The Karate Monkey with drop bars is my weapon of choice for the ride to Solvang. She's all gussied up and ready to roll.

Mapped the elevation gain for Monday's ride from Santa Barbara to Solvang, excluding the road portion into town. The legs will be burning! Then we ride the route backwards on Tuesday.

We decided to head back out for some more riding today... enough to push us over the 100-mile mark for the weekend. It was an awesome day out on the trail.

Beautiful sunset Sunday night at Surfer's Point

Set out on a 70 mile ride Sunday. Ended up riding 75. Good times! It felt great to spend the morning on the bike.

Sitting in the office today wishing I was still out on this morning's road ride with Donna.

It's been a while since I got my hands this dirty. Almost four hours in the garage and the bikes still aren't ready to roll.

Wednesday evening and I'm committed to spending an evening in the garage workin' on the bikes

The anniversary weekend is over and it couldn't have been more perfect. Weather, traveling, lodging, food & the company of the world's number one wife!

Before leaving Solvang we decided to drive a route we're hoping to ride in two weeks. According to the bike shop map, it was all paved except for 1/2 mile. I had a feeling otherwise after driving around a 'Road Closed' sign. This video was shot at the most mellow, but scenic stretch. It got a little gnarly at times but it was loads of fun (for me) and very stressful (for Donna).

Donna & I, just after having some Dutch pancakes for breakfast. 5:30pm and we're STILL full.

I was thrilled the clock tower at Wine Valley Inn, where we stayed in Solvang, didn't chime every hour through the night.

At last, time to rest the tired legs. Today was PERFECT! Awesome weather. Great scenery. Bikes worked great. Good food. Best of all was getting to spend the day together.

Started off dinner with a variety of cheese and fruit... followed by the best fish & chips I've had in years.

We're not big beer fans, but we tried a sampler of brews in Buellton. Two tasted like liquid potpourri. Yuck!

Smoochin' in the woods. Hey, it's our anniversary weekend.

The path to the waterfall - never knew there was such thick forested area so close to Ventura County

Took a short drive to Nojoqui Falls to polish off the last bit of daylight Sunday

The home stretch back to Solvang

She performed beautifully today except for a loose chainring bolt. No biggie.

Hmmmm, I think lunch is starting to come back up... Taking a short break in the shade about 30 minutes after lunch.

Roadside panoramic from Sunday's road ride during our anniversary weekend in Solvang

Everything was backward on Sunday... I had roast beef (Donna's usual) and Donna had turkey (my usual). It was a weird day.

Awesome lunch at Panino in Los Olivos.

My wife of four years, pushing through the pain... with a smile at that.

We caught hints of 'fall color' during Sunday's road ride.

Donna, realizing we still have a loooong way to go.

Ahhh Solvang vineyards. What an incredible day for a road ride

Vineyards apparently aren't beautiful enough... they need to be surrounded by flowers

Four hours in the saddle with a 30-minute lunch break half way through

Enjoying the rolling, scenic roads around Solvang

There aren't any roads in Ventura County where you can do this safely (stand in the middle of the road that is).

Spotted this horse enjoying the shade during our road ride around Solvang.

Sunday's roads... perfect, much like the weather, scenery, company and food.

Brrrr, looks like a cold front is coming in on Monday.

Stupid joke and a boring video... If an intro like that doesn't make you want to watch this video, I don't know what will.

Four-year anniversary flowers for Donna. Looking forward to a weekend in Solvang.

30 miles... 90 minutes... bad back ache

THURSDAY FUN IN THE OFFICE

We had an earthquake drill Thursday morning at work. What fun... crawling under my desk! I had a chance to get some cleaning done and took a short nap as well.

Lookin' forward to a hot date tonight after work!

CATASTROPHE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - WATER APPEARS TO BE FALLING FROM THE SKY. METEOROLOGISTS ARE BAFFLED. RESIDENTS ARE IN FULL BLOWN PANIC.

Ok, one last photo of Donna during the company picnic Karaoke contest. She rocked!

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Donna does her best Janis Joplin. Woohoo

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Good thing Donna and I hit the trails this morning... I'm sitting here stuffed after a late lunch at Souplantation.

DONNA WON $150 IN TODAY'S KARAOKE CONTEST AT THE COMPANY PICNIC. YOU GO GIRL!

Got out for an awesome road ride on a beautiful overcast morning with Donna. Drop bars and clouds go great together.

GOT OUT FOR A RIDE AFTER WORK FRIDAY AND IT JUST PLAIN HURT.... I STILL CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY

I love the look of warm tungsten lighting in front of the cool blue sky at dusk. The decaf latte ain't bad either.

A DASH OF DAYLIGHT

Got out of work early enough to enjoy some new goodies with just a dab of daylight.

HOME, WISHING I WAS BACK IN BIG BEAR LAKE

Here's some helmet cam video from our trip to Big Bear Lake this past weekend. Awesome riding! We made it home safely but man what I wouldn't give to be back on the trails tomorrow... not that I don't enjoy sitting at a desk all day.

Our Big-Bear-Lake-farewell breakfast at Teddy Bear Restaurant.

Last night at Northwoods with Donna. Sad to see the long weekend come to an end.

We took a bit of a 'detour' during our Sunday afternoon drive. The Montero survived just fine. I'm still a bit concerned about Donna.

One last look at the mountain and trees around Big Bear Lake. The scenery I'll miss... the weather, not so much.

Sunday was our coldest day on the trail. How we ever survived the freezing temperatures of Bend, Chicago and Utah, I'll never know.

It was a bizarre day on the trail... cycling through a forest burned years ago during a fire, a trail that was constantly moving you up, down, left and right, and fast-moving clouds that were always coming toward us but never reaching us.

Donna headin' toward the clouds we never seemed to be able to reach. Awesome day on the trail today although it was also much shorter than our other rides.

THIS is what happens when you mtn bike one handed while shooting video with the other. I'm proud to say the iPhone never actually hit the ground!

Something to make my sister, the Coca-Cola aficionado, a little jealous - monster Cokes at an Italian restaurant in Big Bear Lake. Turns out no matter what you order, they put it in a CocaCola cup. Sorry Tiff, this place would require a very long drive on your part.

Donna gets her (unfair) share of flowers... I thought some Fall color would be more romantic, so I plucked this guy from a tree for her.

This is the best fall color we've seen since Bend, Oregon. Really it reminds me more of the Wasatch Mtns in Utah, where we lived for two years.

Just another view of smoke from the nearby fire rising over Big Bear Lake. We took a drive around the lake tonight - great scenery other than the smoke.