1303 miles. Rockaway, OR to Redondo, CA. I did it. I'm done.

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Putting the map away, I know my way from here.

So long 101. This should be the last time I see you from a bike.

So long 101. This should be the last time I see you from a bike.
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A month ago I left rockaway, or. Today I will finish the ride. 75 miles left that is supposed to have a head wind the whole way. Vamanos amigos.

Day 24 – Lompoc to Ventura (88 miles /1228 total)

If today were not the second to last day of my ride I would say today sucked. But it is not, so I won’t say that.

I rode 88 miles today. There I was at the 68 mile mark, proud of myself that I had ridden so far away; I had ridden further than I had planned. (At the start of the day my thought was to try to get to the 60 mile mark as I had a 1,200 ft mountain to climb.) I was even at the gates of the state park.  But, as luck would have it I could not get it out of my head that Ventura was only 20 miles away. I know Ventura. Ventura is comfortable. I had drank in the brewery there a couple of times, body surfed in the ocean, visited clients there. So I decided to take Mark’s advice that he has handed me on a few occasions and drank some Gatorade and decided to keep going.

This was a tough call, mentally I was frustrated. Up until today I had ignored drivers and not reacted to their aggressions (i.e. swerving into my lane, letting their dogs bark at me, yelling whatever it is they yell, etc.). But today the camel’s back broke and I yelled back at a lady some unbloggable words after she made a comment to me about how I looked with everything attached to my bike. I should not have yelled, I have everything to loose and my only protection is a millimeter of sweat soaked spandex. Riding frustrated was not good. I needed to be focused.

Further, unlike running or swimming you can not bike until exhaustion as you always have to have something in the reserve tank to focus on the cars, trucks, trains, baby strollers, shredded tires, oil slicks and everything else in your way.

But, as I said, I rode on. I dropped to my lower handle bars, took off my sunglasses and rode. I told myself I was in a solo bike race. I reminded myself of Ice-T who always says that the mind has the power to control all.

By now, instead of talking to myself, I was yelling. Cars with open windows stared, patrol cars slowed down ready to make a move, little kids moved closer to their mom, smoking men took a deep drag, homeless men pushing carts filled with their life looked but kept pushing,  as a crazy, dirty, bearded man rode as hard as he could with everything he needed to not only live but also to be mobile strapped to his bike.

I’ll post the list of towns I passed and pictures tomorrow.

I got my third flat today and, as a safety measure, pulled into bob’s bikes in Goleta for a new tire and wheel tape. (They were awesome and helped me right away.) When I pulled in I must have looked a little ragged as they asked me if I wanted to clean up in their bathroom. I took them up on their offer.

Everyone, it seems, wants to know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve stopped stopping in areas with people as someone always seems to walk up to me.

I wonder, how tomorrow, my last day, will feel. Will I think about all the crazy memories, the rain, the people I’ve met? Whatever.

A special thank you goes out to Jason and Kelly who drove out of their way to take me out to dinner last night. They also came up with today’s trivia. It felt good to eat with two other people instead of asking for a table for one (I ask for a table so I can read the paper I usually bring with me).

Trivia:
Mark’s answer was completely wrong but because he was the only to answer, he wins. Congratulations Mark, this blog is for you.

Today’s trivia:
Lompoc is the city of _____ and _____ .

God, I’m tired. My legs are filled with lactic acid, my hand can’t even squeeze the plastic ketchup bottle, my knees feel good only when they are straight, my upper back muscles have a sharp pain that I only describe as a lot of bee stings all at once. I can’t wait to be home. 75 more miles. Redondo Beach, or bust, literally.

sellers

Commence riding.

Day 23 Pismo Beach to Lompoc (46 miles / 1140 total)

23 days and only one pair of underwear (ok, two pairs).

Today I had the good fortunate to be accompanied by groupie sisters, Christine and Kathryn. It made the ride go by very fast having the two of them (dressed exactly the same) trailing me patiently as I went at my slow pace. It cracked me up that even though they were both in the car on the way up they still had plenty to talk about.

It was weird having them leave after 30 miles though. At first I was riding with people and all the sudden I was alone again in the middle of nowhere.

