Santa Barbara for a Bastille Day Ride...

if Americans can have French fries, the French can have le Hot Dogs - same

basic ingredients, but a little twist to how it is done

As promised, I did head back up to Santa Barbara for a second consecutive weekend to check out the French Festival, and do a little riding. The French Fest was pretty much as I remember it to have been twenty or more years ago - food and drink, French music, French dancing, French women (francaise), French pirates, French nobility and peasantry (or at least people dressed like them). It was great to see so many people arriving by bike to avoid the traffic and parking mess that always seems to accompany these things. I understand that the festival is logistically difficult to put together each year, and for that reason was not held in 2011. Good to see it is back and hope they can keep it going.

la française - oo, la la

Before hitting the festival though, it was time to ride. We parked at La Cumbre Jr. High, directly across the 101 from Oak Park (site of the Festival), and accessed by a handy pedestrian, or cyclist in our case, bridge. The route I chose was basically along the Coast Bike Route and Obern Trail, up to UCSB, and back. It is a route I have done frequently, but not in the past 10-15 years. Hard to believe it has been so long. That said, other than some new signage and lighting, I don't think anything else has changed. This is a well used route at all times of the year. Sometimes it is a bike lane on road and street, other times it is a separated bike path following along creeks and sloughs, behind houses, skirting fields. It has a very non-urban feel to it.

la Cumbre Junior High School - ride start

rolling along the Obern Trail bike path

Ultimately we came out at Goleta Beach, and made that short, steep punch up to the University. We cruised along the campus bikeways, some old, some new, checked out the architecture, some old, so much new, checked out the views, some old, others new. New buildings always create new viewing sequences, perspectives, and there has been a lot of new building on the campus. It is amazing really, and I can see why UCSB is always highly  ranked. It is interesting to ride the campus bike paths during the summer when they are empty; such a dramatic contrast to when classes are in session. Unfortunately the saying all good things must end proved to be true and it was time to leave; but not before a stop at Carpinteria, where I lived during the school years - those vanilla Foster's Freeze cones are a mandatory part of any trip to the area.

summer empty

summer full

does it shed in hot weather?

typical university beater bike - self-painted, saddle mostly duct tape

the AS bike shop, certainly nicer than when i was there

winding path along the bluff top above Goleta beach

high monkey hangers

gateway, been there a few years now, but was just a little ticket booth when

i attended

well marked bike paths

cruising along Goleta slough

the Obern, one well lit path

these wooden bridges have held up surprisingly well

seaside, Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve - this area below the bluffs is closed during the winter for the sake of the seals, but you can access it by trail this time of year