Lompoc to Ventura
Distance - 84.63
Time - 6.17.20
Avg Speed - 13.4mph
Max Speed - 41.0
Day 6 is always fun with Paradise Ice Cream in Santa Barbara. It also starts to get slightly more dangerous as we spend a good amount of time on Highway 101 with cars zooming past. There are lots of instructions not to pass each other... EVER! But that becomes a little unrealistic, especially when there actually is room for two cyclists. We had a pretty big climb that started almost immediately. But after the climbing was done we had a descent at 7% decline. Whoa! I was braking a good amount of time and still hit 41mpg. The scary part was at the bottom there was an ambulance with EMTs stabilizing 2 riders who had crashed not long before. That night the announcement was that they were still being evaluated in the hospital. Scary!
My main feeling on this day is the excitement at being so near the ocean. The air feels different. The smell is different. Sometimes like fish.. but still. Any fatigue or pain just goes away with such a beautiful view. I rode with Kenny most of the afternoon and into Santa Barbara for ice cream. Neither of us was sure we wanted to have ice cream before riding more but I decided it would digest while I was riding and it wouldn't affect me. Turned out to be true! (=
Bozo was waiting with Blue at the beach in Ventura for us to finish but she needed to leave by 5pm to make dinner with her friend in LA. So we hustled it in to make it by just after 4pm. She had just taken Blue to the car and was walking back to wait when we showed up. Surprise!! We just got to spend a few minutes together before she headed off and I went back to tent life.
After dinner I went and got the photo of my Uncle R for the Candlelight Vigil on the beach. We lit the candles, walked silently to and then sat on the beach, then eventually began taking the candles to the water to put them out. It was quite beautiful!
Then to bed!
Showing posts with label Day 6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Day 6. Show all posts
Friday, June 08, 2012
Friday, June 27, 2008
BWCA II - Day 6
Travel - Heritage Lake > 40r portage > Shell Lake > 216r portage > Little Pauness Lake > 40r portage > Upper Pauness Lake > Little Indian Sioux River > waterfall portage > Little Indian Sioux River
Exit day. We were all awake by about 5:30am and couldn't sleep anymore. Terry got up to use the privy and saw a moose across the cove from us. So we all got up to see that and take photos. At some point Sue or Terry saw the snapping turtle sitting toward the edge of our site. S/He just sat there and watched us get packed up. Just as we started working on our tent, it started to sprinkle, which it continued to do most of the time we packed. The turtle was still there when we pushed off. We had just been stepping around him/her the entire time but s/he kept a close eye on us without moving at all. A blink every once in awhile let us know it was still alive! (=
Once we were all on the water, it started raining. It felt refreshing at first. And usually it would stop after a short time. But this time it didn't. It just kept coming and coming. We made it across Heritage Lake with no problems and got to our first portage, 40r to Shell Lake. We saw a few more people there. Campsites with people hunkered down in the rain. And there we were on the water in the rain with mosquito nets over our faces. I'm sure we looked silly! But I was definitely beyond caring about that! Eventually we got to our long portage, 216r. Thankfully it was rather flat. There were some muddy sections, of course, and a section where we crossed a pond on little half tree bridges. At first one 1/2 log and then two 1/2 logs (not 2 and a half, 2 half) so that we could put a foot on each. No incidents there. Lorrie took the canoe and I carried the still very heavy food pack. That took us into Lower Pauness Lake, where we began to see still more people. These lower lakes also seem to have more campsites on them. So it makes sense. Still raining. Still buggy. We paddled a short distance to the next portage, a 40r into Upper Pauness Lake. We started crossing several people at this portage. Not something we'd experienced much of previously. But most people are kind and courteous so it wasn't a big deal. There were 2 young men portaging the same direction we were who looked SO clean. One was wearing Tevas and shorts. I was very curious about where they'd been. It was starting to rain a bit harder. But it seemed pointless to put on our rain gear at this point. So we just kept trudging.