The motel I’m at reminds me of the motel the main character stays at on the first night on his adventure in Box of Moonlight (one of my favorite movies). There is a campground in the area but it looks to be five miles off route and, in my mind that is too far.

The cool part of today was seeing a baby rattlesnake  as I took a water break. (Babies are more dangerous than their parents as they don’t know when to stop injecting venom.) I was worried that no one would believe me so I got as close as I could without freaking out and took a picture.

While riding on Harris Grade Road the Lompoc the Air Force Base launched some huge missile or plane that moved very fast. It was pretty cool. Not sure if I’m allowed to write any more as it may have been top secret.

Trivia: Why where Chile Relleno’s first created?

I’ve decided that struggle is good. It builds muscle, develops the mind, and builds confidence. Struggle that is insignificant is simply frustration. Struggle that is too grand is failure. But failure can be replaced by success. (For some reason I thought about that as I lied in my tent the other night. When you can’t sleep and you’re camping you are forced to think a lot.

That’s about as deep as this blog is going to get.

My girlfriend gave me an id bracelet similar to the one’s dogs where. This is actually pretty cool as I used to write my name and parents number in permanent pen when I would go swimming in the ocean alone training for triathlons. I think it stays on permanently as I can’t figure out how to get it off – I suppose I can now relate to prisoners on probation. Hope it doesn’t set off metal detectors at the airport.

Time to go. Tonight is a rare night as I actually have dinner plans. Kelly C. and Jason K., regular contributors and/or readers, are stopping by.

Day 23 Pismo Beach to Lompoc (46 miles 1140 total)

sellers

Day 22 – Morro Bay to Pismo Beach (30 miles / 1094 total)

So day 22 was a short day. I’m meeting up with my girlfriend and her sister for day 23 and to make it work I stopped in Pismo Beach where I’m joined by tons of motorcycles ( a distant cousin to the bicycle).

Unfortunately, I got a flat tire about 15 miles into the ride in front of fireman’s house. He was nice and brought out some water to refill my water bottles. I’m a little worried about my rear tire. It looks like it has 220 miles (the distance to home) left in it. I’ll find out.

The flat was the second, and hopefully last. I don’t mind fixing a flat but the fear of getting multiple flats or that there is something wrong with the wheel always bothers me.

I forget his name but I was talking with someone in front of 7-11 and he offered to let me crash at his house tonight, which it turns out, is actually his sisters house. I declined but he was a nice guy. This is about the third time someone has offered their place which I always appreciate but politely decline.

No trivia today or pictures today.

sellers

On the road again.

Day 21 – Lucia to Morro Bay (70 miles / 1064 total)

The day started rough but I got a lot accomplished today thanks to a fierce tailwind.

When I woke I went to fill my water bottles that I drank the night before. I was fairly thirsty so it was my first move. So I walk over and read the sign above the water spigot; turns out the water is contaminated and should not be consumed. This is bad, I am real thirsty and the closest water is 10 miles south. I actually debated stealing water from another camp site but decide to give the ten miles a go. I skip the morning jacket and sleeves as I want to avoid sweating. It was a little crazy as I wasn’t even sure anything was going to be open.

So I pedaled and in 10 miles I find a restaurant which is also dealing with the same water problem so they served me crystal geyser from 2.5 gallon containers. I loved not having any ice in my water. The waitress was nice and refilled my glass about five times and offered me tons of coffee even though the menu said refills cost extra. The omelet sucked but I ate it all.

Next on the menu was a 1000 ft climb followed by a 500 ft drop and then a 500 ft climb. Because they were early on and I had just had a large breakfast they weren’t that bad. Then I hit the tail wind of a lifetime – it was awesome. I rode it off and on for around 40 miles.

[Damn, something just crawled down my back. Hope it doesn’t bite. I can’t seem to find it.]

As crazy as this is I’ve actually camped in this campground before. It’s a zoo. There are 144 sites and all are filled up. All types of music is blaring and one site even has a piñata set up. I can’t wait for the festivities. And by “can’t wait” I mean go to bed in a few minutes.

There’s a family next to me in which the mom is camped out in a huge tent with a king size inflatable bed. She has two dogs in there and doesn’t want to leave (my table is right next to there tent).

So, I took apart and cleaned out my stove. It works better but not great. I’ve learned how it operates giving me better temperature control.

