Everyone was very happy to see me and they all came out as I was offloading my gear. And, Linda got to meet all of the characters I had been talking about the last few weeks. Linda headed back to LA while we had the final “map” meeting to review the route to Santa Monica and then we walked down the street to a local pizza place.
Friday morning we agreed to meet at Flappy Jacks just down the street for breakfast at 6:30 so we could hit the road early and have time to make a few stops along the way.
We rarely road as a single pack but after breakfast we all headed out together. They let me take the lead since we were in my “neighborhood” and figured I knew my way to Santa Monica. We road as a single pack for a while but it became a little unwieldy trying to keep everyone together through all of the stoplights so we finally broke into two groups. I took my old gang, the fast group, Krista, Kate, Cathy, and Kiwi John and Ben took the others and that worked out pretty well.
We made our way westward through Azusa, Duarte, Pasadena, etc. there were bike lanes most of the time so the traffic wasn’t too much of a factor. We had decided to stop at Phillipe’s for lunch and we rolled up about 11:30. We had a nice relaxing lunch before the crowds hit. We were just walking out the door to leave when Ben and his group showed up!
We decided to stroll through Olvera Street before we hit the road again. It was a nice little detour but soon everyone was ready to get going and off we went. We followed Ceasar Chavez to Sunset. Once again there were bus or bike lanes so we were out of the busy traffic. In Silver Lake we turned onto Fountain Ave which parallels Sunset but it is narrower. By this time it was quite warm out and we rode for many miles in the heat and the traffic – it is very tiring!
We finally got to Beverly Hills and I took them by Sprinkles so they could try the cupcake vending machine!! We had a quick break and then started the final push to Santa Monica Pier.
We were all tiring of the stop and go drill from all of the stoplights and stop signs so I took them up to San Vicente in Brentwood rather than down Broadway in Santa Monica. We stopped briefly to admire the view of the Pacific and then it was a final easy downhill to the pier.
The second group showed up about an hour after we arrived at the pier and we had the obligatory group photo.
Everyone but Kate was staying at a nearby hostel and so we started to disburse to get ready for our final dinner at 6:30 at Ye Olde Kings Head English pub just up the street from the hostel.
I rode home and my odometer registered 55 miles when I rolled up to my garage. A good days work! I got cleaned up and then Linda and I headed back to Santa Monica to join the party. We had a great time! A really eclectic but fun group of people.
So even though the ride is over there is still a bit more to do. Since I have a truck, I offered to shuttle bikes, bike boxes and people to airports and train stations as needed. So yesterday I delivered bike boxes and picked up two bikes to store at my house until Dave and Cathy leave on Wednesday! I took Sir John to the airport last night and have another round of deliveries and pickups today. I think the last to leave will be Dave and Cathy on Wednesday. After I get them to the train station, the trip will be officially over! – and then I can start thinking about the next one!!! I will post a few more thoughts about my trip in the few days before I close this chapter.