5-20-10 -- Joshua Tree to HOME

On this, the last day of my trip, I awoke just in time to catch the sunrise peeking over the split rocks on the horizon. I had expected it to get VERY cold up in this high desert, but it stayed relatively comfortable all night. My intention had always been to ride through the park in one day, and as I studied the map in the morning, it looked pretty doable. After reading some of the warnings in the guide, I got pretty concerned about water. I considered riding back to town to pick up a couple of gallons, but decided to press on instead. The goodness of others is surprisingly reliable.

The native plant life here is AMAZING! I couldn’t have picked a better time to visit the desert. All those late-spring rain showers we have been having have sent this desolate corner of the Mojave and Colorado desserts into full bloom! The plants are literally bursting at the seams with growth. I’ve seen Ocotillo trees in the past, but never during their growth periods. Usually these plants looks like a bushel of brown, thorny sticks poking out of the ground. Right now their bark has turned an earthy green, and has literally split as it has swollen with water. The plants foliage actually grows directly out of the main stock of the plant, and then flowers at the tip. Apparently these deciduous trees can grow and lose their leaves as many as 5 times per year! Take a look at these pictures:

Further down the alluvial plain is the Cholla Cactus garden. These attractive, soft looking cacti are beautiful, but NASTY. They carry the nickname ‘jumping cactus’ because of their propensity to attach themselves to unwary passerby’s. The thorns have microscopic rearward facing barbs that puncture the skin – once in, they are nearly impossible to remove. I was a skeptic, so I decided to test the theory. Taking the leather case for my camera, I lightly brushed one of the plants. Sure enough, the case became badly stuck to the plant. It took some time to separate the two without getting my hands stuck as well. Once removed there were STILL prickles stuck in the case. Paula had told me a story of a young girl playing near a plant and falling headlong into a Cholla. It took a hospital visit and many hours to remove all the thorns. This is not a plant to be messed with!

The first 30 miles of the park slipped under my wheels seemingly effortlessly. The cool, dry, morning air was refreshing in my lungs. I started at the northern entrance to the park, and proceeded southward. Unfortunately all downhill riding and interesting features are in the first half of the day. By mile 35 I had dropped to the bottom of a grueling valley which I then had to spend the rest of the afternoon riding out of. The heat became pretty oppressive by about 2pm, and with nothing interesting to look at, I started to feel my enthusiasm drop.

Having come into the park with only 1.5 liters of water, I found myself running empty after only a couple of hours. Luckily all I had to do for a refill was hold my bottle out as cars drove past; I didn’t even have to get off the bike before they pulled right over to fill me up. I think people feel sorry for you when you’re out there baking in the sun, sweating your ass off while they cruise by in air conditioned comfort. Either way – thanks to all those random strangers for keeping me from becoming a skeleton on the side of the road!

It was 4pm by the time I finally made it to the Cottonwood Spring ranger station – still 7 miles from the park exit. I had become overexposed from the severe riding conditions. I was actually shivering, and put on a coat despite the 90+ degree heat. I decided to take a nap and get out of the sun for a while before exiting the park.

The final 7 miles out of the park were a BLAST. Freshly rested from my nap, I FLEW down the steep downgrade to interstate 10. Maintenance crews had just tarred and graveled the road, so staying upright was a challenge, but I was just so thrilled to be going downhill that I didn’t even care! It was an exhilarating finish to my journey.

Unfortunately when the road connected to I-10, I was out of luck (it’s not legal to ride on the interstate). So I grabbed a ride with a friendly trucker who actually took me all the way back to L.A. It had been a long and satisfying last day of my trip. I went back to my sister’s to sleep and get ready to fly home on Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading! If you would like to see all of the pictures from my journey, you can do so here:

Please visit my Flickr photostream here

5-19-10 -- UCLA to Joshua Tree

I’m finally here, deep in the heart of Joshua Tree National Park! The desolation is complete, the silence is deafening, and I couldn’t be more content. The juxtaposition of Big Sur and Joshua Tree is dramatic – I’ve traded fog and water for sand and stone. The desert air feels good in my lungs, and has dried out my wet gear in a matter of minutes. It’s dusk, and I’m perched in my tent, near a ridge line between two sentinels of red sandstone. The ‘Joshua Trees’ lurk quietly about me, their shadowy silhouettes looking like zombies with their arms outstretched. Even with these seemingly upsetting surroundings, the desert has a calming characteristic that puts me completely at ease. I can see why people like to live out here.