What I noticed was that we started becoming more mechanical the closer we got to the end. We didn't canoe as close together as before and we talked less. It probably gets that way toward the end anyway. But with the rain and bugs, it seems totally natural. The Upper Pauness flowed into the Little Indian Sioux River, which after a portage past the falls would take us to the entry point portage. The river has a "roadway" of clear water between the reeds on each side. A little difficult to navigate but I have gotten much better at keeping us on track. We saw lots of people on the portage past the falls. Several were in shorts and sandals. One woman looked rady for a nice stroll in the park! I can't imagine what they thought of us in our "hair nets," dirty pants, wet clothes, and tired faces. Ha! Terry said later that she had suggested pants and shoes to some of them. (= We ran into the clean young guys again who were behind us. And we caught up with 3 fishermen who were also heading out. Seemed to go okay with all of us on the portage though. This one we had done at the beginning as well. The falls were very pretty! Honestly I didn't stand and look for very long because of the bugs. Poor me! )= As we canoed the last leg, we met several groups just coming in to the Boundary Waters. I must say that with the rainy weather, I'm glad we were leaving and not entering today! After one group passed us, Lorrie and I heard a man say with concern,"They have mosquito nets," which sounded to us like maybe they hadn't brought them. It was SUCH a relief when we saw that final portage. However, the fishermen that were in front of us had left their canoes and blocked the entrance. Rude! Lorrie and I squeezed in next to them. I got out in the water up to my thighs so that we could get in. Not a big deal at this point to get that wet. But it was rather rude of those guys when they knew we had been on their tails the whole last 2 legs. Lorrie got the canoe up and out. Actually that was the first time we lifted it up and over us the way we had learned last summer. Ha! Took us awhile but we finally figured it out! (= I stayed back for a bit and tried to get Terry and Sue into the same spot. But I don't even know how we did it. So I wasn't much help. They got in far enough for Terry to get out but there were too many rocks and it was very deep where Sue was so they had to wait for the rude fishermen to get back to their canoes. I took one of our packs up and Lorrie was already coming down. Wow! There were a lot, actually one huge, slippery rock to contend with here. I didn't remember that part. Actually, I didn't remember much! (= Our stuff was finally all up at the parking area, including the food pack, which Lorrie carried against MY better judgment. I went to get D'Azul, who I was very happy to see intact where I left her. I had to change from my very wet pants into pj bottoms so I wouldn't soak the seats. The mosquitoes there were awful still! I'm sure my bare butt was a happy sight for them! We left our mosquito nets on even while packing up the car and putting the canoe on the roof. Took us awhile to figure out how they had attached it at the outfitters. But eventually, with all four of us fiddling with it, we figured it out... or... we got something to work even if it wasn't how they had done it. So at this point it had been 6 hours of continuous exercise. We'd had breakfast bars before leaving camp and each had another bar at around noon. So we were HUNGRY! It was 2pm when we got to the car... and it finally stopped raining! lol
The drive back to Ely was a gravel windy road. Same one we'd taken out. I was tired and hungry so I needed to be careful. But we made it safe and sound within an hour. AND the canoe stayed attached! A very good thing! At Voyageur North Outfitters, they took the canoe, life jackets, and paddles right away. They were also ready to check us out right away and I got $39 back for bringing the canoe back a day earlier than my original reservation. So we picked out a "tree hugger" and some gifts for my parents and Darshi for taking care of the pups.
Then it was SHOWER time! The outfitter has 3 shower rooms available for people who rent from them. Not the nicest bathroom but the hot water certainly felt wonderful! We had left some clean outfits behind to change into. That felt great! And clean hair! Wow! Though I must say that the lake water and rain made my hair very soft! After showering we met Sue and Terry at The Ely Steakhouse where we ate huge meals of red meat. No names! They all had ice cold beer, which they'd been talking about for days! (= At the outfitters, they give renters a free beer or soda when they return. So Lorrie had a can of Hamms in the car waiting for the right moment. She didn't want to ruin her craving for a good beer with that! ha! I had an ice cold Pepsi there. So my craving was taken care of already. When the bill came, I had to run out to D'Azul for my credit card... and it was raining again! I said out loud to myself, "Holy shit!" Funny how resistant I was to getting wet again after I'd been wet all week and thought nothing of it. Got to the car where I had left the windows partially open to let the smell of Lilacs in. Oops!
