The final day of riding---
We began the last breakfast of the ride with the absolutely
scrumptious cinnamon custard coffee cake from Carlsbad Danish Bakery. These folks could give the Solvang bakers a
run for their money.
Our friend Sandy joined us for this final ride! Plus, being such an amazing person, she rode
to our starting point and then to work and back home again – for a total ride
of at least 60 miles! She said how impressed she was with us for riding so far,
but I have to say the same to here: we never came close to that length of a
ride on any day in the whole trip!
We biked along the coast past Torrey Pines Stqte Park, with
its beautiful bluffs set against the crashing ocean waves. The first thirty minutes of our ride was in a
light to moderate rain, the only bad weather we’ve had for the whole ride. By the time we reached the park, though, the
clouds were breaking up and we resumed the great biking weather we saw for the
rest of the trip.
In La Jolla we stopped at the Michel Coulon Dessertier for a
mid-ride snack. What a spectacular little
dessert and coffee shop! I had a mocha topped
with freshly whipped organic cream, Dad had a hot chocolate, and we shared a
piece of chocolate hazelnut cake and a chocolate French meringue. So good beyond words.
Sugar-and-caffeine loaded, we rode the remainder of the 30
mile route into Mission San Diego in good time.
Mission San Diego was the first of the Alta California missions, and is
traditionally the beginning of the journey through the mission rather than the
end.
We took our time strolling through the museum, chapel,
buildings and gardens. Again, even
though we’d been through so many mission museums, we still learned new things
at this one that hadn’t been explained at any of the others. Plus, each mission is truly unique, even in
the details that might otherwise seem repetitive, such as the mission bells,
the meditation gardens, or even the work areas where leather tanning or candle
making was done, since each mission was set up differently and had slightly
different ways of doing things or of construction.
One part of this mission I appreciated was that they
explained who the mission was named after and why they were sainted. And it’s a great story: Saint Diego, before
he was sainted, was a friar in the Old World that had miraculous healing powers
which he used upon his parishioners.
However, the big miracle that caused him to earn sainthood was not
achieved until about 100 years after his death, when the king fell terribly
ill. No one could cure him, until the
friars brought in the dead body (still perfectly intact) of Diego, and laid it
in the bed with the king. By morning, he
was miraculously cured and able to get out of the bed he had shared with the
corpse! He petitioned the Church for Diego’s sainthood, which was granted.
By then we were hungry, and made our way to the Old Town San
Diego historic district. We ate at Casa
Guadalajara, where they make their own tortillas fresh daily. It was great!
Plus the servings were huge, even for hungry cyclists.
By then, full and content, we headed for the car, and home.
Today’s route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/3571329
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