Unfortunately, or fortunately, the ride was cancelled today by the CHP for safety reasons. We woke up to rain and it was NOT a fun start to the day...
Stefen - Almost everything in the tent was wet so there was a lot of yucky and wet stuff to be schlepped to the next camp. Luckily, most of our gear and clothing was dry since it was stored under a tarp last night. Yay! We can't say the same for the remainder of our 2700 friends on the ride with us...
The best news of the day for me was that Gabo took the day off for safety reasons before the ride was even cancelled.
He helped me out on the bus, which was awesome. I got the pleasure of having him with me all day long again. How wonderful! It made the day go by as well my Roadie job much easier for me.
Gabo - I am so happy that I am beginning to listen and pay attention to my intuition. I told Stefen as we went to bed that if it was raining in the morning I was NOT going to ride. I knew how dangerous part of the route could be with rain.
Right after Rest Stop 1 there is loooonnnnngggg, steep descent that, in the past, I have witnessed some pretty bad accidents in good weather.
Needless to say I was unwilling to take any chances in such inclement conditions. We woke up to rain, so I had planned on hanging out with Stefen again…
...and guess what happened?
The CHP cancelled major parts of the route due to the rain and, due to this, the ALC Staff also cancelled the ride for the day. This was a first in the history of ALC.
Right after we heard that the ride had been cancelled for the day we knew we were facing a logistical nightmare transporting 2,700 people, their gear and bicycles 90 miles down the coast to the next camp in Ventura with only five buses. Eew, guacala!
Thanks to the Ventura, Lompoc and Santa Barbara County schools, the ALC Staff was able to round up over 20 buses to help out with this logistical nightmare. Even with all this help many people did not make it into camp before 6:00pm.
When we arrived at camp for the first time of the day we tried to find a room at a hotel or motel for the evening. No room could be found in the inn… Someone even told us a Ventura hotel was charging over $350 for the night. Wow!
By the time we made it to camp for the second trip the sun was out and the day turned out to be amazing, warm and beautiful. Our gear, once pitched, dried out in 30 minutes and then we proceeded to enjoy the weather.
As soon as Stefen was released from his Roadie duties for
the day after only two round trips we decided to put on our swimsuits and head
to the beach. The water was
absolutely delicious. We could not
resist ourselves and jumped into the Pacific Ocean. That is NOT something we could have done in San Francisco. Brrr. The water is bone chilling in NorCal even in the late
summer. What a treat! So we swam,
we played and we bathed in the sun.
The conclusion to the day was the Candlelight Vigil; an ALC tradition on this day. This is a silent candlelight procession to the beach forming a circle to honor and remember those who have gone before us and those who still battle with HIV/AIDS. What a powerful and intimate moment.
The air was filled with emotions as we watched a sea of
light and hope. And to add to the
magic of the moment we enjoyed a full moon on the beach to add to the
candlelight and crashing surf.
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