We celebrated Ann’s birthday by spending two days down in Carmel and Monterey. We love this area and feel it is one of the most beautiful areas in the US and only 45 minutes from our home. We stayed again this year at the Carmel Valley Ranch, which offers a great suite for a somewhat reasonable price on weekdays. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and after checking in we headed out on our single bikes to climb Robinson Canyon, which is just adjacent to the Carmel Valley Ranch.

This picture was at the summit of a long climb. I forgot how steep this canyon is but you can see from this profile.

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We then headed down the backside, an area I have never biked to before. We saw a expansive development over there, looking like large estates, but it was hard to see any buildings. We did see a private lake and a private golf course.

The climb back up the backside is was not as steep. Ann proved she is only 39 years old.

After reaching the summit again, we had a steep descent back down to the Ranch.

We were greeted upon arrival by some friends who were NOT looking forward to Thanksgiving.

For dinner we returned to eat at the Forge in the Forest, in Carmel. It was a wonderful dinner, sitting outside with an outdoor fireplace. After returned back to the Ranch we started the fireplace in our room.The next day we headed over to Monterey and parked the van. On our bikes we headed towards Pebble Beach on the 17 mile drive

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We stopped on the way by the Spanish Bay entrance.

It is beautiful along the 17 mile drive

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At Pebble Beach we bought a sandwich at the market and enjoyed it on the nearby picnic tables.

We then got ready for the ride back along the same route.

It was a fun two days with very nice weather for early November.

Categories: Birthdays
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