Spring Break 2017

Spring Break! No college antics for us, instead we escaped the cold of Iowa for Southern California. A (way-too-early) drive to the Omaha airport let us fly non-stop to LAX, hop in a rental car and drive up to our friend's at Albabici. Gorgeous weather, but it seemed everywhere we tried to go was stopped by traffic jams! PCH on the way up - stopped. 101 on the way back - stopped.

But eventually we had our bikes stashed in the back of the car and groceries loaded up as we rolled into Malibu. Saturday morning (after watching Strade Bianche on TV) we headed out along some great roads winding up the canyons with views like you see above.

Heather's been busy with mid-term grades and lacking a bit of fitness, but low gears and a nice day can make up for a lot. The Piuma climb is about 5 miles with grades from 5-9% with some fun descents and ridge roads until...

....we got to the infamous Tuna Canyon. This is sort of a legendary descent in these parts and one Larry couldn't remember doing during all the years he rode up here. Now it's one-way to the sea, making it seem strange to be able to use the entire road. You need it on this one though a fair amount of it is more a brake-test than anything else. They say your rims will be scorching hot at the bottom but either we didn't go fast (or slow) enough or (more likely) we just don't use the brakes that much as both of us could easily rest a hand on the rim - it was hot but not too hot to rest your hand.

The fun's kind of done once you hit Pacific Coast Highway with it's high-speed traffic and variable shoulder (from wide enough to ride side-by-side to non-existent) so we took a break for some lunch on the Malibu Pier. From there it was a slog up Malibu Canyon Road and back to our lodging to plan for tomorrow!