June 17, day 45 San Diego to Austin

June 17, day 45 San Diego to Austin

Lucky D's hostel, San Diego

I ride the bike with the bags over to the fedx store and have them
packed and shipped home. The take the bike to a nearby bike shop to
have it boxed, then carry the box over to the ceded store to have it
shipped, than a taxi to the airport.
The bike is only mildly mangled by the bike shop, bending the rear
rack to fit into the box, and losing some fender parts. I figure it
will take about six hours to get it properly back together, after I
order replacement fender parts from velo orange. I won't mention the
extra frame dents, scratches and possible damage to the lights. I am
going to have an extra bike box to ship to my endpoint next time.
Maybe someday I'll have the s&s couplers put into the frame.
After it's all shipped I wander around for a few minutes, then decide
I ought to head for the airport. Snagging a cab I get to the airport
and check in, but the flight leaves from the commuter terminal since
the first leg takes me to LA.
There is only 30 minutes in LA before the Austin flight is to leave,
and we leave late!
Arriving on LA, I quickly zip to the proper gate, and my flight isn't
even listed!
After a little while it turns out that United's computers are down,
and they are not letting flights take off. It turns out that it's not
just their computers in LA, it's nation-wide and their Internet site
too!
After about an hour, they let my flight go, I have no idea why, but I
arrive home only 1/2 hour late!

June 16, day 44 San Ysrdo to San Diego

June 16, day 44 San Ysrdo to San Diego
Starting odo 8136
I get up and start the clothes washing, then we head to Starbucks for
wifi, but eat breakfast first, then after some wifi poaching we go
into the under armour store, where I succumb to a clearance rack
technical tshirt.

See, I made it to the border, it says "Mexico"!

Leaving the motel, we go the 1/4 mile or so to the border and take pictures.

Good Pasta, a very pleasant stop!

Heading back to San Diego we decide to stop for lunch at a little
place that had caught my eye the previous day: K*Pasta. We had a great
lunch with fresh pasta! The setting was very pleasant, and we learned
from Kevin (the owner) they had just opened two weeks ago.

you never know what might buzz up to the beach!

We continue on to the Coronado post office where Shyam was to pick up
some tires he had ordered a few days ago. The tires are not there, and
we spend a bit of time trying to figure out where they might be.
Now it's late, and we ride into San Diego via the ferry since bikes
aren't allowed on the bridge, and get a room at the Lucky D's hostel.
This runs about $72 a night for a two person room. My overall
impression of the place is that it's like going back into the 60's,
which I like!

June 15, day 43 San Elijo State Beach to border

June 15, day 43 San Elijo State Beach to border
Starting odo 8077

Woke up on a bad mood. Somehow the cumulative impressions had
solidified overnight into a thought: in southern California you are
not a "real" person unless you have a car... Or perhaps an expensive
RV.
So, welcome to the world of the homeless! An overstatement, of course,
but this is the vibe from many people here.
I hate to say negative things about southern California because we
keep meeting really nice and wonderful people here - but we also
encounter those little negative vibes... Like riding on a very lightly
trafficked four lane highway where there are no shoulders and the cars
not only don't move to the other lane (which is empty as far as the
eye can see), they don't change their position in the right lane,
pretending we are not here.
This is an example of the homeless principle, which is to pretend you
don't see them and they'll go away.  I fantasize about flipping my
water bottle into the middle of the lane as they go past so that it
hits the windshield, or better, a nice sized rock.
An example of another subtle hint: the hiker biker spots in the
campsite must be vacated by 9am, but if you are a car tenter or RVer I
believe it's about noon.
Another campground we were considering allows RV camping, but you must
get advance permission to tent camp.  We found this out as a resident
of Coronado was trying to help us find a campsite for the night. He
says, oh yeah, the boy scouts camp at this park, so I know you can
tent camp there. He calls the park service and finds out that RVers
can just go there, but tenters must get advance permission.

as far as I could go on the offical route, there are only a couple of hundred yards beyond this point

so, you know, its Mexico across that fence

We get going, winding our way through San Diego, and stop for lunch at a fish place that was recommended, then to the nearby public library, where I make some posts, and keep falling asleep in the comfy chairs.

