Boats at Penzance.

Well here we are on the eve of the Big Ride, and I’m hoping to be able to send you some pictures and tell you a bit about my time since getting back to Blighty! 

They put the flags out for us 😉

Yesterday Kimberly and I got back to the pub at 12:30pm thanks to Keith who kindly picked us up from Heathrow so as not to take Simon out during pub hours. It was good but a bit surreal to be back home, knowing that I was to leave again in 18 hours to get to Cornwall for le2jog 2010.  We had a great time in California, and there are lots of thanks due to many family members for making us feel welcome.  Jim and Linda for putting us up, Jim and Rhys for showing us around San Fran and the Bay Area, and Rhys for taking us to the Ball Game.  Meghan and Mark for including us in their big day and Mike and Sue for putting us up in Petaluma.  Steve deserves a big thank you for the help with the car hire, and I WILL pay you back, and I hope that the mess I left you with isn’t too painful.  I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone….it was great to see you all.  I feel my Guardian Angel was with me during the trip, saving me from any injury especially when on the pub crawl on our bikes, and I hope he stays with me for the duration  of the adventure I am about to undertake tomorrow.  No broken legs for me please.

I confess to being a bit tired at the moment, but I’ve been trying to get wireless connection since 6:00pm and now I’ve got it, I need to take advantage even though it’s getting late.  
So at 7:00am this morning I went over to Alex and Deidre’s to put my small bag in the boot and climb in next to Diane, Alex’s mum for the long drive down to Penzance.  It went very smoothly, or so I’m told because I slept for 5 hours of it, and with a small stop for breakfast at 10 we arrived here about 2:00pm.  Thank you so much Alex for driving. 

As you can see in the picture above they put the flags out for our arrival….well I’d like to think anyway.  We met at The Queens Hotel where John, Jackie and I are staying and shuffled bags and clothes about so we could have a quick turn around in the morning.  After we had time for a wander around town, pick up a few cards and have a coffee in the sun.  It was certainly a hot afternoon. 
After we got back to the hotel, we sorted stuff for the next two days and then put the big bags back in the van.  John is certainly organised when packing.  Hats off to him to for all the organising he has done for this trip. Three cheers!!!

We had a yum dinner here at The Queens Hotel and after coffee everyone went off to bed, except Jackie who went after pud.  I’m shortly to follow, but really wanted to fill you all in so far.  I do hope wireless connection will be available each night, but we’ll have to wait and see.  Tomorrow we’re meeting at 7:45, packing the van, eating breakfast, then driving down to the start line.
By the end of tomorrow we should be in St Austell……

I’m SOOOO excited.  😀  I’m in charge of the ‘incident sheet’ so I’ll be taking notes all day as well as peddling. 
Thank you to all those who called and texted to wish us luck.  I think we’ll be needing some!

Beth xx

ps. Check out the new Route Page above…it’s all I could manage at the mo.

We had such a great time at the wedding, I don’t know where to start!!

Mendocino Woodlands were beautiful and Mark and Meghan made a lovely couple, of course.  They were perfectly set in the outdoor setting as they work outdoors mostly, at the moment living in Alaska, off in the wilds it sounds.
The cabins we stayed in were basic, but well situated, large and dry.  Well it was all dry and mostly sunny.  Under the trees as we were, we often needed our torches inside the cabins in the day too.  Otherwise we needed them for toilet stops but the shower block had electricity and light and stuff.  It truely was a magical place to be.  We also visited nearby Point Cabrillo Lighthouse on the coast and Glass Beach where we picked up lots of glass nuggets.

It was fabulous to be amongst family and meet Mark’s family too.  I’d love to treat you to some pictures, but that will have to wait I’m afraid…this is a whistle stop blog today.

On Monday we came up to stay with Mike and Sue in Petaluma for our final two days.  We shopped yesterday – eek! how to fit it all in!!  Today we went to Sebastapol and then two winerys.  It was a hot sunny day again, and we had a lot of fun.  Thanks lots Mike. 😉

Anyhow, I’m pretty sleepy and I’ve got to pack, so I’ll leave you for now.  Next time I blog I may in in Cornwall, ready for the big ride. Oh, and I’ll get some pictures of the wonderful weekend wedding in the woods too.
Thank you all for continuing to check and for those of you who have commented….that’s GREAT!!

Beth xx

Tomorrow morning we’re off to Mendocino Woodlands to Megan and Mark’s wedding, so I’ll be away from the internet for a few days.  Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on Monday……

We’re staying in a camp site that has very few facilities, and we learnt today, has no place to buy food either.  So we’ll be off to the town I expect to feed and water every so often.  Wish us luck. 

