best buddies / big sur trip

Well, the century went pretty well. The training plan Adamen had set up for me was bulletproof - I give HUGE props to him for motivating me and giving me the right program to make this happen. I finished the ride in just under 8 hours - 7:54:03 to be precise - easily beating my goal of 9-10 hours. I raised just under $1300; overall, riders raised an astonishing $3 million. All of that goes directly to the charity, since the expenses were all underwritten by corporate sponsors. :)

My colleague Michael Green put together an online photo album with some pictures he took during the event. You can see me in a few of them, along with some other people from Accenture who rode and/or volunteered.

While I was riding, Hosanna took Aria to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which they both loved - especially the river otter exhibit. Then they braved the drive down the coast with the hundreds of cyclists. Honestly, I think the cyclists had it easier in some ways.

After a night in San Simeon, during which I slept VERY well :), we drove back up to Big Sur, where we spent two nights at the Riverside Campgrounds & Cabins. We got a small cabin with a kitchenette and had a blissfully relaxing time. Too short though. Here's a sample picture from the vacation. There are many more I'm putting onto Snapfish now, if you'd like to see them just email me and I'll send a link.



Highlights:

- Hanging out in our cabin. We got #11 which has a small kitchen. We spent a lot of time lying on the bed and looking out the skylight at the trees. So relaxing, and so good to have the three of us sharing it together.

- Hike up to Pfeiffer Falls and Valley View trail - beautiful scenery. Aria was enchanted by the trees hollowed out by forest fires. She kept talking about them for the whole rest of the day.

- Hanging out on Pfeiffer State Beach - we built sand castles and marvelled at the views.

- Dinner at Nepenthe - a splendid view of the sun setting over the ocean, plus amazing food. Aria and I had a great bonding experience afterwards as I walked around with her and showed her the grounds.