

Pic 1: View on last day of riding, can't wait to come back and ride that full route to the beach!
Pic 2: Lots of food, on and off the bike
Pic 3: Love this shot
Pic 4: Sweet shot pedaling up a hill
I'm not ready for this to be over! This has been one of the best experiences of my life, possibly the best one!
There are so many more mountains here I want to climb on my bike, so many beautiful roads I want to ride and I have to go home tomorrow. This is the place to be if you want to become a better, faster, stronger cyclist. Not only do you get the weather, but there is just not challenging roads like this at home because our weather conditions don't allow the roads to be build with the steep grade % like here with all the twists and turns. For example our ride yesterday was equivalent in elevation to climbing Cypress three times in terms of elevation. Now I feel I will have to climb the usual hills at home 5x over per ride to get the same challenge of riding here but I know Kevin already has routes planned to challenge me at home as well as having harder gearing on my bike.
I love that cycling is much more common here, the automobiles driving by are much more respectful and no one tried to run us off the road. We met amazing people who are out riding. On our first day we met a guy riding who owns a winery, he sponsors pro teams and he was saying women from the Canadian national team who come down here to train stay at his place! I think one of the best parts about riding here is that no matter what level of cyclist you are, people wave at you and the atmosphere is awesome! The PRO LIVESTRONG team zoomed by us yesterday on their TT bikes at 40+km/hr and they still waved at us! SO COOL! Very different than getting snubbed by the CAT 1 racers around Vancouver or even just the clubs. We really can learn a lot from the people cycling down here. I am so thankful, yet again for Kevin, because since day one of riding he has always waved at cyclist passing by, regardless of if they wave or not, he is alway friendly and alway happy on his bike, who knows, if I didn't have a mentor like him, I too could have been headed to be a cyclist with an "elitist" attitude.
Today I so badly want to go our for a ride, I feel like I could go and climb for hours, mentally I have recovered great from the rides but most likely my legs need this day of rest. Yesterday Kevin and I did a few little sprint drills and I did hit a limit, a little pull in the quad, so that did shorten our ride a fair amount. I am so impressed though, how much I could do before my body hit a limit. I didn't get one cramp this whole time, which means we ate properly heading up to this, trained properly, and fueled properly down here. Being Celiac is incredibly difficult, trying to find food, constantly explaining it to people, not being able to eat or drink at a restaurant simply because somebody is too lazy to look into things for us, or they think they understand Celiac disease when really they have no clue. For example we talked to a chef here who was going off about how potatoes contain gluten (they don't), so quickly we knew that we wouldn't be eating at that restaurant which really would have been convenient. We did get sick here a couple times from gluten, both of our stomaches are not at all feeling great today, but when we were riding we just pushed through it. The best way for us is always the grocery store, many sandwiches, and it is great they have a lot of gluten free options. Kevin and myself are both very happy to have a "teammate" who loves to ride bikes and who has to struggle through the life of a Celiac. One tiny breadcrumb or gluten filler then we get very sick for a week. We have recently been introduced to some "gluten digestion" supplements, which seem to help how long we are sick for, but it still sucks every time. We just say, Oh well, and go on with the day feeling sick, fuzzy brain, and enjoy life as best as possible.
I know I need to get back home to responsibilities, but I also know that God has a plan and there is a way for me. A way that will be joyful, a way that is not constantly dealing with people trying to bring me down, mentally and emotionally. I am learning there still are many good people in the world, I have had an amazing week break here in Solvang from the hard obstacles I face everyday at home. I guess maybe that is why mentally I was prepared to climb an HC category mountain with no problem, with all the hard things I've faced in the last 5 years especially the last 9 months, climbing mountains seems like a breeze, I feel so free and I meet God at the top of every little climb. I have tears in my eyes thinking about going back home, but there is a plan, a plan to ride, a plan to race, a plan to show others that life can be great, that it really is what you make it. There is a wonderful plan, a story for each of us, that God has written about us, but we must fight to find it. The story God had written about your life is the greatest treasure you could find.
I'm glad God has a story for my life and I am excited to continue to walk through the doors that He opens on this ADVENTURE called LIFE.
(I still need to figure out a better format for these pics)


Pic 5: Love this one too!
Pic 6: Horse trying to get my attention
Pic 7: Hanging on the beach after our last day riding