But that’s not all I got done, I also stopped by the laundry mat and washed my stained clothes. My towel was so dirty I feared it was just getting me dirty after I showered.

Today I met Patrick who is going to ride around the world and he is almost finished with the U.S. (this was his first country). Nice guy.

I met another guy who’s mom works at one of the Long Beach parks – very cool. I plan on visiting.

A word on the red dot. Often I am out of cell phone range. When this happens the red dot stops and is nothing to be alarmed about.

Towns passed:
Gorda (pop. unknown)
San Simeon (pop. unknown)
Cambria (pop. 6,232)
Harmony (pop. 0)
Cayucos (pop. 2,943)
Morro Bay

Day 19 trivia winners:
Russell S. had the most succinct and correct answer and also was able to use the word “boom” – nice.
Dan had an almost correct answer as well.
Kathy came over the top though with the most complete answer. Good job to everyone.

No trivia today.

Maybe this isn’t what Donavan had in mind but here are his lyrics to Catch the Wind, an appropriate song for the day.

In the chilly hours and minutes,
Of uncertainty, I want to be,
In the warm hold of your loving mind.
To feel you all around me,
And to take your hand, along the sand,
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.
When sundown pales the sky,
I wanna hide a while, behind your smile,
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find.
For me to love you now,
Would be the sweetest thing, 'twould make me sing,
Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind.
When rain has hung the leaves with tears,
I want you near, to kill my fears
To help me to leave all my blues behind.
For standin' in your heart,
Is where I want to be, and I long to be,
Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind.

Day 21 – Lucia to Moro Bay (70 miles 1064 total)

thanks,

sellers

Day 20 – Marina to Lucia (70 miles / 994 total)

Let me start by saying I just ate four hotdogs along with one can of chili. So good. Reminds me of hanging out at the river in Bend with Anthony and going swimming at Grandma Ginny’s house.

I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for 20 days now.

After so many miles I have broke some things that could not hold up to the challenge. Among them:

1. My solar charger is officially dead. It will charge AA batteries great but I need it to charge my Blackberry, which it won’t.
2. My stove. It turns out it needs a serious rebuild which I’m figuring will take me an hour. I’m not going to trash it but I’m tempted. Looks like the canister based stoves are the smart choice.
3. My Blackberry – the charging mechanism is loose. Which is very dangerous, if it breaks I will no longer have a way to charge my phone.

Lately I’ve been interacting with a number of gas station attendants, as gas stations are where I buy my food, supplies, water, etc. The attendants vary greatly but generally show an interest in whatever it is I am doing. Today I met a real nice one in Big Sur. He was crazy but gave me what he described as a magical tour of the river behind the gas station. Real nice guy – he left the gas station shop open while we toured.

Hydration required a great deal of focus today. Two times today the distance between stops was 23 miles. 23 miles in the hilly sun requires a tremendous amount of water. In total I drank around 180 ounces of water.

I’m glad to have the hills over with today. Today had around 2000 ft of elevation gain (in aggregate). I handled it well. Taking breaks has been the key. The shoulder was good enough but not great around Big Sur. The road is all under construction so the cars have to go slow, which is nice.

The camp site I’m at may be the best yet. Kirk Creek Campground is sold out on a Thursday night (hiker/bikers are not turned away). Today I’m joined by a couple from Berkeley. My picnic table has an amazing view of the ocean. The sun should set in a little bit. It will be nice to listen to the ocean instead of Highway 1 as was the case last night.

Before I go any further, I forgot to mention Mike and Jon from yesterday. They could see I was carrying a lot of weight (they were “credit card touring” – going from motel to motel) and not enjoying the head wind so Mike got in front of me to block the wind, while Jon road in the back. Real nice guys from Washington State heading to San Diego.

The homeless accept me as there own and perhaps I am to one degree or another. I met a man who graduated from Berkeley and was now in the aluminum recycling business, as he put it. He was riding a fixed gear bike (I totally get not wanting to bother with adjusting cables) and had been all around the U.S. When I mentioned that I was from Long Beach he was able to recite all the bordering cities and which river path goes out to which city. Impressive, maybe they teach that at Berkeley. Anyhow, he planned on staying in Monterey for a little bit.