After dinner we parted ways. Lorrie and I headed back to Northfield while Sue and Terry got a room for the night with intentions of checking out Ely tomorrow morning. It took us about 5 hours to get home with the rain and all. Home at about 10:30pm, which is about 1-1/2 hours past our bedtime of the past week! Ha!
Exit day. We were all awake by about 5:30am and couldn't sleep anymore. Terry got up to use the privy and saw a moose across the cove from us. So we all got up to see that and take photos. At some point Sue or Terry saw the snapping turtle sitting toward the edge of our site. S/He just sat there and watched us get packed up. Just as we started working on our tent, it started to sprinkle, which it continued to do most of the time we packed. The turtle was still there when we pushed off. We had just been stepping around him/her the entire time but s/he kept a close eye on us without moving at all. A blink every once in awhile let us know it was still alive! (=
Once we were all on the water, it started raining. It felt refreshing at first. And usually it would stop after a short time. But this time it didn't. It just kept coming and coming. We made it across Heritage Lake with no problems and got to our first portage, 40r to Shell Lake. We saw a few more people there. Campsites with people hunkered down in the rain. And there we were on the water in the rain with mosquito nets over our faces. I'm sure we looked silly! But I was definitely beyond caring about that! Eventually we got to our long portage, 216r. Thankfully it was rather flat. There were some muddy sections, of course, and a section where we crossed a pond on little half tree bridges. At first one 1/2 log and then two 1/2 logs (not 2 and a half, 2 half) so that we could put a foot on each. No incidents there. Lorrie took the canoe and I carried the still very heavy food pack. That took us into Lower Pauness Lake, where we began to see still more people. These lower lakes also seem to have more campsites on them. So it makes sense. Still raining. Still buggy. We paddled a short distance to the next portage, a 40r into Upper Pauness Lake. We started crossing several people at this portage. Not something we'd experienced much of previously. But most people are kind and courteous so it wasn't a big deal. There were 2 young men portaging the same direction we were who looked SO clean. One was wearing Tevas and shorts. I was very curious about where they'd been. It was starting to rain a bit harder. But it seemed pointless to put on our rain gear at this point. So we just kept trudging.
What I noticed was that we started becoming more mechanical the closer we got to the end. We didn't canoe as close together as before and we talked less. It probably gets that way toward the end anyway. But with the rain and bugs, it seems totally natural. The Upper Pauness flowed into the Little Indian Sioux River, which after a portage past the falls would take us to the entry point portage. The river has a "roadway" of clear water between the reeds on each side. A little difficult to navigate but I have gotten much better at keeping us on track. We saw lots of people on the portage past the falls. Several were in shorts and sandals. One woman looked rady for a nice stroll in the park! I can't imagine what they thought of us in our "hair nets," dirty pants, wet clothes, and tired faces. Ha! Terry said later that she had suggested pants and shoes to some of them. (= We ran into the clean young guys again who were behind us. And we caught up with 3 fishermen who were also heading out. Seemed to go okay with all of us on the portage though. This one we had done at the beginning as well. The falls were very pretty! Honestly I didn't stand and look for very long because of the bugs. Poor me! )= As we canoed the last leg, we met several groups just coming in to the Boundary Waters. I must say that with the rainy weather, I'm glad we were leaving and not entering today! After one group passed us, Lorrie and I heard a man say with concern,"They have mosquito nets," which