I’m going to miss our chats, take care, speak to you soon,

Beth xx

We had a lazy morning today and sfter lunch we set off in the Grama-mobile to Santa Cruza, it was cozy with six of us in the car, but we travelled down Route 1 which is very picturesque.  We went to the Broardwalk which has amusments and rides, corn dogs and beer, lots of fun for everyone!!

We rode on lots of rides, taking advantage of the Tuesday $1 a ride after 5pm offer.  Ruby took advantage of her tippy-toe boots to achieve the hight restriction on some of the rides  (not to worry, it was quite safe)  and the scariest one Steve, Kimberly and I saved ’til last.  AAAAAhhhhhhhh!
Oh, this chair swing was NOT the scariest ride that was called Flaming Ball.  I introduced Kimberly to corn dogs, and it was a good one too!!  We had a couple of beers on the way, all very laid back.

I’ve gotta thank Jim for driving all the way there and back, it was a fun evening out and we all had fun.  We all fell asleep on the way home too, though I think Linda managed to stay awake and keep Jim company.  We got home about 10:30 and all basically crashed.  Happy bunnies, with fun memories of a sunny day at the sea.

Not sure what we’re up to today, Brenda’s arriving later, we’re all relaxing at the moment.  Nice. Will try and post a couple more pictures, then I’ll be off for now.

The Flaming Ball.Santa Cruz Beach- beautiful.

No Wally World today as they are all closed because the schools are about to go back.  Rubbish!
Still it’s another beutiful day here, so I’m sure we’ll come up with something to do….though it’s going to be a slow start for some- our pub crawl went exceptionally well last night.  That’ll be based on the amount of alcohol consumed and the amount of giggles we had.

Me, Jim, Kimberly and Steve setting off on our pub crawl.Sadly I didn't think to take a picture of all 5 bars we visited but they were all quite different. The first was a great beer place with a big back garden to sit in which was nice 'cause it was a warm evening. Next was the bar with the square dancing practice going on - random, but fun to watch. Third on the list was a long skinny bar, again with a garden and some great smelling bbq action. We had some crisps and left it at that. We had two beers here before going to the Acme bar where I was hoping to see the Roadrunner, but there was only a huge selection of whiskeys and some beer on offer.Lastly, but by no means least we stopped at the Albatross, Linda's bar in San Pablo. They have a dart range there with 5 or 6 dart boards with partitions all in a row. So we thought it would be rude not use one. Also for $1 you can get a bowl and refill with fresh popcorn all night! We sampled fine beers, and root beer here as well as cosmopolotans - well that was mostly Jim. This is a pink concoction with some stuff and vodka in it!! We had a lot of laughs last night, especially when we were locking and unlocking our array of bikes. A different combination of locks every time! Oh, and who had which key for which lock in their pocket???A bundle'o bikes.....

So after all the fun and frivolity we had an uphill slog to get back to Jim’s….I knew it was too good to be true as we coasted to all five pubs….  But if John were here he would have told me it was just an small up-flat!  Four miles of it mind!  We all made it back safe and sound, with all four bikes.  I love my three speed old bone shaker, and Jim’s given me the bell off Steve’s bike (which was also a three speed) which sound like a doorbell.  Thanks Jim, it’s fab. 

This morning everyone’s a little slow, and the weather is fine, so we might just chill in Jim’s back yard for a while….it was great to be on bikes yesterday, and both trips, over the bridge and around the bars, were an interesting way to keep my training up. 😉

See you soon,

Beth xx 

The Albatross.A bundle'o bikes.....

Me cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge 😉

Just a quick note, as we’re now off on our biking pub crawl with Jim and Steve who arrived today.

Kimberly and I spent the day going into town and hiring bikes to ride over the Bridge.  It was a beautiful day for it, and we enjoyed our day in the sun. After we treated ourselves to Ben and Jerrys ice cream.  I had a shake – of course!  Better than a MacDonalds one anyday!!

I’ll post more pictures tomorrow….we’re off to Wally World…?….

Beth xx

Kimberly and me.....

Trolley car at Pier 29Fish bike at Pier 23!!

