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!
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