About 4pm, I'm getting antsy, because I want to finish today, luckily conditions are good, roads are flat, and the wind is not bad.  I start pushing a bit, and by about 7:30 we make it to the end of the route.  I take a couple of pics, and we head back towards San Diego.

After about 5 miles, we are going by a suitable looking motel so we check its rates - $79, too high.  Shyam locates a motel 6 about 6km from us, and we head for it as nightfall hits us.  The 6km feels like 6 miles to me.

June 14, day 42 San Clemente to Cardiff (San Elijo State Beach)

June 14, day 42 San Clemente to Cardiff (San Elijo State Beach)
Starting odo 8035

Got up and did laundry before going to the Pipe shop for breakfast.
They gave us huge plates of scrambled eggs, ham, cheese, peppers,
onions, and potatoes. This is the kind of breakfast we needed when we
were climbing all those hills, but now, and neither of us can finish
them!

frontal area comparison

Pacific Coast Cycles

We set off, winding our way through a maze of bike paths, weird turns,
and Camp Pendelton Marine base until we get to Seaside, where Pacific Coast Cycles snags us. It is a classic shop with stuff everywhere, including
a collection of classic bikes, such as a LeJeune , Masi, and many
others. He even has a Raleigh International of the same vintage as
mine! While we are there some people who are doing the RAAM as a 4-man
team come in.  They are from eastern Europe, and seem more amazed by
what we are doing than we are about what they are doing!  The RAAM
started  from Seaside only a few hours before we got there! There are
several other RAAM rider categories that will start in the next few
days.
We move on to the park we expect to stay at, but there is no hiker
biker area there, so we go an extra 8 miles to the next park.
Shortly after we arrive at the campsite, the two women arrive, and
they are camping there too! I kid them about taking the last places
yesterday

June 13, day 41 Long Beach to San Clemente

June 13, day 41  Long Beach to San Clemente
Starting odo 7987


The motel is next door to an IHOP, so we have breakfast there - they
have the calories listed for each of the menu items. It is amazing how
many calories are in some of the items, 1500-1800 calorie breakfasts!
I cannot imagine normal people needing so much!
Shyam tries to order some tires but the place seems to think there is
some problem with his billing address, so we will stop by a US Bank to
sort it all out.
On the way there, I hit something and get my first flat, a pinch flat.
The rear tire has a few things embedded in it but looks ok otherwise.
As I fix it, a couple of women tourists ride by waving to us.
After the bank, and a grocery stop, we hit the road, electing not to
use the beach bike path as the park we are headed to is a good way
down the road and it's already about one.

Progress is good until we hit the Tesla store where we talk to the
sales lady and take pictures of ourselves sitting in the car!
Finally, we arrive at the state park but thy say the hiker/biker spots
are full after those two girls who came in right before you.  The park
guy says that if they make an exception for us, then the homeless will
take advantage. So we are invited to camp on the highway like all the
rest of the homeless people.

Declining, we move on to a budget inn in San Clemente.
We eat at a Mexican restaurant that has margaritas more expensive than
the food, but I'm pretty sloshed when I finish, glad I only have to
walk across the street!
I don't know what the answer to the homeless situation is, but making
things inhospitable doesn't seem like the enlightened answer.

June 12, day 40 Venice to Long Beach

June 12, day 40 Venice to Long Beach
Starting odo 7945

Breakfast at the 50s diner, where I have a double chocolate shake in
addition to the usual stuff.

