67 miles, +2593/-1051 feet

Look at those smiles after leaving Newport Beach to dip a wheel in the Pacific Ocean.  And why not smile? Sunny skies with very mild temperatures and a little tail wind just when it was most helpful.  Perfect!  The Santa Ana River County Beach is a wonderful place to start a cross country tour.  A long, wide sidewalk boarders each side of the river ending with a bench at the edge of the sand.  Surfers are out in the water doing their thing and fishermen are fishing in the river.  At 7:45 in the morning the parking lot was already buzzing with people.  So many kinds of bikes.  Road bikes, mountain bikes, and those bikes with the really fat tires.  Great fun to watch, but the most fun was watching the smiles of both our riders and the beach goers standing close enough to hear the announcement of ONLY 3362 miles to go to dip a wheel in the Atlantic Ocean at Pleasure Bay Beach in Boston, MA, and celebrate the completion of their own coast-to-coast adventure. Truly a pleasure to hear the good wishes of strangers and see the look of amazement and wonder on their faces at just the thought of such a fabulous goal.

Last night when we closed our orientation meeting and dinner in Newport Beach, one of the riders said, “but it’s only 7:30”.  Tonight as we ended tour talk and headed for dinner at 6:00 pm the story was very different.  They are tired, with very sunny faces, and looking forward to spending some quality time with their pillows.  Tomorrow is another day.  A longer, warmer day.

Wheel Dip in the Pacific Ocean