Bobby Darin’s album, Song’s from Big Sur (I think that’s what it is called) is my favorite. Not only did he once again change musical genera, he did so amazingly. My personal favorite is the song that includes the phrase “the vacuum of my mind” (I’ll jot it down in another post). Call me crazy but riding through Big Sur clarifies the album a great deal.

Trivia winners from Day 18 had a number of good answers. Among them:
Marjorie J., a previous winner
Lexykins, a previous winner and coworker
Kelly C., one of the original readers and previous winner. 
Coral L. a first time answerer but long time reader. (I met her husband when he told me I was playing left field too far out in a game of softball.)

Today’s trivia:
Why did Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa change it’s roof four times?

Towns passed:
Monterey (pop. 29,674)
Carmel (pop. 4,081)
Carmel Highlands (pop. 900)
Big Sur (pop. 500)
Lucia (pop. 0?)

Day 20 – Marina to Lucia (70 miles 994 total)

thanks for reading,

sellers

I'm back!

Day 19 – Pescadero to Marina (60 miles / 924 total)

Today felt like I road from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere. That doesn’t quite make sense as I passed through Santa Cruz and I’m just outside of Monterey. But neither of those places are familiar which is behind my feeling.

A tail wind carried through Santa Cruz but was quickly replaced with a headwind once I passed through strawberry fields in Moss Landing.

I’m a little upset at the moment. My stove ran out of fuel and it was a pain to find more. It runs of gas or most any fuel but most of the gas nozzles in California seem to be smart enough to not turn on when they are not inside a car which, in turn, leads to the gas station attendant asking me not to do that. To make matters worse I thought I had enough fuel for dinner and had to make a last minute run to Jack in the Box. (Getting back on my bike after I think I’m finished riding sucks.)

Thankfully Walmart had kerosene (thanks Steve).

My back hurts, my wrists hurts, my knees hurt but none of that is new.

Tomorrow is supposed to have a lot of hills.

I’m anxious to get somewhere I’m familiar with. This wont happen until I hit Morro Bay in a couple of days.

The road was nice and safe today. I took side streets most of the way.

I’m staying at an RV park that warrants locking up my bike.

For some reason people don’t seem so friendly near Monterey but maybe I’m not that friendly. As I ride I try to smile and wave but there is usually only a look of question on their face.

So much agriculture in California. Very different from Oregon.

My beard (I think that is what it is now) feels weird.

Funny story from last night.
So, there I am minding my own business, staying horizontal when I hear footsteps outside my tent around 4AM.

Too light to be human. Too many to be a bear. I had seen warning signs for wolves, coyotes, and bobcats (? – that can’t be right) but nothing for raccoons. I’m not too worries at this point but some animals will chew through your tent to get to food (which is where mine is and there is no place to hang my bag).

After a few moments of scrounging around I find my flashlight and get ready for the battle royal; Mono y Mono (hopefully there are not many). I grab my weapon of choice – my shoe. Not sure what I’m going to do with it but I figure I can throw it or knock this animal off of me if it is so bold to attack. So me and my shoe exit the tent to face the beast (at this point my feet now get cold because I have no shoes on).

I can hear it scurry away but can’t seem to find it. Finally I see two eyes reflect back into my flashlight. Whatever it is doesn’t even move, it just stares back. At this point I’m half awake and – true story – almost ask if it speaks English as I figure that this will assure me it is not human or at least not ALF. I chuckle too myself (if Christine where there she would want to know what I was chuckling about) and get ready to throw my shoe. But I don’t throw my shoe as I realize it may get lost or chewed up and I only have one pair. So it seems my only move is to chase it, which I do. Thankfully it runs away but not before I can tell it is a raccoon – they have followed my GPS from Oregon apparently.

With new confidence I walk back to my tent and just to be safe I move all of my bags into my tent even though only one has food in it.

I’m half dreaming, half sleeping when I hear the raccoon. This time it is attacking the my new friends from REI’s tent. Again, I get up and charge the raccoon and again the raccoon retreats but this time with a banana in his mouth. I wake up everyone in the campsite and warn them about the danger among us and they all get up and put their bags in their tents. Sellers – night watchman for the campground.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t fall back asleep until 6AM. Oh well.

My legs look like the front of your car after driving 60 miles.

Santa Cruz is pretty cool.

