We got a bit behind on posts—now we’re trying to remember everything that’s happened! After leaving Lompoc last Saturday, we had a short ride to a state park north of Santa Barbara - Refugio State Park.
Finally starting to feel like Southern California! Refugio State Park, with a beautiful beach running along the campground.
The hiker/biker campsite was pretty amazing - right on the beach under this grove of trees.
Walking on the beach.
Can never leave a cave unexplored!
The next morning, we were surprised to find that some creature had chewed a hole through one of my panniers! Most of the campsites we’ve been at have had bear/raccoon lockers for food, but this one didn’t. Since we don’t have a car, we locked up all our food in a pannier and locked it to a bike. The crazy part is that the animal must have been full after EATING THE BAG, because it didn’t even eat our food!
On Sunday morning, we headed to Ventura to spend two days with Jacob’s cousin Ian and his family.
Stopping in Santa Barbara for lunch. PB&J just doesn’t get old! Kidding, we’re really sick of it.
Bike path leading into Ventura.
We had a great time resting for a day in Ventura. Ian and Vanessa (and Finn!) took such good care of us - and fed us so much good food!
Abby the dog supporting our rest day.
We had so much fun - thank you for hosting us!
On Tuesday morning, we started the two days of riding that would take us across LA. Our first destination was Venice Beach, where we had an Airbnb booked for the night.
A quick pit stop outside Point Mugu Naval Base.
Ian and Vanessa sent us off with a ton of homemade snacks, including these little peanut butter balls. We ate them all!
Biking through the Santa Monica Mountains.
After that, we hit Malibu and had pretty dense suburban riding the rest of the day. Malibu might be the worst stretch of road we’ve hit so far, actually. The only way through is a narrow highway, and cars can park on the right shoulder to go the beach that stretches for almost 20 miles. Not the friendliest place for cyclists!
A peek at some of the giant houses scattered throughout Malibu.
After Malibu, we had a slow ride on the crowded Santa Monica and Venice Beach boardwalks before finally making it to our Airbnb for the night. Jacob’s former classmate from DePaul, Nathan, lives in LA now, and he took us out for dinner!
Talking about theatre, probably.
Stopped by the Santa Monica Pier!