Quadruple shot 16oz vanilla latte.

This pretty much tells you how the ride is going today. Note the use of the present tense: IS GOING. It is after 5:00, and we're still 15 miles out from camp.

That is partially my fault: I needed the java in order to continue.

We've been riding since about 7:30 this morning and we're going to cover a little over 95 miles by the time we hit camp.

Today's ride -- as noted in a previous dispatch-- covered the Evil Twins, two identically seemingly endless climbs that went about 1,000 feet vertical.

The downhill, my friends, was unbeflippinlievable. I felt like I was flying. Clear, wide shoulders, covering about a million miles (estimation), overlooking Paso Robles and the Pacific. And then, when the adrenaline wore off, I was still facing 50 more miles of riding, most of it next to beautiful coastline.

Gotta get back on that bike. Fifteen more miles to go.