Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 Santa Cruz to Monterey, CA 46 miles 1,700 ft of climb

Woke up this morning to another flat on my rear tire.  Ride leader, Michelle, quickly removed the tube, and carefully checked the inside of the tire.  Sure enough!  She eventually found a construction staple!  I ended up being the last one out, but with such a short day, there was no hurry.

It was another sunny day today, warming up to the high 80's by the end.  We wound through Santa Cruz for 10 miles before leaving behind the city traffic.  Motorists are very courteous, even when being held up by us bikers creeping up the hills on the outskirts of town!

We soon were traveling through areas where there were fields of artichokes, strawberries, broccoli and lettuce.  There were many field workers all along our route, including filling boxes of Driscoll strawberries.  Those fields meant some flat roads, a rarity for this trip!

The route included 10 miles of the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail bike path which was a bit hilly in spots, but a very nice surface.  As we got closer to the city, most of us had difficulty with following the cue sheet.  The distance was a bit off, and we did not have a sense of where we were going.  A gentleman offered to lead us to where the bike path left and picked up again, and with Michelle's help we made it without getting lost!

It was really a nice day of riding; short, not very hilly, and beautiful!