I can’t write any more. I’ll acknowledge the trivia winners tomorrow.

Today’s trivia, Bruce Springsteen’s most misunderstood song is _____________.

Towns passed:
Davenport (pop. 200)
Santa Cruz (pop. 54,593)
Aptos (pop. 9,396)
Moss Landing (pop. 300)
Castroville (pop. 6,724)
Marina (pop. 25,101)

Pictures link.

sellers

Day 18 – San Francisco to Pescadero (55 miles / 859 total)

It’s been a good day.

First the big news. For the first time on my trip I have set up my tent without the rain fly. There is no chance of rain and it’s not that cold. I’m excited. I pulled into Costanoa Campgrounds where you “discover the pace of nature” a few hours ago and things are working out.

As I write this the sun has set beyond the line of eucalyptus trees but has a ways to go before it succumbs to the ocean below.

I was warned about Costanoa. “It’s expensive” per the adventure cycling maps but it was my only choice. It is by no means the best campground – in fact, it may be on listed towards the bottom of the list. But it is warm, I have internet (saves me about an hour of trying to find a place to upload these posts) and am in the company of other cyclists. $27/night

The other cyclists
Turns out those guys you see at REI do go out and go on adventures. I’m sharing a primitive campsite with three guys from the Berkeley REI store, which I spent a bunch of time at yesterday. They even recognized my tent, the classic REI Half Dome (the original). They are also heading down to Southern California.

The day started rough though. I left my folks house headed over to BART and took it over to SF. From which point I proceeded to get lost trying to find Highway 1. I found Highway 1 and accompanying head wind after about 20 minutes (I wonder what people think when they see the red dot move back and forth over the same street).

But it was hard to leave the Bay Area this morning. I felt like I was climbing out of the safety net heading back up to the tight rope where I was trying to walk to the other side. Early in the day I wondered whether I had made the right choice.

My knees are doing much better. My hands and wrists are sore but nothing to worry about. I won’t discuss what my toes look like.

Between Pacifica and Montara Highway 1 has no business trying to let cars and bikes share the same road. The road is steep, has tons of cars and a four inch shoulder. It was the worst road yet. Half Moon Bay and beyond has been the opposite, huge shoulders, nice wind, rolling hills that keep it interesting, few cars, and great vistas.

The waves down here are amazing. They seem to peak and pick a direction giving the surfer time to enjoy the ride.

Dried out vegetation is slowly replacing lush green along the road. Truth be told, I missed the brown. Brown means dry, brown means warm, brown means Southern California.

A horse seems to be walking around the campground. Signs are everywhere instructing dogs to be on a leash but I guess horses are exempt.

I stopped by old town Pescadero for chips and a coke (aka lunch) and can say with certainty that it is a nice place. Two mini marts, one bar, and two Mexican food places.

Towns passed:
Daly City (pop. 103,621)
Pacifica (pop. 38,390)
Montara (pop. 2,950)
El Granada (pop. 5,724)
Miramar (pop. unknown)
Half Moon Bay (pop. 11,842)
San Gregorio (pop. unknown)
Pescadero (pop. 122)

Trivia:
What was the purpose of the California Missions?

We had a funny post by anonymous that I won’t repeat here and Lexykins is close but alas does not have the correct answer for Day 12 and are still waiting for the correct response.

Time to go take some ibuprofen and get ready for bed.

Picture link:

Day 18 – San Francisco to Pescadero (55 miles 859 total)

Thanks for reading.

Sellers

I'm going to continue riding south, for now.

Here I go again Lyrics
Whitesnake


No, I don't know where I'm going
But, I sure know where I've been
Hanging on the promises
In songs of yesterday
An' I've made up my mind,
I ain't wasting no more time

here i go again, here i go again

Tho' I keep searching for an answer,
I never seem to find what I'm looking for
Oh Lord, I pray
You give me strength to carry on,
'Cos I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams

An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
An' I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time

I'm just another heart in need of rescue,
Waiting on love's sweet charity
An' I'm gonna hold on
For the rest of my days,
'Cos I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams

An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
An' I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time

But, here I go again,
Here I go again,
Here I go again,
Here I go

'Cos I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams

An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
An' I've made up my mind,
I ain't wasting no more time

An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
'Cos I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams

An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,