Day Two

Photos from Day Two: Santa Cruz to King City

This was one of our century (100+ mile) days, from Santa Cruz down through the Salinas Valley to King City. A flat day, passing through beautiful farmland and golden hills. Punctuating the day were the Ugly Mug (free coffee!), the artichoke stand, the skinny dipping bridge, Cookie Lady, and (of course!) the fabulous Ginger Brewlay (pic, left).

Day 2 is the longest day at 107 miles, but is actually one of the easier days on the Ride, because it’s almost entirely flat. Nonetheless it is a challenge, especially with the number of tempting unofficial diversions during the day: free coffee at the Ugly Mug, the fried-artichoke stand, the AIDS memorial chapel at Mission Soledad, and the skinny-dipping bridge. Lots of riders got sagged on Day Two, mostly for missing rest stop closing times.

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Supporters at The Ugly Mug, a coffee shop in Santa Cruz that gives free coffee to riders every year. Considering how bad the coffee is in camp, that's a sweet deal!

Rest Stop 1 - "Celebrities in Rehab".

A celebrity in rehab!

On the road again...

And another view. I like the juxtaposition of the AIDS Lifecycle jacket with the farmland.

We passed through a LOT of agricultural land.

Strawberry fields forever...

...and passed through Moss Landing...

...at the fried artichoke stand, I was running low on time, so I only stopped briefly for a photo with the lovely Ginger Brewlay...

A Gutterbunny at lunchtime. The Gutterbunnies are an AIDS service organization that annually rides wearing bunny ears.

The crowd scene at lunch.

Out on the road...it's difficult to convey the scale of the open lands, but this tries.

Food at the rest stops. At this point, food was very much on my mind.

One rider dressed up as Wonder Woman!

The theme for the water stop.

Ever seen a bunch of bears in tutus? You have now!

The inside of the water stop - the chapel at Mission Soledad. Every year they put a cloth on the altar for writers to write their AIDS dedications on. The cloth is used as an altarcloth for their next service.