Unfortunately I have to open this entry with an admission – I am no longer entirely under my own power on this trip. I pedaled all the way from SF to LA, and I’m happy about that! However due to my knee rapidly decreasing in capacity, I’m going to have to augment my daily riding with public transit and hitchhiking. :-( I’m not thrilled about it, but I think it’s a better choice than injuring myself further on down the road. On the plus side, I can cover and AMAZING amount of ground in a day!

Last night Beth and Margo let me spend a second night at their dorms, which was nice. I had a little time in the morning to research my decision about a destination, and ultimately chose Joshua Tree. From what everyone tells me, Tijuana is a scummy little border town with not much to redeem it.

I started my ride at UCLA, cruising through the endless streets of Los Angeles. I saw the rich and famous in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and eventually made my way over to downtown. That trip was barely 15 miles, and my knees were already screaming! I looked up some train routes, and found the Metro Red North which heads out to San Bernadino. If any of you have ever taken Cal-Train in the Bay Area, its almost exactly like that. It made for a great way to get through the outer suburbs of L.A., which are not that fun to cycle in. San Bernadino is nothing to write home about – sort of a dusty, hot, run down bedroom community. I hopped on my bike and beat a hasty retreat out of there, and up the valley. The San Bernadino valley has such intense Eastwardly winds, that it has been FILLED with power generating wind turbines. I’m used to seeing them on my way out to the Central Valley in the Bay Area, but there are WAY more here, and the wind is literally gale force. I barely pedaled all the way from the train until just outside of Palm Springs.

As soon as you escape the valley, the smog dissipates and reveals a series of dramatic desert mountains that ring the whole of L.A. Just out of Palm Springs I threw my thumb out, and almost instantly got picked up by a couple of rushed guys in a huge red semi tractor (with no trailer). They hurriedly threw my gear in the cab and dragged me up the four steps into the passenger seats. I’ve never ridden in an 18 wheeler, and I have to say – the view is damn nice! The guys were cool – a couple of hefty Hispanic dudes. Apparently they were new to the trucking business and had just picked up this rig about two weeks before. The driver spent most of the ride complaining about the CHP and how they had cited him for some “connector hose,” and had made him drive all the way back to L.A. to get a new one. Oh well.

The truck guys dropped me at the corner of HWY 10 and HWY 62, which heads out to Joshua Tree. I rode for about 100 yards before wincing with pain. I put up my thumb again, and had a ride in less than 5 minutes. A delightful woman named Paula picked me up in her Tacoma 4x4, and it turned out to be one of the nicest thumb-rides I’ve ever had! She had been down in Palm Springs tending to some newly born puppies, and was on her way back to Yucca Valley when she saw me. I got the usual line “Usually I don’t pick people up, but you’re a bicyclist, and I figured ‘what’s the worst that can happen.’” Everybody loves the bicyclists! :-) We got to talking about dessert life, UFO sightings, and all the other fun things that happen out here. She was nice enough to take me WAY past her house, and all the way up to the entrance to the National Park! WOW! It certainly made my day, and I will go out of my way to pay it forward in the future. Thanks Paula!

I rode about 5 miles into the park, and here I am; typing the day’s adventure under a sliver of a moon, in the stillness of the desert.

5-18-10 -- Day off in LA with my sis

After yesterday’s ride I slept REALLY well. My sister Bethany and her lovely roommate Margo were nice enough to make room for me in their tiny UCLA dorm room. I found space to put my panniers under the bed, and shoehorned the bike into a corner. My sister has a super cool and VERY comfortable fold out futon bed. The girls claim that anyone who sits on it will fall under its spell and be fast asleep within minutes (even if you are trying to study). It proved to be very true.

I slept clean through until 9am before waking to find the girls all dressed and ready to go to class. I jumped out of bed and winced with pain – I guess the breakneck pace I’ve been setting is beginning to take its toll. My knees are almost out of commission! Last night on the way in I stopped briefly in Malibu to pick up a knee brace for my right leg, but apparently it didn’t help all that much. I decided to take the day off here in LA, as the weather has turned pretty unpleasant. I need some recuperation time.

I had a chuckle this morning when Beth, Margo and I were trying to figure out if we should bring an umbrella for the day. We all checked the weather on our various laptops and cell phones. Margo reported mostly sunny skies, my Google weather showed partly cloudy. We all trotted off downstairs without a second thought. Unfortunately we were so fixated on the computers that we forgot to look out the window and see that it was indeed pouring! Haha. Sometimes technology gets away with us…….

