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Day Six - Lompoc to Ventura - 87 miles

Posted on June 8th, 2008 by Alvin and Jen.
Categories: Biking.

We awoke bright and early for our ride into Ventura - so did everyone else in camp.  It was a busy morning at camp at the crack of smack.  I actually was awoken at 4:30 am with all of the zip zip of people zipping out of their sleeping bags and tents.  It actually is am amazing thing - that early in the morning all you hear is shuffling and zipping..lol.  So Alvin and I woke up, got dressed into our biking gear, covered up with our sweats and sweatshirts and made our way to the porta potty lines and then to breakfast.

When we finally got all of our stuff ready we hit the road.  It was actually funny - because the route map for the day showed a 15 mile climb on the way out of camp - and everyone was really stressed about it - which is probably why everyone was up so early.  Not only that but as we were camping in Ventura - those who live in the Southern California area actually had friends and family visiting them at the camp that evening.

So - Dan and I made our way out of camp along with everyone else.  We actually were doing quite well trying to get past the massive crowds climbing this first 15 miles - and it indeed was a climb - a gradual climb - but still a fricken climb.  We made a quick stop at the first rest stop and then made our way to the top of the hill to the descent.  Ok - I know I have talked about some scary downhills on this ride but none of them and I mean NONE of them compare to this one.  OMG - this was probably the scariest fricken hill I have ever gone down before.  The descent is soooo steep and long and you are on a highway and so cars are flying by you - and since I go down as a granny I also had bikers flying by me.  I think I had about 300 bikers pass me screaming ON YOUR LEFT as they went flying by me.  Poor Dan - I know he was probably waiting at hte bottom of that hill for me forEVER.

As if that wasn’t bad enough - at one part of the downhill we had to merge onto Highway 101 - and then the winds were TERRIBLE.  So we come flying down this hill and then we run into lateral winds - which literally feel as if they are going to swipe the bike from below you.  It is incredibly scary.  I was SCREAMING as the winds were rushing by.  I kept thinking to myself - I am not a small person - and if these winds are making ME feel as if I am gonna go flying off my bike - I cannot imagine how some of these tiny people are feeling.    It was pretty damn scary. 

We finally made it to the second rest stop and were brought to a screeching halt because the road was not yet open for riders to go by.   There is a narrow bridge which has to be blocked off so that riders can ride through safely - and apparently the CHP had not checked it and the cones were not placed correctly.  So the road was supposed to open at 9am but didn’t end up opening until almost 10am - so by that time ther ewere over a thousand bikers waiting to get through - what a fricken nightmare.  So Dan and I waited in line with the other tons of bikers until they finally opened that road.

Once they opened the road it really was a fricken nightmare getting to the next stop - which was lunch.  Not only did we have to maneuver through the tons of bikers on the narrow road - but the lateral winds were terrible.  So it was pretty scary trying to pass the slower riders while navigating through the cars and lateral winds…..Frankly - this stretch to lunch (around 20 miles) was one of the most harrowing of the ride for me. 

Dan and I finally made it to lunch with the thousand other bikers - and it was crazy - but we, along with everyone else - was STARVING.  Everyone was commenting how hungry they were and how that last stretch from the rest stop to lunch was pretty brutal.   The lunch stop was actually quite nice - it had picnic tables which we were able to enjoy our lunch at - rather than finding a place on the lawn to plop down and eat - so it was really nice to sit at a table and chat with other cyclists.

After lunch we hit the road for our trek through Santa Barbara.  There is this magical place just outside of Santa Barbara called Paradise Pit - where the locals set up shop to serve Ice Cream and goodies to the bikers.  It was pretty overwhelming - as we were biking in the road to the Paradise Pit there were people lining the streets cheering us on - once again - I broke into tears.  Then we got into Paradise Pit and it was really cool - the locals were so thankful and man that ice cream tasted GOOOOOOOD!  It was just what I needed to help get me through the rest of the day. 

After we enjoyed our ice cream we hit the road and head down the bike path towards Ventura.  The scenery on this part of the route was really beautiful.  We were right off the beach and it was pretty phenomenal to smell the ocean and know that we were so very close to arriving in Los Angeles - but man - this was another tough day for me.   My body (as I am sure everyone else’s) was just so tired and frankly - my bootie was just DONE with being on a bike seat.  Dan and I made our way to the water stop and then on to Rest Stop 4 which was right on the beach.  The stretches to both of these rest stops was quite difficult and when we left Rest Stop 4 we had about 8 miles to the camp site.

That 8 miles was so difficult for me - I think I pedalled standing for about 75% of the time and it was everything I had to make it to the camp site - but I did.  When Dan and I rolled in I was literally in tears by the time we parked our bikes and headed over to the tenting area to get our stuff to head to the showers.  When Dan and I got to the tent area we ran into Alvin and our ride friend Michelle.  The campsite in Ventura was literally right across the street from the beach - and Alvin and Michelle were telling Dan and I that we needed to go jump in the ocean in our biking gear - -that it would make us feel so much better.  Reluctantly Dan and I made our way into the ocean and I swear - it was one of the best things I have ever done.  The  water was FREEZING but it felt SOOOO good on my tired legs and body.  Dan and I had the giggles as we waded our way into the freezing water and splashed each other until we finally made our way back to camp.

After our showers we all met up with Dan’s friend Michael who came to visit and we all made our way over to In n Out for our dinner - which apparently is an ALC tradition for all the riders - so if you can imagine 2500 riders all taking over the burger joint - it was NUTS!  We all scarfed down dinner and made our way to announcements and then to the candlelight vigil - which is another ALC tradition.   Every year there is a candlelight vigil held at the beach in Ventura - in which all of us make our way down to the beach and form a cicle of silence where we all remember and reflect on why we are doing the ride - and take a few minutes to remember someone we have lost to AIDS or reflect on our week together.

It was a remarkable event.  If you can only imagine around 3,000 people coming together on a beach - many of the riders had friends and families come in for this event so we literally took over this beach - all of us with candles in hand to reflect on our week together - and what brought us all there.   It is really hard for me to put into words how incredible it was to be there.  We all sat there in silence for quite a while until we all slowly made our way back to camp - it was pretty magical.

After the vigil we said our goodnights and tucked ourselves in for bed - for our last night camping on the ride.   There were still quite a few friend and family members around the camp area - so camp was not that quite as we got ourselves ready for bed.  Alvin and I were settled in and Alvin decided he wanted to do some shadow puppets on our tent wall - as he was wearing his head lamp.  It was funny - he was doing a few different shapes - and he did a dog - and all of a sudden - we hear sound effects from the folks hanging around the row in front of our tent.  There is this barking going on outside our tent - and so Alvin is eating it up.  He continues to do his shadow puppets for his “audience” - and the more he does, the more the crowd is loving it - they are asking for encores…..it was actually hysterical.  Alvin finishes his “show” with a little dog fight and finally turns off his headlamp - and his audience gives him a lovely applause - and we giggle ourselves to sleep.  Just another lovely fun night at camp.

It is so hard to believe that we only had one night left - this ride had seemed so far away for so long - and all of a sudden there was only one day left.

so….off to bed

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