Like most mornings on the tour, it was sunny, clear and cold when we started our ride. We had a bit larger one in store today so we layered up and got an early start. After crossing Corona we arrived at our entry point to the great Santa Ana River Bicycle Trail, which we rode for the next 30 miles, all the way to the coast. This is possibly the most expansive and best developed bike path we've ridden on: smoothly paved the entire way, it is a striped two lane bike road, virtually a bike highway.
The eastern half in particular is attractive, as it follows the course of the river through the colorful hills of the Santa Ana Range. For miles, the river feels like a wildlife preserve, as it is covered with thousands of ducks and wading birds. Egrets, stilts, shovelers, widgeons and any other species were very common. Further west, the river dries out and becomes a concrete channel; but we are grateful to have such an easy path across the wide urban expanse of Anaheim and the other suburbs south of LA.
Grand Avenue, Circle City. Visualize the scene here a century ago, when 100,000 spectators showed up for the first automobile race around the circle in 1913.
We reached the coast in early afternoon, with still about 25 miles to go. There is so much to see along this part of the coast though that there were many reasons to stop to look around. This is all new country for me - prior to this tour I've never been south of LA along the coast - and we really passed through it too fast. I hope we can make it back again some day soon and spend more time exploring it. As it was, we barely made it to our room at Dana Point by nightfall - great for seeing the sunset, but a bit tight for safety, especially as miles of highway shoulder were filling up with folks driving up to watch the sunset themselves.
Abalone Point, north of Laguna Beach. Not long past this headland, the rest of the ride became a bit of a mess as the shoulder filled with cars parked waiting for the sunset.
Dana Point I'm sure would be a colorful spot to stroll around at any season, but it is especially so over the winter holidays. It is aglow under a spectacular display of holiday lights. After enjoying a terrific fish dinner (two great meals in two days - 2016 is starting out very auspiciously!) we enjoyed wandering around under the lights for a bit before crashing for the night.
Dana Point. It is noteworthy how many of the rides on this tour have ended like this, arriving at our destination right at sundown.