Bethany and Margo LOVE to eat! They take delight in running me around all of their favorite Westwood eateries. We started last night with the dorm’s cafeteria food, which Beth claims to be sick and tired of. I on the other hand found it to be DELIGHTFUL! It’s like a cheap version of Fresh Choice, every night, and only 15 steps from your room. Oh, and yes…. It’s all you can eat. This is the life. We later went to the new on-campus gelato and sorbet shop and had a very yummy white-chocolate and raspberry sorbet desert. Tonight we left campus for our evening feast. The girls introduced me to “BJ’s Restaurant,” which specializes in deep dish pizza and ‘Pizookies.’ The latter is a scrumptious, perfectly under-baked cookie, left in its individual cooking pan, and topped with vanilla ice cream. We ordered two for the three of us and found it to be PLENTY – to the tune of about 2500 calories. It’s a good thing we have a 25 minute uphill walk back to the dorms!

I spent the day working out the intricacies of the Los Angeles public transit system, which is actually quite modern and efficient. It puts SF MUNI to shame, with a fleet of modern busses and an entire series of ‘rapid express’ lines. I managed to blast over to Kaiser to pick up a proper knee brace and some better allergy medicine. I didn’t even get lost! :-)

Tomorrow I think I’ll hit the road again, but I’m torn as to my destination. I want to finish my trip to the Mexico border, as it gives a sense of completion to the trip. On the other hand, Tijuana and the whole border area is pretty undesirable. I was thinking that I might instead head east from LA, out into the desert to Joshua Tree. What do you all think?

5-17-10 -- Santa Barbara to UCLA

Camping in freeway rest stops is usually a recipe for bad sleep, and this was certainly no exception! Last night I set up my tent in a darkened corner of the picnic area where I would be unobtrusive. After browsing the web for an hour or so I heard a rock whizz by and hit the bbq next to my tent. I let it go assuming it might just be a fluke. Three peaceful minutes went by before another stone buzzed by the tent, and hit my bike. Now I was PISSED. I turned on my headlamp, ripped open the front of the tent and flew out onto the grass. I was wearing boxers and a ratty t-shirt. With my hair pointing in all directions from sleep, and eyes as red as the devil, I towered over the little fucker. He was a younger boy, perhaps 9 or 10 – looking fairly sheepish by now. I was furious, and beyond setting a good example. “DON’T FUCKING THROW ROCKS AT PEOPLE!” The little bastard looked like he might have pissed his pants. His parents quickly rushed over and apologized before ushering the kid off to their SUV for what was sure to be a more severe reprimand.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of my rough night. I should have enough stealth-camping experience by now to know better than to pitch a tent on a beautiful lawn that is mysteriously growing in a dessert. Right about 1am the sprinklers came on full blast. Sometimes you can just sleep through it, as the tent is pretty waterproof. Unfortunately this time the sprinkler heads were the low-spraying variety and went right under the rain guards, directly into the tent. I shot out of my sleeping bag and managed to cover the sprinkler head with my plastic coffee mug. Problem solved – back to soggy bed.

The ride today has been pretty dismal. I got on the road at 7:30am, and was greeted by blistering cold and a nice sprinkle. Boo….I’ve made it as far as Caprentria so far. Santa Barbara was cold and overcast. The white sand beaches and pier were completely abandoned. I’m having a late (11:45am) breakfast before heading off again. I hope this weather turns around. I’m shooting for my sister’s house near UCLA by tonight. I’ll let you know if I make it.

Here are pictures of what the residents of Carpentria claim to be the largest Wardholme Torrey Pine IN THE WORLD:

I circled my bike so you can get an idea of just how big it is.




11:00pm: Made it to UCLA at about 7pm. It was a grueling day! 127 mile ride….. rain, cold, wet, but HERE. I’m too pooped to write. Check in again tomorrow.

5-16-10 -- San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara

After I finished writing last night, my buddy Noelle Cirisan was nice enough to drive down from Paso Robles to have dinner in SLO. When she found out I was planning on camping out in the county park that evening, she quickly ushered me to her car and took me home for the evening. I tried to put up a fight, but the promise of a hot shower and a load of laundry proved too much for my weary brain to resist. We drove about half an hour north to Paso to Noe’s Mom’s house. She lives in a sweet, simple suburban neighborhood. It made me smile, because her home feels very much like the one I grew up in in Santa Rosa. I finally got to meet Noe’s mom, Francis, and her new puppy ‘Chewy.’ Both very cute and sweet. :-) I tried to stay up and chat, but 11oclock rolled around and I could feel my eyelids easing shut. I bid my wonderful hostesses good night, and hit the hay.