sounded to us like maybe they hadn't brought them. It was SUCH a relief when we saw that final portage. However, the fishermen that were in front of us had left their canoes and blocked the entrance. Rude! Lorrie and I squeezed in next to them. I got out in the water up to my thighs so that we could get in. Not a big deal at this point to get that wet. But it was rather rude of those guys when they knew we had been on their tails the whole last 2 legs. Lorrie got the canoe up and out. Actually that was the first time we lifted it up and over us the way we had learned last summer. Ha! Took us awhile but we finally figured it out! (= I stayed back for a bit and tried to get Terry and Sue into the same spot. But I don't even know how we did it. So I wasn't much help. They got in far enough for Terry to get out but there were too many rocks and it was very deep where Sue was so they had to wait for the rude fishermen to get back to their canoes. I took one of our packs up and Lorrie was already coming down. Wow! There were a lot, actually one huge, slippery rock to contend with here. I didn't remember that part. Actually, I didn't remember much! (= Our stuff was finally all up at the parking area, including the food pack, which Lorrie carried against MY better judgment. I went to get D'Azul, who I was very happy to see intact where I left her. I had to change from my very wet pants into pj bottoms so I wouldn't soak the seats. The mosquitoes there were awful still! I'm sure my bare butt was a happy sight for them! We left our mosquito nets on even while packing up the car and putting the canoe on the roof. Took us awhile to figure out how they had attached it at the outfitters. But eventually, with all four of us fiddling with it, we figured it out... or... we got something to work even if it wasn't how they had done it. So at this point it had been 6 hours of continuous exercise. We'd had breakfast bars before leaving camp and each had another bar at around noon. So we were HUNGRY! It was 2pm when we got to the car... and it finally stopped raining! lol
The drive back to Ely was a gravel windy road. Same one we'd taken out. I was tired and hungry so I needed to be careful. But we made it safe and sound within an hour. AND the canoe stayed attached! A very good thing! At Voyageur North Outfitters, they took the canoe, life jackets, and paddles right away. They were also ready to check us out right away and I got $39 back for bringing the canoe back a day earlier than my original reservation. So we picked out a "tree hugger" and some gifts for my parents and Darshi for taking care of the pups.
Then it was SHOWER time! The outfitter has 3 shower rooms available for people who rent from them. Not the nicest bathroom but the hot water certainly felt wonderful! We had left some clean outfits behind to change into. That felt great! And clean hair! Wow! Though I must say that the lake water and rain made my hair very soft! After showering we met Sue and Terry at The Ely Steakhouse where we ate huge meals of red meat. No names! They all had ice cold beer, which they'd been talking about for days! (= At the outfitters, they give renters a free beer or soda when they return. So Lorrie had a can of Hamms in the car waiting for the right moment. She didn't want to ruin her craving for a good beer with that! ha! I had an ice cold Pepsi there. So my craving was taken care of already. When the bill came, I had to run out to D'Azul for my credit card... and it was raining again! I said out loud to myself, "Holy shit!" Funny how resistant I was to getting wet again after I'd been wet all week and thought nothing of it. Got to the car where I had left the windows partially open to let the smell of Lilacs in. Oops!
After dinner we parted ways. Lorrie and I headed back to Northfield while Sue and Terry got a room for the night with intentions of checking out Ely tomorrow morning. It took us about 5 hours to get home with the rain and all. Home at about 10:30pm, which is about 1-1/2 hours past our bedtime of the past week! Ha!
