They were laughing at me, I am sure of it, those crows. Cackling at the cyclist on the steep bit of San Benancio Road, moving so slowly she could not outrun the buzzing horsefly orbiting her head.I chose a distant club ride today to explore some new territory. As we met more cyclists traveling toward us, it was clear that we were taking the more difficult approach. But that was okay, we would climb the hill from both directions.
San Benancio Canyon is Steinbeck country—mostly sprawling ranches, with bits of suburbia on the fringe near the highway. Turkey vultures, lots of quail, and a red-tailed hawk were among my wildlife sightings for the day. From the sun-baked summit, I eyed the cool fog bank hanging over Monterey with envy.Splat! A large insect hit one lens of my sunglasses with enough force to leave, shall we say, residue. [Not because I was moving so fast at the time—the unfortunate victim was.]
All in all, a nice road if you find yourself in that neighborhood, but a bit far off the beaten track to venture for such a short ride (20 miles).
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The coast was downright chilly yesterday. We were in and out of the overcast. Lane, the ride leader, is living in Basking Ridge, so he knows how to pick a route for a hot day. The best bird sightings were the egrets in Elkhorn Slough. The views of the ocean were lovely. I would like to check out the area you were in yesterday, though. In that neck of the woods, I particularly like Lone Tree, which is beautiful in a desolate way, unlike Quien Sabe, which has too many cows.
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