The next morning we had a nice breakfast – traditional pancakes, bacon and eggs. All the lavish food plus the half-hour drive back to SLO meant for a VERY late start to the day – like noon kind of late. Noelle was nice enough to take me with her on her way to the Sierra Club. She’s been volunteering there EXTENSIVELY, and has become an integral component in their operations. Today she was doing a project with some Cal Poly students concerning the oil spill in the gulf. Hope it went well Noe!

This afternoon I rode through the small town of Guadalupe. It looks like most towns in the Midwest – one street surrounded by old-school single floor retail mom-and-pop shops. The population was entirely Hispanic from what I could see. Being hungry as I usually am, I stopped in the pizzeria to get a slice. As it turns out they only sold whole pies – oh well, at least I could use their bathroom, right? I stepped in the back party room looking for the restroom. The ladies room was well marked, but the men’s was nowhere in sight. There was a small, older Mexican man is standing, waiting for something. He was wearing a HUGE cowboy hat, a worn but clean looking button up shirt, and a comforting smile. He nods to a small hallway in the corner, as if to direct me to my destination. I checked the darkened corner, but there was only what appears to be a bathroom stall door nailed crookedly over the entrance. The older gent comes around the corner, still with the kindly smile and moves the stall door as though it were an accident that it were there. (I have to mention that I was still in that post-exercise drunken haze where everything feels a bit dreamlike.) He smiled again, nodding me through the door before quickly stepping back into the party room. I steped into the darkened bathroom and immediately fell through the floor up to my waist. I managed to catch myself before completely falling through to the god-only-knows how deep basement. My feet had punched through a thin layer of plasterboard, leaving an eerie blackness below. I pulled myself out of the hole, still in a haze, and started laughing hysterically! The whole thing just tickled me so! Did the man know? Why hadn’t the owner marked this? How zany! I laughed again and walked around the corner to find the man. He was greeting his grandchildren who he was hosting a party for. He knew nothing about the bathroom, and was simply trying to be helpful - he also didn’t speak a word of English.

I had set myself a high mileage target for the day. I wanted to make it from SLO to Santa Barbara, but knew with the noon start that that was probably unlikely. I ended up making it to a beautiful rest stop about 25 miles outside of SB in Gaviota State Park. It was 8:30 by the time I made it that far, and it was getting dark, and VERY cold. I figured it would be best to hunker down here for the night.

Its actually quite pretty here – behind me are huge red rock formations , offset by streaks of green vegetation. If there were a restaurant it would be perfect! I’ll have to make due with peanut butter and bagels tonight I guess. :-)

5-15-10 -- Big Sur to San Luis Obispo

Unfortunately I’m writing today’s entry through the haze of bloodshot, blurry eyes. As soon as I got out of the rocky highlands of Big Sur, and into the grassy coastal plains of San Luis, my allergies went off like CRAZY. I can barely see right at the moment. When I look in the mirror, I look like the spawn of the devil….. haha (red eyes)





I got a late start this morning – the camping spot was just too good, and my fatigue told me to spend a bit more time. When I finally got around to packing, a pod of dolphins came cruising by heading north. There had to be at least 100 of them! I probably wouldn’t have noticed unless I had heard the unusual ‘clap’ noise they make as they dive out of the water. It made me happy – it was one of those experiences that would have been entirely too easy to miss. I got lucky I guess. I hit the road at 10am, but not before battling the steep, rocky fire road to the entrance. It was no easy task with my awkward, heavily loaded bike.

Not even 15 minutes down the road, an energetic bunch of Cal Poly students buzzed up behind me. Most of them were wearing matching green jerseys from the university. I assumed they were training for something, but it turns out they were just out for a fun century ride from Big Sur back to San Luis. It was a mostly nice group of kids – some of them more talkative than others. Perhaps I’m making generalizations, but it seems that the less expensive the bike, the nicer the owner. It works the other way as well – those who ride $5,000 road racing bikes are, for the most part, giant douche-bags. Haha. I had the last laugh. While they huffed and puffed riding their 18 pound race bikes, I managed to keep up with 60 pounds of gear and food in tow. :-) There was one kid who was consistently at the back of the group with me, and we got to chatting. Turns out he’s done some touring up and down the California coast, and even had a brief start on the TransAmerica trail a few years back. Nice guy….. The group had a ‘sag wagon’ following them the entire day giving out Cliff bars and Gatorade, and they were more than happy to throw a few my way.