June 11, day 39 Ventura to Venice

June 11, day 39 Ventura to Venice
Starting odo 7876

Today it's nice and flat, no wind and overcast, about 60 degrees.
Since, like all people I must complain about something, I wish there
was some blue sky and a little warmth!
I stop at a spudnuts store and consult the map, I need a new taillight
since one of mine broke yesterday, and there should be a bike shop
nearby, but it's not actually near so I decide to go on.
I am wondering what there is to say about southern California. On the
negatives, it's not as pretty as Oregon, it's a dessert, and there are
way too many people. On the positive side, some of those people are
very pretty. Also, the terrain is flatter and the wind is with us.
Others have said that after Santa Barbara, the rest of the ride is not
so nice.
We have long stretches riding on the beach, so I'm hoping that will be
entertaining, even though  I'm sure progress will be slow.
I do like these bushes blooming here - they smell just like marijuana,
and they grow everywhere!
As I'm going thru Malibu I see a small motel, and I wonder it it's
reasonable, but I don't have much hope that it is, so I keep riding.
There are no more places to camp listed on the map, and there don't
seem to be any more motels either, so I turn around to go back.
After a minute or so I see Shyam coming so I turn around and ride with
him. He and Mike are headed for a hostel in Santa Monica.
We eventually end up in a motel in Venice

June 10, day 38 El Capitan Beach State park to Ventura

June 10, day 38 El Capitan Beach State park to Ventura
Starting odo 7810
We get up fairly early and go across the road to the private
campground where there is a little restaurant and we have breakfast
and try to update blogs.

Leaving, we are again riding with the aids riders, but they turn off
after about 7 miles. Then there is a bikepath through UCSB, and for
many miles behind surburban  houses. An interesting element to these
bike paths is that they have solar powered lights all along them!
We finally get to Carpinteria and Shyam decides to camp there, and I
elect to ride further, stopping in a Ventura motel 6.

June 9, day 37 Lompoc to El Capitan Beach State Park

June 9, day 37 Lompoc to El Capitan Beach State Park
Starting odo 7771

This was a short day, but conditions were good.  We went down a 7%
grade for two miles that gave me a new top speed of 48mph.
We camped on the bluff overlooking the beach.  That sounds idyllic
doesn't it?  However, the train tracks about 30 yards away, and the
busy four lane highway about 20 yards behind that take away some of
the charm!

June 8, day 36 Morro Bay to Lompoc

June 8, day 36 Morro Bay to Lompoc
Starting odo 7692

carefully growing grapes!

looking back down the climb

We get up relatively early and try to find breakfast in nearby Baywood
Park and Los Osos,but it takes us a  long time to find a restaurant,
as we seem to have come into an area that is purely residential.
Then its on to San Luis Obispo, which is a very nice looking hip
college town.  On to Pismo Beach,
where we had lunch at Mo's BBQ.
There was a large number of riders going by, and people kept asking us
about it, thinking we were part of it, and it eventually became clear
that the 2500 strong aids ride from SF to LA was going on, and was
taking much the same route that we were.
It was a bit pesky having the extra traffic, and it made me ride
faster than I probably would have, but it was kinda fun.
From there we rode with them to Guadalupe, where they turned off to
Santa Maria, and we went straight on 1, eventually rolling into Lompoc
about dusk.  We got a room at the Motel 6 for the night.

June 7, day 35 San Simeon Village to Morrow Bay

June 7, day 35 San Simeon Village to Morrow Bay
Starting odo 7661

Morro Bay

Morro Bay State Park

Morro Bay State Park

Ryan and Danny are sleeping in, so Shyam and I get our stuff together
and leave, riding into Cambria for breakfast.
Then we set out for Harmony, and the conditions are great, sunny with
a great tailwind. Shortly before Harmony, we meet up with Ryan and
Danny, they have stopped to fix  Danny's rear rack.
From there we ride together to Cayucos and Morro Bay, where Shyam and
I camp for the night.  Morro Bay is quite dramatic, with a huge rock
dominating the bay.