Kimberly and I went to San Francisco yesterday and did the tourist stuff.   It was great fun and we saw lots of things, people and crazy places.  The trolley above we rode on – or one like it – in the afternoon to get back to Embarcadero and the Bart.  The weather was a bit chilly with the sea fog not clearing until 1 pm or so.  But that didn’t spoil our fun. 
The bike above I thought might be fun for the lejog trip, a fish theme might be fun, or maybe we could fancy-dress our bikes in some other way?! 
We walked all along the Piers, looking at the stalls and farmers market along the way.  When we got to Pier 39 we did the rounds, and found a few things to buy and then found a great plce to eat.  Bubba Gump.  A shrimp restaurant based around the Forest Gump movie.  Although the man at the front desk forgot to seat us – rubbish- the guys at the bar were very helpful and we ate there.  Coach John would be pleased with my carb-intake….or perhaps it’s a little too early…..   Mine was the prawn tacos….

Yum, yum, yum!!

Anyhow, the guys behind the bar were very entertaining, and we got to watch West Ham/ Bolton – woo hoo!!  It was very yummy and set us up nicely for the rest of the day.  We saw a Segway tour – crazy stuff, and lots of street entertaining.

We gave the cable car a miss ’cause the queue was huge, but we walked up to wiggly Lombard Street and then back to the trolly car. 

After our day in the city, we went and met Rhys for an Oakland A’s baseball game.  It was Kimberly’s first experiance of an American sports event, and although the A’s didn’t win – nearly though – it was fun.  Rhys was a great guide, both on the Bart and at the game. 

Gotta go now, goona go for a gentle walk up the hill.  Maybe find some geocaches?

Have fun,

Beth xx

Not only did we take a trip on The Bart to The Mission District today, but I rode a bike to pick up Ruby from her tennis class.  The bike was a Huffy three speed on the 70’s era, and once I’d got the hang of it wasn’t too bad to ride.  Only moderately scary!! 

Jim and I ready to pick up Ruby.Me, looking decidedly uneasy and un-lycra'd!!

So here is the evidence of my cycle – it wasn’t very long, but I believe a pub-crawl is on the cards when Steve gets here that may stretch us a little more! 

So here we are on the second day of our holiday, cracking open a root beer and some cheetos!  Woo hoo, I’m on holiday! 

Yesterday Kimberly and I spent the day walking the length of  College Avenue in Berkley,  checking out the shops and generally soaking up the Californian sun.  Ok, I know it’s the same sun as you guys, but it was great to be relaxing in it.  We found lots of cool gift-type shops that we may have to visit again and stopped for iced tea at one of the many coffee shops we passed. 
After we had walked about four hours we reached St. Mary’s Cemetary and went to visit Judy and Tom in their pretty garden with the relaxing waterfall at the end.  It took us a bit to find them as we had entered via a side gate and I didn’t quite recognise the way, but a helpful gardener pointed us in the right direction. 
We did struggle a bit with the Californian law that states pedestrians have right of way over drivers, well we don’t get that in England!  We kept stopping and got waved on a lot, which seemd to annoy some of the drivers!   We got the hang of it in the end. 

It was a beautiful day once the sea fog had burned off, and having stayed up the previous day 24 hours, we did pretty well on the jet-lag front.  We had some yum spag-bol with Jim, Linda, Ruby and Rhys when we got back and finally I crashed about 9:30 – phew, another 10 hours of sleep ahead of me, bliss. 
So today we may go into San Francisco, or perhaps Santa Cruz, we’ll see how the day goes.  We did stop by Safeway earlier to spend a small fortune on junk food, beer, rootbeer and ice trays, oh, and some fruit and bread!! 

I’ll check in tomorrow to let you know if I’ve got on a bike yet……must fit that in too,

Beth xx

Actually I’m in California right now, hurrah!  Kimberly and I travelled yesterday across the ocean, and stayed up 24 hours to aclimatise.  Simon had driven us up to Heathrow and the journey was smooth form there on in.  Virgin Atlantic treated us well, to the extent of bringing us round choc-ice’s as we watched film number three!!!
Yes, we watched four films on the flight, so much for me getting in extra sleep!!  I’m goning to be in a dilemma on the flight home…..

Jim kindly picked us up from San Francisco airport and took us to his and Linda’s lovely home in Berkley which will be our base for the next two weeks.  It’s beautiful. In the back garden Jim had got out all his bikes, out for us to try when we wanted to ride out.  They’re a collection of vintage/replica bikes which are fab!  Also his new Triumph 900 was there to admire.   
Here is a picture of the bikes, I think the bike I’ve been delegated has three speeds – woo hoo! 

So today Kimberly and I are going to walk around Berkley are explore the shops and atmosphere there.  Wish us luck…….  😉
Take care back in Blighty, will update soon,

Beth xx