March cycling: In like the Lion of Flanders, out like...?

[khg]

I spent last week riding in the Santa Monica Mountains with Cycling Escapes

It was a nice trip--the rides were really well chosen, mixing up the challenges day-to-day (short brutal climbs vs long gradual climbs, for instance), and other well thought out details, such as finishing the long day with a climb we had done the day before, so we could be mentally prepared for what it would take. For the most part, the roads we were on were very lightly trafficked, and took full advantage of the scenery. Up in the hills, there's very little around, so the van support provided by Cycling Escapes was really welcome--I would have had to carry a lot of water and food to be able to stick exclusively to the backroads had I been trying this on my own. Between the support, and the route-finding, I felt I got more than my money's worth out of the tour cost.

It was a little bit of a shock to be cycling in warm weather--the first day got into the 90's (and I actually opted to skip the day's last climb--a steep 2.5 miles in full midday sun) and then it eventually dropped to the 80's and 70's, thank goodness. True Seattleite that I am, I felt great the morning we started out with clouds and fog--then the sun came out, and I started wilting By the end of the week, I had ridden about 270 miles, with about 31,000 feet of elevation--it was a great way to push myself, and I definitely gained strength on the trip, which is great. Even better is that this week has involved just a couple sedate bike commutes, and a lot of couch time!

I'm trying to get a little better about making myself stop and take pictures, but I only partially succeeded this trip. But here are a few photos:

From the top of the Latigo Canyon climb (I was so glad it was a slightly overcast day):



My bike at the top of Latigo



Emerging above the clouds on the Piuma climb :



The last bit of fog disappearing on Piuma:



Looking out from the top of Piuma:



Morning sky: