June 15, 2014
Joe Jordan called me the day before - a celebration of the victory of a small band of people ... leading the rebellion! Fighting the frackers trying to invade San Benito County. Getting the anti-fracking initiative on the ballot for the November election is a first for any county, and it was indeed time to celebrate, and ponder how to beat the oil companies who promised to out-spend our heroes in trying to defeat the measure. I was intrigued, and decided it was an excellent opportunity to get in a quality bike ride and inspire the locals with my carbon-free transporation. I did the math, and it penciled out to 100 miles round trip... OK, that was a bit too far to fit the day's schedule. So my plan was to spend the night at Cabrillo Observatory, where I had work to do the night before anyway, and then drive to Watsonville and turn it into a 77 mile ride.
I made two new friends, coming down Anzar road after climbing out of Aromas. I shared with them some of my mixed nuts - they liked! |
...you lookin' at ME? |
Rider's eye view of the ag roads south of San Juan Bautista. Strong side winds made this stretch interesting. Pondering the ride back, when they'd crank around and become head winds... |
....well, I hoped I wouldn't end up like this poor bloke |
Topping out on Cienega Rd |
The entrance to Indian Canyon used to be a cienega so wet the soldiers of the late 1800's couldn't track the last of the Ohlone into this canyon, where there is a thick forest of giant oaks and 7 waterfalls. Since then, the climate has changed and most of the springs in the area have dried up. |
The last of the tribe still lives here, and they were the founders of this anti-fracking movement |
Talks and strategizing among the group, and a heart-breaking story from a 13 year old girl who came up from LA with her mother about the serious health effects they and neighbors are experiencing living next to an oil well in downtown LA. I shared with her that, on the series "Years of Living Dangerously", data show that there is 10 times more methane leakage from oil wells in the L.A. Basin than admitted by industry. I hope it will be useful to them in getting help.
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Starting back. Once on Cienega Rd, the headwinds were 30mph and pretty relentless. I put my head down and didn't think about more photos. 77 miles, and 3900 ft of climbing (but the wind was tougher than the climbing). Slept well. |
