The Ride
The ride is 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, sometimes along the coast, and sometimes inland. The coastal section is stunningly beautiful, with the sort of Pacific ocean scenery that California is famous for.
Then we move inland and discover the fields of strawberries. Warm strawberries basking in the sun. Ahhh. It's heaven. And there is a whole lot more than strawberries growing in California's Central Valley. There are artichokes, turnips, lettuce, tomatoes, rutabaga, carrots, and any other produce item you can possibly think of. The salad bowl of the nation certainly lives up to it's nickname.
Then there are the towns with the fabled names – San Francisco, Lompoc, Paso Robles, Santa Cruz, Ventura, Hollywood. And through every town and every lonely backcountry road … there they are … the people are everywhere, some with signs, some with food and water, and all with a smile and a warm greeting for the thousands of cyclists streaming by. Every one of them is out there because they love someone that's riding or roadying, or because they lost someone to AIDS and can't believe that all these strange and wonderful people from all over the world have come to help.
