You can see all my pictures from the ride here.

One thing I regret is that I couldn't think of any good way to get at my camera while riding. Those with upright bikes had their camera in a handlebar bag and could take pictures fairly easily. On my recumbent, I kept the camera in a bag on the rack - to get at it I have to stop, get off and dig around. Result - I took very few landscape pictures. For next time I'll try harder to come up with a better way to carry the camera!

Wow, day 7 went by in such a blur! I didn't even get around to making a final entry.. It started out fairly flat from Venture for the first 30 miles or so, but gradually became more and more rolling hills as we approached LA. Thankfully my legs felt better than on day 6, and I arrived in LA with Ryan and Sean just after midday. First things first - a decent coffee (in camp we only got instant..), then we found a grassy patch to sit and sip beers while we watched the remaining riders roll in. The majority came in between 2 and 3 pm, there was a fairly constant crowd of bikes then.

The toughest day so far, feeling very tired and my Achilles tendons were hurting. Beautiful coastline again. Our reception in Santa Barbera at the Paradise Pit was amazing, with ice cream & fresh strawberries and massages - all laid on by the city! Apparently they turn out every year to do this..

The shortest day - only 45 miles. Tougher than I imagined though, it was quite hilly. Red dress day was fun, many great outfits.

95 sunny miles over the hills from Paso Robles to the ocean, along the coast then inland to Santa Maria. Passed the 0.5way point!

Update: I almost missed the halfway point - it was just after the start of a long descent and flew past the volunteer who was flagging us to pull over. Glad I stopped though, it felt good to know that I'd covered so much of the way already. The next 10 miles or so were all downhill on wonderfully smooth roads with good visibility and hardly any cars. 46 mph :)

Disaster strikes.. My tire burst, heat & wear. Thankfully close to a rest stop, so got a lift back to camp. Too bad to miss the last 12 miles. Tire is an odd size, mechanic drove all the way to San Louis Obispo to find one! Thanks Bill!

Update: talking to Bill afterwards, he said it was most likely not heat or wear, but just the incredibly bad roads on that day. I must have hit a sharp edge somewhere that broke the cords inside the tire. Apparently the mechanics had their hands full with all sorts of mechanical problems from the poor roads - anything that was near breaking or could be shaken loose broke or loosened on day 4!!

108 miles through remote & hot farmland - past a cactus farm, that's how dry it was! Now done with both longest & hilliest days! I think this also ended up being my fastest day, with an average of 18 mph. Fairly pleased with that :-) Being relatively quick meant no time queuing in camp for showers, food, washing clothes etc. and also meant lots of time for relaxing & stretching before bedtime.

A foggy farewell to San Francisco. It was quite chilly and grey when I started this morning, only occasional sun while we climbed up to and along Skyline. After reaching the sea we had lunch at San Gregorio state beach, followed by 40 mostly flat miles along the ocean to Santa Cruz.

I'll be posting updates from my mobile every night (if I can get reception!) Given the clunky entry on a phone's keypad the updates may not be that long, but I hope it'll give you a feel for the ride anyway.

I'm taking my camera along, so I can come back later and add some pictures!