Lifting the spirits

Day six began as a cold, foggy Lompoc morning. Riders were tired, sleepy, and finally showing outright symptoms of a feeling we were all warned about on Orientation Day.

"You've been told about the many mixed emotions you will experience on this ride. Eurphoria, sadness, deep pride," said the announcer. "But I'm here to tell you about one emotion that no one ever talks about. A feeling that lives in all of us, one that we all try to hide. But one morning you will wake up, and you will be tired and cold, and you will be in line at the port-o-potties and wishing for porcelain, and someone will say something to you and you'll snap. And there it will be. I'm talking, of course, about your inner cranky bitch."

Today was the first day I saw many a cranky bitch unleashed. One of them was almost mine.

Did I mention the cold?
The exhaustion?
The stabbing pain in my shoulder?

I will say this: caffiene helps.

All tolled, when the cold lifted a bit after our first rest stop, people began to show signs of elation.

The ride along the coast was spectacular. how could something so beautiful not lift your spirits?

We stopped in Santa Barbara for some Starbucky goodness, and then again a couple miles later, when the good people in the community set up an ice cream stop for the riders including massage tables, water, strawberries and other delectible fruits.

School kids lined the road, cheering us on.

Cranky bitch be damned: it was a beautiful day.