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,

Day 17 – Lagunitas to San Francisco (32 miles / 804 total)

The best 32 miles yet.

It was going to be hard to stay focused, if the rain was willing I was going to make it into San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge.

Waking up I could hear the pounding rain. So I waited, had some warm breakfast, adjusted my brakes and waited some more.

I’ve gotten used to the rain, or at least used to the routine of waiting and watching the sky. Finally there was a break in the weather so I slid my leg over my beg as easily as I could and began to head south.

The ride through Marin was different, stores everywhere – three bike shops, tons of other cyclists, grocery stores that were opened all year around. Then I heard someone yelling my name.

Up to this point no one had known who I was. Stalkers? Friends? Even better, my two cousins Alice and Katharine. They had been following the red dot and tracked me down. It was awesome to see them in a car next to me smiling and yelling.

But I still had a few miles to my next stop so I asked if I was going in the right direction – a worry today as I was going through an urban area – I was. I kept my legs moving.

Then I went rogue and left the well marked bike trail for my next stop, my grandmother’s. Thankfully my cousins were waiting outside as I had a little trouble finding the place but they were able to hail me in. Then I had something I hadn’t had in a long time some home cooking. We all sat and ate and got caught up – new jobs, graduations, vehicles. It was great.

As we talked the rain had started again. So again, I waited and again there was a break and again I bolted. It was getting harder and harder to stay focused. For the past three weeks I had ridden wondering if I would make it this far. The Golden Gate Bridge was a few long miles ahead.

After a couple of road detours and some lucky guesses I could now see the bridge. As I road up towards the bridge entrance tourists began nudging their spouse pointing out the crazy guy that was riding with gear strapped to his bike.

Finally, I made it to the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve driven, walked, even road a bike across the bridge before but this was completely different – I had made it to San Francisco from Rockaway, OR. Over 800 miles to get to this bridge.

Towns passed:
Woodacre (pop. 1,393)
Fairfax (pop. 7,319)
San Anselmo (pop. unknown)
Kentfield (pop. unknown)
Larkspur (pop. 12,014)
Corte Madera (pop. 9,100)
Mill Valley (pop. 13,600)
Marin City (pop. unknown)
Sausalito (pop. 7,330)
San Francisco (pop. 776,733)

I’m not sure if I’ll be riding on Tuesday. It depends on what I think about the weather heading south (I have no desire to continue riding in rain) and my knees. TBD next week.

Trivia winners:
I received a number of good answers to yesterday’s trivia question. The correct answer I was looking for was oyster beds.

Virginia S., a first time trivia answerer but long time reader and supporter, had the correct answer.

Graham J. a local from Marin county correctly answered and also has provided strong lodging options to me as I ride.

In addition to providing food and drinks for my trip through Marin Marjorie J. also had the correct answer.

Tobasco, a man who reminds me it’s ok to not shower everyday, had a good guess with Tsunamis trackers.

Happy Kat, a regular contributor also had a good guess with lobster or shrimp nets.

I would also like to make a very special mention of Kelley S., a local tennis pro. She has gotten previous trivia correct but alas I forgot to mention her name.

sellers

IMG00008-20100527-1532.jpg

So amazing. I don't even know what to say.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Time to ride.

Day 16 - Sea Ranch to Lagunitas (92 miles / 772 total)

Wow. I didn’t know I had that in me. I knew my legs would be fresh after a days rest but they really came through yesterday.

When I first left Sea Ranch around 6:30AM it started raining. I stopped and made a deal with myself that if it rained for 10 minutes straight I would go back and wait for a better time. This would have been somewhat demoralizing but it was the smartest move.

But I caught a break, after a few minutes the rain stopped, I clipped in and sped away ... at 10 mph. Fortunately not many cars where driving south on Highway 1 at that time of day. The wind hadn’t started yet so my plan was to put as many miles as I could behind me before the afternoon winds (and possibly rain) came into play.

Things were going well until I passed Fort Ross, at which point I hit a wall of fog. I should have taken a picture of it (you can see a picture by looking at a white piece of paper). I knew I was right on the ocean, and could hear the ocean, but could not see it. Fog is horrible for bike riders so I pulled off and waited. The fog stayed and I was getting antsy so I made another deal with myself, I would ride from turn out to turn out and stop at each one listening for any cars that might be coming. Cars usually drive in bunches so if I waited for a group to pass I might be a little safer. This seemed to work but it took forever.

