Mike & Tod - Day 9 - More Ahhhhhh......

The boys rewarded themselves as they made it through LA, all the way to Huntington Beach.

Well done. I'm sure it was a real chore.

Not much further now, Tod.

Just think of Mike up there.....

So not wanting to dawdle, they only made office stops at Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Marine Del Rey before scooting around - not through - LA.

Then more paperwork at Long Beach, Huntington Beach...you get the idea.

When I see this, I think of Marc Jordan's 1978 hit "Living In Marina Del Rey".

Living in Marina Del Rey
Man you better get a job
Lying face up in the sand brown mud
Living by the sun and the sea

Hope they were listening to it. More likely living it.....

Nice scenery.

More nice scenery.

Good technique.

Now if I had posted all the volleyball shots sent to me, I would have been charged extra storage costs by Google. So these will have to do.

Must have been a good game.

Tomorrow? Maybe a few "flat tires" will force them to hunker down here for a while longer.

We'll see.......

Mike & Tod - Day 8 - Ahhhhhh......

(Almost) to the Promised Land.....

105 clicks of not-so-hard biking today has brought them to Malibu.

Not to shabby a way to spend a day, cruising along Highway 1A.

This just in from the front lines; "the girls are scenery is beautiful!"

And they even found a motel to their liking. In Malibu!

And when you're riding economy, I think I know what that means. And in case anyone thinks I am being unkind, been there, love doing that.

The trip so far has them just sniffing at the outskirts of LA. But they have been warned about this next part of the trip.

But if they are looking for a police escort, this may not be the time they want to have their first encounter with the boys in blue.

As the LAPD may mistake them as gentlemen of limited means, and not give them the warm reception they richly deserve.

Although I'm thinking the Malibu PD may have already given the LAPD a courtesy heads up.

Ha ha. After all the times on the road they said they stopped at The Office - solely to "plan the next day" - they are now finally being truthful.

About stopping at The Office, that is. Not about the planning part......

[And if anyone makes as much as one comment about my Photoshopping skills, I will hunt you down and take unflattering photos of you.]

Mike & Tod - Day 7

Day 7 also started out very foggy.

Through no fault of Mother Nature this time, I suspect.

The culprit might have been, into addition to our indulging duo, their host. Who, from a chapter of "It's A Small World", I also happen to know.

How do I know this? I suspect after beverages were opened, stories were told. Mainly lies, I'm guessing. But soon after, I received the following e-mail.....

"I understand that you are in charge of keeping track of the two Bozos currently staying at my house. I would request that you make arrangements to retrieve them asap. Bar bill way too high."

If only it were that easy. Why do you think we have them on the other side of the continent?

As it turns out, I, too, had consumed many too many adult beverages with this gentleman, who also acted as my host. And Captain. As we (the host, one of the adventurist duo and I) plied the waters of the Pacific on our (considerably more than three hour) tour to Catelina Island. But those stories will surely rest safely with Davy Jones. Otherwise, nobody comes out looking too good.

Anyway.....after receiving the aforementioned escort out of Dodge (dotted line) the lads proceeded along the coast to Carpinteria.

Here, with Mike looking like a drifter out of The Dirty Thirties, the day did indeed start a off bit foggy.

And not sure if this is a warming due to their recent driving rain and head winds, or a reminder to be on the lookout from something coming across the Pacific.

[Hey, did anybody tell you guys they had an earthquake & tsunami in Japan? I didn't think so.]

But as the day wore on, they finally had their first taste of "sunny and warm" (mid 60's).

Time to celebrate........Cheers, guys!

Mike & Tod - Day 5 & 6

So with Mother Nature throwing the boys, and a large part of California, a loop, they had to scramble up a new plan.

New plan was to take the train. Mother Nature thought otherwise.

Next plan was to take the bus. Good old reliable Greyhound. Just as well, as that damn driving rain was back.

But had to cruise inland, through the Salinas Valley to get down to San Luis Obispo.

"Too wet" for pictures, was the response when queried about lack supporting visuals. But I believe the correct answer is "too embarrassed", with their little hands waving out the bus window....

But you do make good time that way. Over 200 clicks on Day 5.

Beautiful Day 6 and they're back on the bikes (although still no visual support for this bold assertion).

They followed an awesome ridgeback down to the ocean. Then up through the hills and down to Lompoc.

Where they looked up an old friend who gve them a place to stay. For a day.

"Hey buddy, It'll just be one day. Yeah, only one day. Huh? Mike. Neelin. No no, really one day."

He's even giving them a ride to their next location. As soon as they want. What a great friend.

