While in the process of dreaming about and planning our big trip it is important to look closer to home for travel experiences. Michael and I ride our bicycles for fun and for exercise. It is a great way to spend time together and to meet a lot of very nice people.

We joined the Fresno Cycling Club and have the opportunity to participate in local rides every weekend. As our fitness level has improved, our ride distances have increased. Right after the first of the year Michael got this idea to complete ten century (100 mile) rides (him not me). We found a great website, http://tourofcalifornia.org that lists cycling events all over California and began plotting out our ten rides for the year.

We have had a great year traveling around California participating in cycling events. We have seen places in our state that we had never seen before. We traveled from the far northeast town of Greagle to gorgeous Lake Tahoe to Healdsburg in the California wine country. We made several trips to the beautiful central coast to the towns of Creston, Cayucos and Solvang. We traveled to the agricultural breadbasket that is California’s Central Valley and to the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range at Mammoth Mountain. Each of the rides presents their own type of beauty and challenge. We faced the challenges of climbing, wind and distance. In future posts I will write about some of the most beautiful and unique rides.

As we continue to plan our round-the-world journey over the next ten months, we will look for opportunities to enjoy the beauty and adventure California has to offer.