Finally I made it into Jenner, a nice town that is unsure of how it feels about tourists. This was per the local radio talk show dj that sat down next to me as I drank orange juice, water, and a coffee. He was a nice guy. I asked him how he could talk on the radio for three hours and he mentioned that it was fitting the show into three hours that was the problem. After a half hour it was time to leave.

I should mention that Sonoma and Marin counties have no shoulder on Highway 1. Further, CalTrans does not mow the growing wild life, it is allowed to grow onto the freeway. It is you and the cars in one lane. The cars have a speed limit of 55 mph. I don’t recommend this road for anyone not passing through. That said, the scenery is amazing and cars seemed to understand that they share the road with bicyclists and tend to give you a lot of room. Surprisingly, I’ve found that Cadillacs give you the most room.

Thankfully, I’m off Highway 1 at the moment until I get to Golden Gate Bridge, which is a different story.

After Jenner I hit Bodega Bay, another coastal town that has two surf shops and also claims to have the best clam chowder. Everyone has the best clam chowder it seems.

I believe Oregonians survive on less, or at least, it requires less to survive. In a town of 200 in Oregon you’ll find a couple of markets, gift shops, restaurants that serve a couple generous of food (every restaurant says “family dining” on its store sign).  In California a smaller town may have nothing but a post office and one place to eat or a market.

I passed through Valley Ford and then hit Tomales where I ran into a group of cyclists. This can be both good and bad. The good is that they are nice and very interested in your ride. The bad is that they all have opinions about where you should stay, routes you should take, and if you are carrying too much gear they will let you know. Overall it was nice to run into some other cyclists.

I fear my beard has dandruff – not sure if that is possible or not.

I had planned to stop in Tomales. This would be a place to divide up my miles for the next couple of days. But…. I still had fresh legs and it was supposed to rain hard on Thursday. The next possible place to spend the night was 16 miles away but I felt like I could make it, so I rode on.

At this point my dad’s voice pops in my head and won’t go away, “stay diligent, be careful.” Yes, I know. I am. I remind myself that the sun will be setting soon and my brain is starting to get tired of listening for cars (with some level of certainty I can tell what type of car is coming up based on it’s sound). 

So I pass through Marshall, a very small town and then hit Pt. Reyes Station. Time to reevaluate everything as it was going to be the last place to stop for 10 or so miles. I had no cell reception and the only places to stay where bed and breakfasts places… I rode on.

By this point I am taking a gamble. If I get a flat, have bike problems, or otherwise get delayed I’m not going to make it to Lagunitas by sunset, a dangerous scenario as I don’t have any front lights on my bike.

At 6:45 I make it and find a place to eat where I order a coke, water, a Lagunitas IPA. By 8:30 I’m laying down waiting for sleep to take me away. My knees are more than sore but that is to be expected.

Today’s trivia is in the pictures.

Getting caught up on the trivia results:

Day 15 Trivia winners – Happy Kat, sister of Dream Smasher, representing the west side of Los Angeles had the correct answer of zero counties.

Katharine J. also was quick with the correct answer of zero and went on to drop some knowledge that they have boroughs instead. I did not know that.

Day 14’s trivia was a little harder and had only one correct answer: St. Orres Inn and Restaurant by Happy Kat. Very strong work.

Day 13: Christine D. once again had a correct answer of North Coast Brewing Company. Not to be outdone, Mark D. came in over the top with the same strong answer. Good work to both of you.

Day 12 has proven to be even harder as no correct answers have been received. I’m making this trivia worth two points. Honorable mention goes out to Happy Kat for submitting a good guess.

Towns I passed:
Stewarts Point (pop. unknown)
Fort Ross (pop. unknown)
Jenner (pop. 170)
Bodega Bay (pop. 1,423)
Valley Ford (pop. 126)
Tomales (pop. 210)
Marshall (pop. 50)
Pt. Reyes Station (pop. 818)
Lagunitas (pop. 918)

sellers