Day 12, parting ways

I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise in Toland Park, overlooking the small town of Santa Paula.

We packed up quickly, prospects of a hot breakfast and coffee at a local diner.

I picked out Yanni's Charbroil, a drive-through diner in Fillmore with a few cars parked outside. Both Dave and I ordered breakfast burritos - sure beats packaged oatmeal.

Fueled, we started the 20 mile trek to Castaic Junction, where Dave would start heading towards Bakersfield and I would ride to North Hollywood.

The ride was fairly boring, but offered some nice scenery:

These photos are just an excuse to rest our legs.

Earlier, I contacted my friend Brian from college and told him I would arrive between noon and 1pm. However, the moment we arrived at Castaic Junction, I noticed my back tire felt a bit mushy. Sure enough, another flat.

And I was just thinking about rescinding my comments about the Continental Gatorskin tire as well. Nope.

Seemingly perfect timing, we pulled into a strange oasis of motorhomes and swimming pools and set to patch the tire. The first patch didn't hold, so I took took the wheel off again and used one of Dave's patches.

While fixing my tube, we met Mr. Mosley:

With the tube finally holding air, Dave and I pedaled to a burger place to have a farewell beer.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to ride with Dave. The last 500 miles were filled with learning experiences, great conversation and generosity from complete strangers.

Dave, thanks for letting me join you on this adventure.

About five miles after going our separate ways, I got another flat.

I pulled into Brian's place about 5pm.

Only one goal for tomorrow: replace the tire with a Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

Joe.