The riding in Big Sur has been intense. If you’re not going up, you’re going straight down – there is no flat out here! I don’t know how else to describe it except ‘picturesque.’ The fog rolls in and out as you dive inland by a few hundred yards. It gives an ‘other-worldy’ feeling to the whole experience. If there are any computer nerds out there who remember the computer game ‘MYST’ from the early 90’s, it feels a lot like that.

About 40 miles in, I dropped out of the Big Sur rocky bluffs, and out into the grassy plains of SLO. I picked up a NICE tailwind and put down a lot of miles – FAST. By end of day I clocked 95 miles. Somewhere out there is a pullout for migrating Elephant Seals. The beach is COVERED end-to-end with these behemoth beasts. The first thing you notice as you glance down the beach are little bursts of sand flying up into the air. The seals have an interesting method of avoiding sunburn. They struggle their way up onto the beach, and then spend the entire afternoon flinging sand onto their backs with their flippers. I watched with fascination as the process was repeated over and over, thousands of times across the crowded beach. Occasionally you hear a guttural grunt followed by a hoarse-sounding bark. Suddenly two or three of the seals are hollering at each other, necks protruding in front of them in a display of dominance. Usually one of them muddles off to find another spot on the beach, while the victor plunks down with a decided sense of satisfaction. I couldn’t stay for long, as I wanted to continue drafting off the Cal-Poly crew.

I had a brief hamburger stop in Cambria. I’ve always heard about Cambria – specifically from a friend and previous roommate of mine, Emily Taron. She had always spoken so highly of this cute little town, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s very small, but has a lot of charm. Most of downtown is right off the side of hwy 1. It has a cutsy ‘Olde Towne’ feel to it. Most of the local merchants sell knick-knacks and touristy stuff. It was a pleasant hour.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I had intended to stop in Morro Bay, but a call from my friend Noelle in SLO encouraged me to go about 20 extra miles. I got into San Luis Obispo at about 6:30 pm, and am sitting in Barns and Noble surrounded by college students.

I’m happy to be on the road! Look for a new post tomorrow, hopefully from Santa Barbara!

5-14-10 -- Santa Cruz to Big Sur

I feel like a little kid as I write this entry. At the moment I’m hanging in my hammock, very near the edge of a sheer 70 foot cliff of rocks. Its dark out, but there’s still the eerie glow of late twilight. I can hear waves gently crashing on the rocks below. The huge Monterey Cypress I’ve hung my hammock in looks like an outpost, perched on top of an outcropping of rock. I’m thrilled to have found this spot just as the sun was setting this evening.

Today’s ride was challenging to say the least, but I still managed to make it almost 80 miles – from Santa Cruz to the Julie Pfeiffer falls in the heart of Big Sur State Park. The day started off cold once more – frigid is actually a better descriptor.

I hopped on the road by 9am, leaving the very nice New Brighton State Beach campground behind me. Within a few minutes I found myself in the non-descript town of Aptos. At the recommendation of some locals, I decided to grab breakfast at the local diner, simply named ‘restaurant.’ I opened the door and found just what I was looking for; well used, cracked vinal booth seats, 3 hour old hot-pot coffee, and a sweet, motherly, middleaged waitress to make me breakfast. I ate my pancakes eggs and sausage as the waitress cooed over me. She wanted to make sure I had everything I needed, and even went so far as to offer a ride to Monterey (which of course I did not accept! She was sweet, and it put a smile on my face early in the morning.

I headed back out into the cold, overcast morning to continue my ride. Between Santa Cruz and Monterey are some big agricultural grounds. Field after field of strawberries were all I saw for about two hours of riding. We’re right in the middle of harvesting season at the moment, and BOY does it smell good! The aroma of berries wafts over the freeway as the workers hurriedly pack them into boxes. I smugly played ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ on my IPOD and rode on.

Monterey was not as I remember it. In my memory it had been a mist covered retreat for the wealthy. Everything perfectly manicured and attended to. By the time I arrived today it had become so uncomfortably cold that it was all I could do just to keep riding. I even chose to ride up and over the hill on hwy 1 as opposed to riding the more senic route through Carmel by the Sea.

I finally arrived at the entrance to Big Sur at about 3pm. In an instant the sun broke through the clouds, and a glorious park unfolded before me! Big Sur is stunning to say the least. Dramatic cliffs and rocks fall into the sea. The water here seems to be hyper-teal-blue. It looks like you expect the water to look in the Carribrian, or Hawii. I managed to make it about half way through the park – where I have arrived now at the Julia Pferrier falls. I’m exhausted and am heading to bed. Gnite!

