Alissa: Today was a day of firsts–the first time we saw other cyclists (one of whom was in a recumbent with a sign proclaiming “New York to Seattle!”) and the first time we each got hit by ocean spray.
While waiting around for the light mist to stop this morning before starting our journey, Glen captured another rainbow:
Today was also the scariest day of riding for me as the winds were at least 25 mph when we were riding on a very exposed edge of the road. (Not true during the taking of the following two pictures!) There were many times I chose to just walk my bike until the route turned inland.
Today we also passed the first winery along our route (since we decided an additional 1800 feet of elevation wasn’t worth it to trek into the Sonoma Valley for the bazillions of wineries there).
The ride today ended with a brief detour in Bodega to photograph this church (mostly for our friend Scott). Another thousand Alissa-bucks are yours if you recognize it.
Glen: This was the most dramatic coastline ride so far, ranging from almost 400 feet above the sea on sheer cliffs with views for miles down to right beside the beach and the waves. As Alissa mentioned, some of the plunges downhill veered into scary, while others were just exhilarating. Also a good day for birds: numerous types of raptors, lots of vultures flying low enough over the road that you could see their blood-red heads, and also crows doing weird aerial somersaults in the strong winds on one promontory.