Friday, June 09, 2006
ALC/LifeCycle 5 - Day Six (June 9, 2006)
Ahh Day 6! COLD! I got up for breakfast around my usual 4am and it was relatively comfortable out. Sometime between breakfast and breaking down my tent, the temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees. In general, I am very bad at knowing what clothes to wear. On a day like this, I am even worse. I HATE carrying a bunch of clothing in my jersey pockets but I also don't like to be cold. I usually take the risk that it will warm up eventually and hope that a climb will get me warm too. Looking at the ride slip for the day, there is a climb that starts within the first mile. So I forego the knee and arm warmers and just wear my shorts, a long-sleeved jersey and my windbreaker. And it just got colder and colder. The climb did it's job in warming up. Khoa was funny.... he got very excited as soon as we started to go up. He doesn't generally like to climb. The first rest area was near the top of the climb and it was even colder! lol I decided to ride with Sandra and Lisa who I had met on the first day. I wanted to be sure I could ride into LA with my "riding buddies" on the last day. So I told them I wanted to ride with them and they went to get water. I told my friends to go ahead and then I went to the bathroom and got my water. This day would be dubbed... "AM I AHEAD OR BEHIND!??" I waited for about 20 minutes in the freezing frickin' cold and then decided that they had left without me. Not such a bad thing because I do go a lot faster when I'm trying to catch up. But I still wasn't sure if they were ahead or behind. I figured, if nothing else, I would catch up with Kenny et. al. I stopped at the 2nd rest stop long enough to see if I could find anyone. But apparently they were all cruising today! (= Yay! So I did my stuff (bathroom, chamois butt'r, food, water) and took off. This part of the ride was pretty precarious being on the highway in traffic. It was a little scary. But everything seemed to go okay. I just kept riding. Never did catch up with or get caught by Sandra and Lisa. But at lunch I ran into Kar (jumped into line with him) and then we found Suzann and Khoa. Kenny came rolling in a little after. Not sure how that happened when he was in front of me. But remember the title of this day... and you will understand! lol After lunch, we all went to do our various tasks. Kenny's tire had exploded so he needed to get a new one. That's what he gets for skidding to a stop a couple days ago!! LOL So we all grouped and stood waiting for him. Saw him one moment and the next he was gone! I ran over to the mechanic area and he was nowhere to be found. I stopped at the bathroom just in case... well, and I had to use it. But still! Anyway, we finally decided that we should just go and let him catch up. HEY... was he ahead or behind!?? Geez! What was interesting on this day was the moment I really felt like I was in SoCal! We were riding along the beach getting near to Santa Barbara and it just sortof hit me. We got onto a beach path around that time and I felt like I was on another training ride. It was nice but it was also sortof sad knowing that the ride was nearly over. But for the moment, I was just glad to be warm again! lol Every year, Santa Barbara hosts a Paradise stop... ice cream, massage therapy, cookies, fresh strawberries, SOAP & WATER. I had a couple ice cream cones and some strawberries. Another thing that hit both Khoa and me at this point was the whole "touching food" thing. We are really not allowed to touch ANYTHING at camp or in rest areas. The roadies hand everything to us. That's so the skanky people who don't wash their hands don't infect the rest of us with their crud! Well here, I wanted strawberries so I stood there waiting for th
em after I asked. lol They just looked at me like I was weird for not just grabbing them. Khoa and I both started laughing because we realized we were actually allowed to touch something. By this time we were starting to wonder where Suzann and Kar had gotten to. They stopped to take some pictures and were still not around. Uh oh! Are they ahead or behind!? lol We finally found them but no sign of Kenny. So we had a photo taken with the fabulous Ginger Brewlay (me, Kar, Ginger, Khoa, Suzann). Then off we w
ent again. Ran into Hugh Hefner and some girls along the way... he asked us all to leave the ride and head to the mansion with him. But when he saw the tan lines, he told us to stick to our day jobs! )= Damn! Ya know, this was a really long day. It was about 84 miles with a good amount of climbing. I was actually quite relieved when we rolled into Ventura. We had to avoid some tourists near the pier and make some pretty sharp corners along the way. But that was fun. There was a little dip about which I said to Suzann, "I bet Kenny jumped or jumps that... depending on whether he is ahead of or behind us!" (aside: Kenny later said to us, "HEY! Ya know that little dip in the path before getting to camp? I jumped over that and one of the roadies yelled at me!" LOL) Rolled into camp, which is right on the beach. Elaine had set up some of our tents so we could just get our stuff ready and do our thing. Saw Sandra and Lisa and told them I had been looking for them all day. They just laughed. lol Ah well! I had to go to the gear truck to find my sleeping pad and saw Suzann. Her partner and step-son had showed up to surprise her and she wanted to introduce all of us. VERY COOL! I admit I was a little jealous... that she gets to shower in a real bathroom and sleep in a bed. ha! Got back to my tent and Sue's stuff was there! That was pretty cool! Although I couldn't imagine that she would be sleeping in a tent with broken ribs after being in the hospital for 2 nights! Did the usual crap... shower, dinner, med tent, etc. Then there was a candlelight vigil on the beach. I was having a relatively quiet night in general so that sortof fit the mood. I went and stood down there but didn't hold a candle. I don't know why I didn't want to do that. But I stood in silence and listened to people around me.... some crying, some talking, some breathing deeply... just listened. I said a little prayer for my Uncle Roger and thanked him for the music he'd provided in my head throughout the ride. I thought about the Positive Pedelers on the ride... doing what I am doing but being HIV+. Incredible! And then I thanked God for allowing me this incredible experience, which I had approached as merely an athletic endeavor but which opened my eyes to SO much more! My body handled everything I threw at it and I was always able to recover... so I had the opportunity to really think during this time. In other words, I wasn't SO distracted with pain that it was all I could think of. An excellent centering experience! There was nothing left to do but go to bed. Sue had gotten an air mattress from Chris Cole (aforementioned ED of LAGLC) and slept in his tent... he was in a hotel. So I had my own tent again.... this time I felt better about it. (= At least I can end my day knowing that no one is ahead and no one is behind. We are all together.