June 6, day 34 Limekiln State Park to San Simeon Village

June 6, day 34 Limekiln State Park to San Simeon Village
Starting odo 7619

camping at Limekiln State Park

pretty, but pesky!

I get up and eat the various bits and pieces I happen to have for
breakfast.  The left over bit of french bread  with the cream cheese,
some butter cookies, a yoghurt, crackers - leftover companions to the
Marin Blue cheese, and some pecans.
The ranger tells me I haven't registered, I say I didn't know  what
the camping fee would be for bikes. Its $10, and I have  to vacate the
camping  spot by 11 because somebody is coming to use it. Since I'm
going to do the walk through at the slide site at dusk, I'll have to
wait the whole day  until starting to ride in the late afternoon.  Its
about an hour's ride to get to the slide site, which is blockaded at
the small town of Gorda.
I pack up the bike and vacate the campsite, which is reserved for that
day, and the Ranger lets me keep it in the kiosk for  the day.  I hike
around for a bit, and then go up to the road to use the chalk and
leave a  message for Shyam.  This does not really work, and consumes
nearly all the chalk!

looking down at Limekiln's beach

Looking around, I see a small trail that leads to a flat spot with a
wonderful view, and is shielded from the wind.  I lay out in the sun,
and its very nice.  When the wind blows, I'm a little cold, when its
still, its nicely warm.
After a while, I see a cyclist go by, and it might be Shyam.  Its a
bit too far for me to see and be sure.  I head back to get my bike and
start out.
Leaving the park about 4, I get to Gorda about 5 and hang out at the
store there, and then eat dinner at the restaurant.  There are no
other cyclists here, so the person I saw was not Shyam. There is wifi
there and I'm answering an email from Shyam, when Shyam walks in!  We
hang around for a while, then at 7:40 the workmen are going home and
we head for the slide area, which is about a mile down the road.

The mountain slid down and covered the road!

Its about to get dark!

We walk our bikes across with no trouble, but its now about 8pm, and
we have to decide what to do - camp here on the side of the road, or
ride into the night until we get to the next park.
I push for continuing, its a nice night, there will be virtually no
traffic, and we have a tailwind.
There are now four of us, me, Shyam, Ryan and Danny, and we push on
into a really nice evening of riding.  Its a magical night for me, as
my legs don't seem tired at all, and the two significant climbs we
have go by without me feeling them.  I plunge down twisty descents that would probably have terrified me during the day! The bike's light setup works great, and nearly every descent results in my gaining a couple of minutes on the others. The surf crashes in the dark,
and there is a faint shine of the moon on the water.  In the 30 miles
we rode, we were passed by 3 cars.
We end up at San Simeon Village at a motel 6 which we split 4 ways, to
a total of about $15 each.

June 5, day 33 Carmel to Limekiln State Park

June 5, day 33 Carmel to Limekiln State Park
Starting odo 7563

mailbox!

Big Sur Views

We leave pretty early and go by a tshirt store and buy some shirts.
Then we go to the post office but the problem is that they are closed
on saturdays and sundays.  A lady walking by starts talking to us, and
eventually offers to mail our packages for us.  I take her up on it
and give her $15 for the postage.  I don't think it was wise, but
somehow I just decided to trust her.  I have three tshirts, a pair of
tights, and some campy shift lever springs in the package. (and she did mail it!)
We leave and start off for Big Sur.  It takes about 2.5 hours to do
the 26 miles. When I get there, I see a little pub, so I decide to
have lunch and a beer.

At this point its about 4, and Shyam decides to camp for the night,
while I decide to ride about 30 miles farther to Limekiln State Park.
That starts with a pretty big climb, and then I'm not really too fast
on the rest, but gradually the road flattens out a bit and I reach
Lucia, where I eat at a little restaurant/store/motel.  After I eat, I
ask them what their rates are for a room. $200, but for you, only
$150, so I head for the state park.
But not before the lady tells me some important information. It turns
out that the slide which blocks the road ahead can be crossed by bikes
if you wait until the workmen leave for the day!  This is great
because the detour would involve an extra 150 miles, and we would miss
riding a lot of coastline, not to mention that it climbs about 2700
feet in the first 7 miles!

