My plan yesterday was to make it to Cambria. However, about 5 miles before Cambria was a small town called San Simeon, with a whole bunch of motels, and not much else. As tired as I was, and as disappointed in myself as I was, I wasn't sure I could stomach another half hour. So i stopped short and checked in there, and boy was I glad I didn't carry on to Cambria. On my way out of town, I thought I'd check out Cambria for breakfast. I discovered there are no real hotels there, they are all in San Simeon. If I had carried on, I would had to back track back to San Simeon.
Breakfast was just ok, and I went on my way. Today was a much easier run for me. By noon I was already 60k in and feeling great. Made it through Morrow Bay, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano, Guadralupe and Orcutt.
Speaking of Orcutt, while i was in San Luis Obispo, I had lunch and asked another patron how Santa Maria was for a destination. She and another person both said no way. You gotta stay in Orcutt for sure. Santa Maria sucks, but Orcutt is further. Well, I took their advise only to find out after 130 km that Orcutt has NO lodging. Zero. Nothing. Less than 1. Anyways, I ended up having to go back into Santa Maria to find a hotel. I put 137km today, but this was still a much easier day than yesterday's 108km day.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to get to Santa Barbara. According to the map, it's 127km with 2 very large climbs. The last time I had ascents like that, I could barely muster 100km. Today I managed 137km in a shorter time, but it was flatter today. Hilly, but no mountains. Maybe I'm that much more conditioned, or it'll be an utter failure. I'm so trying to stay on schedule. Santa Barbara on Saturday is my scheduled day off.
Cycling is fun, but at the same time, sometimes I wonder what the fuck I do this for. I can't spend more than 10 minutes at a vista point, I arrive in a city late afternoon or evening, wash my clothes, grab some food, and leave by 8 am and I have no idea what the city or town has to offer.
But I guess this trip is not about sight seeing. It's about challenging myself, learning the lay of the land, maybe some recon (as Matt would say) for some future vacations? At least that's what I'm telling myself right now, cause right now I mostly ask myself what I'm doing this for. It doesn't seem fun sometimes.
I think that's why getting to Santa Barbara tomorrow is so important to me, cause it's a scheduled day off on Saturday. I'm gonna get a massage, walk around town, eat food, people watch and get a day drunk going. There are also lots of cool towns between there and San Diego where I want to do the same, and I need time to do that. I'm investing in the future. Yeah, that's it.
Although, if I run out of time, I'll just stay longer, right Pam?
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