as our food finished digesting but with the wind at our back we could not let it go to waste. Soon we had four of us setting a good pace though the orange groves. At times it felt like a maze because the trees surrounded use.

When we got into Valencia we stopped for Chocolate milk shakes. They sure tasted great. But we still had a mile to go to get to the hotel. After being in the air conditioned restaurant it felt like some one had turned on the heat since the temp was getting close to 90. We arrived at the hotel by 2 pm.

Tonight we will have a social hour to get to know each other better. I think we are off to a great start. Could have been a little more sunny this morning in Santa Barbara but we will have a lot of sun in the next few days as we head to Arizona.

Visit all the photos from today at flickr.