June 4, day 32 Seaside to Carmel

June 4, day 32 Seaside to Carmel
Starting odo 7543
It's raining in the morning, so we are a bit unsure what to do.
Eventually we decide to continue on to Monterrey.
We make a bit too many stops, the Costco, bike shop, breakfast - which
takes too long due to a roach - but we do get breakfast free!
Following the route out of town is slow, and Shyam retraces the route
to try to recover a lost glove while I wait. I take that time to make
a little piece of plastic to wind my headphones around so that they
will not get tangled all the time.
As we're about to leave town for Big Sur, I decide to get some coke
and gatoraide as I don't think there will be stores for  the next 25
miles.
Then we notice that its pretty late, and decide to stay in Carmel for
the night.  We select a place, and then ride to it, which turns out to
be very hard as Carmel  has a lot of short steep hills!

interesting bike spotting

We walk to downtown and eat at a modest Chineese place, then walk back
to the motel.

June 3, day 31 Santa Cruze to Seaside

June 3, day 31 Santa Cruze to Seaside
Starting odo 7505
We get up and leave somewhat late and have breakfast with John at a
cool place in Soquel, finally leaving at about 1:30, but still
stopping at a grocery store on the way out of town.

artichoke field

We ride through artichoke fields and huge  strawberry fields as we near
Seaside.  Its about dusk, so we eat at a pizza place and take a motel
next door, as it starts to rain lightly.

June 1, Day 29 SF to Pacifica

June 1, day 29 SF to Pacifica
Starting odo 7409

Shyam at breakfast

We packup and leave the hostel. We go to a nearby coffee house for
breakfast. There is a bowl of cookies and a snippet of an article
about chocolate chip cookies. This gets me started on cookies and I
lookup blue chip cookies. Amazingly they don't have a store in SF, but
I do find another cc cookie store that seems nearby.  We decide to try
for it - but it appears to be about a half mile straight up, so we
abandon the cookie quest!

The hill that ended the cookie expedition

On the way back to the route we stumble upon a bike shop and go in. I
end up buying parts for my racing bike back in Austin. They are tiny
springs that I'm going to mail back.

Leaving SF

We had planned to meet my cousin Sandy at her office in pacifica,
which is just a couple if miles from highway 1, but are running late.
Eventually we are riding south on 1 nearing the turn for her office
when we  see Sandy waving to us  while driving north on 1!  We ride
the rest of the way to her office and put the bikes inside, then drive
to Sandy and David's.
We're treated to a wonderful dinner,and a relaxing soak in their hot
tub with a great view of the bay!

June 2, day 30 Pacifica to Santa Cruze

June 2, day 30 Pacifica to Santa Cruze
Starting odo 7435

The climb out of Pacifica

David drives us back to our bikes, and we get a pretty early start to
the day, which is good because the first obstacle is a rather large
hill, perhaps 700 of elevation gain.

Then we proceed to Half Moon Bay, where we stop to get some lunch.
Its overpriced but pleasant, and we putz around the town a bit before
leaving.
The next stretch of road has many beaches  along it, but not much else
in terms of water and food until you come to Davenport, where there
are a few businesses, one of which was having live music and a party!
We were a bit concerned about getting to Santa Cruz but the road
flattens out and we get a tailwind so progress improves greatly and
we're in Santa Cruz rather quickly.
We get a motel and Shyam calls an old friend, John, and we all go out
to eat and spend the evening talking. He takes to an Italian place
where we meet its proprietor, Luico, who is a very nice and loquacious
guy, and we barely escape to go back to the motel room and sleep!