May 12: A Day in Pictures

May 12th is my birthday. A couple of weeks ago Rosa asked me what I wanted to do for it and I blurted out "Ride my bike to Santa Barbara".

So I did.


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My plan was to park my car at our boss's place in Augora Hills and ride 90 miles inland over the mountains, through Ojai, down to the coast and then up to Santa Barbara.

The ride started out pretty well, overcast and in the high 50's. I had the roads to myself at 10AM on a Monday.

Then I ventured into the canyons northwest of Simi Valley, which are full of massive sand and gravel pits. It's fun descending but a little crazy with all the trucks.

Then came the Heritage Valley: birthplace of many an orange, avocado and strawberry.

Next up came the serene Ojai Valley...

...then up and over the climb at Lake Casitas.

And eventually down to the Pacific Ocean.

Where the lovely Rosa Linda met me on the beach for a picnic...

...and I asked her to marry me.

That's right, it's official! Take another gander at her left hand in case you missed it.

And here's just one reason why I love this woman: when we're deciding on a restaurant for dinner that night, she says, "You better not pick some fancy place just because we got engaged. I'm totally down for the Brewhouse". The Brewhouse is a great little brewery & restaurant away from the main, fancy strip-- so to the Brewhouse we went for a delicious dinner and some celebratory beverages.

It was going to be tough to match May 12, 2007, which was spent at my best friend's wedding in Austria, but I think we pulled it off.