Day 18

Lompoc to Ventura
90 miles
2,649' elevation gain
14.1mph average speed

Climbing out of Lompoc-16 miles uphill to an elevation of just over 1,100 feet. Never too steep, just a long slog. The descent down to Refugio was fast-I don't think I touched the brakes for two miles! This took us back to the coast, and most of the riding to Santa Barbara was on the 101 freeway.

We veered off the ACA route through Santa Barbara, opting for the color of State Street. Between SB and Ventura, we used Alan's local knowledge and took a variety of back roads and bike paths through Carpenteria and Summerland. Back on the freeway at Rincon Point, the tailwind helped us speed through this section at 22 to 24mph.

We rode through the crazy traffic of Main Street and soon we at Chuck and Marlene house in Ventura, where we spent the night. Ellen came up from San Diego, and Alan treated the whole group (Chuck, Marlene, Liz, Mike, Gregory, Ellen, Janet, Jo, Alan and me) to dinner at the Peruvian Thai restuarant. We had a great visit with everyone and a great big thank you to Chuck and Marlene putting us up for the night.