em after I asked. lol They just looked at me like I was weird for not just grabbing them. Khoa and I both started laughing because we realized we were actually allowed to touch something. By this time we were starting to wonder where Suzann and Kar had gotten to. They stopped to take some pictures and were still not around. Uh oh! Are they ahead or behind!? lol We finally found them but no sign of Kenny. So we had a photo taken with the fabulous Ginger Brewlay (me, Kar, Ginger, Khoa, Suzann). Then off we w
ent again. Ran into Hugh Hefner and some girls along the way... he asked us all to leave the ride and head to the mansion with him. But when he saw the tan lines, he told us to stick to our day jobs! )= Damn! Ya know, this was a really long day. It was about 84 miles with a good amount of climbing. I was actually quite relieved when we rolled into Ventura. We had to avoid some tourists near the pier and make some pretty sharp corners along the way. But that was fun. There was a little dip about which I said to Suzann, "I bet Kenny jumped or jumps that... depending on whether he is ahead of or behind us!" (aside: Kenny later said to us, "HEY! Ya know that little dip in the path before getting to camp? I jumped over that and one of the roadies yelled at me!" LOL) Rolled into camp, which is right on the beach. Elaine had set up some of our tents so we could just get our stuff ready and do our thing. Saw Sandra and Lisa and told them I had been looking for them all day. They just laughed. lol Ah well! I had to go to the gear truck to find my sleeping pad and saw Suzann. Her partner and step-son had showed up to surprise her and she wanted to introduce all of us. VERY COOL! I admit I was a little jealous... that she gets to shower in a real bathroom and sleep in a bed. ha! Got back to my tent and Sue's stuff was there! That was pretty cool! Although I couldn't imagine that she would be sleeping in a tent with broken ribs after being in the hospital for 2 nights! Did the usual crap... shower, dinner, med tent, etc. Then there was a candlelight vigil on the beach. I was having a relatively quiet night in general so that sortof fit the mood. I went and stood down there but didn't hold a candle. I don't know why I didn't want to do that. But I stood in silence and listened to people around me.... some crying, some talking, some breathing deeply... just listened. I said a little prayer for my Uncle Roger and thanked him for the music he'd provided in my head throughout the ride. I thought about the Positive Pedelers on the ride... doing what I am doing but being HIV+. Incredible! And then I thanked God for allowing me this incredible experience, which I had approached as merely an athletic endeavor but which opened my eyes to SO much more! My body handled everything I threw at it and I was always able to recover... so I had the opportunity to really think during this time. In other words, I wasn't SO distracted with pain that it was all I could think of. An excellent centering experience! There was nothing left to do but go to bed. Sue had gotten an air mattress from Chris Cole (aforementioned ED of LAGLC) and slept in his tent... he was in a hotel. So I had my own tent again.... this time I felt better about it. (= At least I can end my day knowing that no one is ahead and no one is behind. We are all together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)