5-13-10 -- San Francisco to Santa Cruz

What a brilliant first day of riding! I hopped in the saddle this morning at the northern tip of the Golden Gate bridge. In my mind it would have been a stunning start to the ride – dawn sunlight streaming through the skyscrapers downtown as I silently buzzed across the bay. What I got was fog, cold, and a brutal wind. I don’t know how I got so naive, especially after living in San Francisco for nearly 5 years now. Haha. Oh well…....

It turns out I picked a fun day to start in San Francisco, as today was ‘bike to work day.’ I was greeted by a well-bundled bunch of Kaiser Permanente volunteers running a food station on the north end of the bridge. They really went out of their way – giving away bagels, fruit, sunscreen…. I was impressed. Having not packed breakfast, I was thrilled to find them waiting in the cold for me. The staffers asked the usual question – “Where do you work? How far do you have to ride today?” I was grinning ear-to-ear, five minutes into my ride when I got to reply “Mexico!” The response got me some extra food, sunscreen, and encouragement. What a way to start the day!



I cruised through my usual bike routes in the city – Lincoln to 25th to the park to the Great Highway. I stopped and had a quick bite at one of my favorite little café’s – Java Beach. It wasn’t that I needed anything, it’s just nice to have a little taste of home before leaving on a good journey. I pedaled back out onto the road, and was admiring our newly collapsed-into-the-sea roadway, when I spotted another touring cyclist about ¾ of a mile ahead. For whatever reason, it’s VERY unusual to see adventure cyclists (travelers) in San Francisco. I sped up to catch this atypical rider before he/she got away. At first I thought it was a woman (long blonde hair in dreadlocks), but it turned out to be a guy named Bryan. I rode up to say hey. He turns out to be a 23 year old physical therapist who’s been working in SF for the last 10 months. His work put him on rotation in Santa Cruz, and he figured what better way to get there than ride? I couldn’t agree more. Turns out he’s a professional, clean cut, well kept, intentionally homeless person. He thought it would be fun to camp out in the city instead of getting an apartment – and that’s exactly what he’s been doing for almost a year! I think we intrigued each other with funny and unusual life stories, so we decided to finish the ride to Santa Cruz together. It’s nice to meet another person who is driven but not worried, and is simultaneously mellow and excited.


We rode out of the city, past Devil’s Slide and into Half Moon Bay. Every dramatic vista brought hoots and hollers of excitement from both of us. I feel FREEDOM! There are no walls around me, just the sound of the wind, and the rush of the descent.



So far my new bike setup is working really well! I bought a Fuji CrossComp bike a few weeks back. It’s kind-of a weird setup – a road-race frame with some beefier components to do some mild off-road duty. I put slick tires on it, and some new Ortlieb pannier bags and called it good to go. It turns out the panniers allow me to go WAY faster with much less effort than if I were using my trailer. I can’t carry quite as much, but I’m happy with that compromise.




Bryan and I continued on out of Half Moon Bay, and back out onto hwy 1. The road gets a little more rural at this point – not many resources. Fortunately you trade in houses and gas stations for beautiful teal-blue crescent shaped beaches, lined with craggy old Monterey Cypress trees. It’s a stunning scene around every corner. About half way into our ride we picked up a HUGE tailwind. My idea of a perfect tailwind is when the speed of the bike matches the speed of the breeze. An eerie 25 mph silence falls over you as the scenery continues to whizz by. The wind noise is gone, and all you are left with is the satisfying hiss of bike tires blazing along the pavement. Bryan’s “WHOOT!” of joy behind me confirms what I’m thinking – this is why we’re out here! 



After a brief stop at the rapidly-decaying Pigeon Point lighthouse, we decided to put down some miles – quickly. We rode in the last 40 miles to Santa Cruz with hardly a pee-break. We got into town at about 4pm. It took 7 hours to ride from SF to here – not bad considering how much stuff we were carrying. A quick burrito downtown, and it was time to part ways with my new riding-buddy. Poor Bryan has job interviews and other activities to attend to tomorrow, so he headed off to shower and get settled for the evening. I find myself at a comfortable Starbucks on Pacific Ave. in downtown, contentedly typing up the day’s activities. Tomorrow at this time I’ll be deep in the heart of Big Sur where I’m sure there will be no cell-reception. Look for my next update in a couple days!

Blogabond

The Blogabond userID for this ride is: dlybeck2