So with the help of Day 5, they're starting to put some serious distance between them and San Fran.

Now....what diaster awaits for Day 7?

Mike & Tod - Day 4 - Trapped

Maybe I was a bit hard on the boys, pooh-poohing their whining about driving rain and head winds.

Looks like that driving rain and wind knocked out the Pacific Coast Highway, from Carmel down to Big Sur.

Too bad Clint ain't mayor any more. He'd a sent that head wind a packing!

So although the sun finally came out, a less than productive day, toodling around Monterey, then Pebble Beach with the well heeled and finally up to Salinas.

Not productive, unless you measure productivity in biker's best friends.

In that case, they got stinkin' productive!

Mike & Tod - Day 3

Day 3 and someone is certainly pondering the folly of this trip.

Although looks to be lots of sun in the sky, local reports say Day 3 was no better than Day 1 or 2.

More misery greeted the lads as brutal rain and driving head winds limited them to 60 clicks and blah, blah, blah, where are the pics of girls in bikinis?!

Made it as far as Monterey. Where several biker's best friends awaited them.

So it was gulp, gulp (uhhh.....gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp) and off to bed.

Too bad they couldn't have eked out a few more clicks and made it to Carmel-By-The Sea. I'm sure Clint would have greeted them warmly. [Is he still Mayor?]

[Okay, Google Google....whoa, not since 1988! I guess UC kinda likes the 80's.]

Okay, so maybe the day wasn't all sweetness and light.

A little bicycle maintenance will always take the mind off driving rain and head winds.

Oops, They're Doing It Again

Well, Mike and Tod have gotten it into their confounded brains to do another of yer bi-cycle type trips.

Fer those with little to no memory, click here "Mike & Tod's Harebrained Adventure" for a refresher on the last ordeal to Key West.

[You'll have to search back to November 2009 to get more than this Day 1 post.]

Now I overheard them discussing it, and I swear they sounded right out of the movie Deliverance....

"Ha there, Tod."
"Ha, Mike."
"Hey Tod. Do ya 'member are bike trip t' Key West?"
"Hey Mike. I shore do. It was terrible. 32 days of hell."
"That's right, Tod, it was terrible."
"Hey Tod. Do ya want to do another one in California?"
"Yeah, Mike, ah'd like to."
"Yeah, Tod, me too."

So last week, our dynamic (or use another word here that starts with D) duo took off for that there Cal-iforn eye aye.

In one o them big ol' metal birds.

They started their adventure in San Francisco.

Swimming pools, movie stars [...for those that remember The Beverly Hillbillies. Although that sounds more like LA. Back to the trip.]

It certainly seemed nice, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

But what's with the sou'westers?

I see....

As they biked to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, things turned on them.

Howling winds and driving rain with lots of hills greeted them as they set out from San Fran.

Shades of Upstate New York from the last trip.

Made it only 80 clicks the first day. Whew, they were glad that was over.....

Mike & Tod - Day 2

So bright and early....well, early anyway, the boys up and left Pigeon Point.

Doesn't really look like California weather. But I'm sure it will clear up.

Wrong! Another day of extreme weather, with driving head winds and dark clouds, limited them to 70 clicks.

Oh, and rainy and cold.

The memory of Upstate New York is starting to look good.

Clouds look to be letting up, but someone doesn't seem too convinced.

At least it looks like they are getting closer to those swimming pools and movie stars.

So the trip this far has, well, it's started.

Still a good way to go......

Tragedy!

A true Canadian disaster.

A full cup of Timmy's. Gone.

Real Tragedy!
It's "Roll Up the Rim To Win" time!

Unless It's A Grammar Accident

Gimme A Freakin' Break

Wow, what a deal.

$99 round trip to Glasgow! Unbelievable!

Yes, unbelievable. And untrue.

Because underneath, in print too small to read - or photograph, apparently - "Plus $517 in taxes!" (I added the exclamation mark.) Are you kidding me?

It'd be one thing to advertize $517, plus $99 in taxes. But this is beyond the pale. Whatever that means.

How come that isn't false, or at best, misleading, advertizing? If the big, bad oil companies tried that....

Well, in fact, gasoline is one of the only products sold that includes all taxes in the posted price. And that price is always posted high and large for all to see.

How dumb is that? Dumb like a fox.

I'll Follow You Anywhere!

Hey, someone wants to keep it all for himself.

No fair......

I Hear Ya, Brother!

Very Clever.....

....of me to take this picture.

While I was stopped, of course......in case my mother is reading this.

Newly? Maybe In 1965....

Awwww, Come On.....

All that sign does is make you think, Hey, I could ride that thing.