2 Lefts

We concluded our rest day in Lompoc by watching part of the movie "The Goonies". It's set in the town of Astoria, Oregon, which we cycled through. Unfortunately, the movie was scheduled to finish at 11 pm - way past our usual bedtime - so we turned it off like the responsible people we are. We have resolved to watch the rest of it once we are no longer riding for 6 hours a day and have considerably more free time. Yesterday we rode 69 miles, the longest distance so far on the Pacific Coast leg of the tour. There was a lack of affordable lodging options around Santa Barbara so we blew on through to the town of Carpinteria, which offered a state beach park with hiker/biker discounts. We took only a few breaks and rode strongly, arriving around 6 pm. Not too bad, though the light was fading as we set up our tents. Shortly after we arrived another cyclist pulled up. Natalie is visiting the old missions along the California coast. Then one more cyclist named Ocean joined. We...

So where's the finish? Our current plan is to ride to Poway and my parent's house for a healthy dose of sitting around, seeing my Mom, cleaning up all our veteran camping gear, and enjoying the abundant sunshine. This ride is drawing to a close and I expect we'll only have about six days of pedaling left. This morning we're having a rest in a Motel 6 in Lompoc. Today will be a day off. Let's recap some of the happenings of the last two days. This is my third trip down this section of the California coast but it's been nearly a decade since the last so lots of places seem new while I'll occasionally glimpse landmarks that spark a memory. In Cayucos we stopped at a gas station and deli where an older gentleman gave us extra tickets he had to a fundraiser luncheon across the street at the Veterans Hall. There was also a drawing for cash prizes. I felt I may have had a hot hand but it wasn't really in the plans to stick around any longer so we continued ...

We shared the hiker/biker site in Monterey with a cyclist named Greg who is heading from Oregon to San Diego. We commiserated over the upcoming climbs over breakfast before he pedaled away while we were still packing up. Yesterday we went through Big Sur, a wild stretch of coast with some big hills and great views. Strong tail winds blew us towards the base of the biggest climb where we ran into Greg again. We stopped at the bottom of the hill for some burritos and snacks to fuel our ascent. The food worked and we all made it to the top without much trouble. I don't really remember much else from the day's riding. The past few days have blended together in a mash-up of coastline, hills, beaches, good weather, and tail winds. We stopped at a small cliff-side general store for a couple of beers to enjoy at the campground that evening. We did a longer day of 57 miles to the Lime Kiln State Park and, once again, ran into Greg who had mysteriously not been charged for camping there....

The last few days have been all about friendly faces. We began riding down a sunny stretch of coastal highway when a dark grey fog bank loomed ahead. It felt like we would enter the mist and ride 100 years back in time. More realistically, we rode to a town called Davenport and got pastries and a coffee for my Dad. Next major milestone was riding through Santa Cruz, Aptos, and finally through rolling apple orchards to Watsonville. My childhood friend Mike Haney and his girlfriend Amanda were kind enough to drive down from Mountain View to join us for a Mexican food dinner. They had just taken a weekend away on the northern California coast. They stayed near Gualala in a lodge with Russian architecture - we took photos of it for the blog only a few days prior. We told tales about the trip, and then moved on to Yogurtland to swap more stories over dessert. It was great to see them and especially nice of them to drive to meet our route. With all the socializing we didn't even turn...

Thankfully the rascally raccoons of Olema didn't get quite every bit of food and we still managed to put together a decent breakfast on Friday before our ride into San Francisco. As we approached the city the roads became busier, the neighborhoods more dense, and the turns more frequent. The turns initially made a welcome change from spending 50 miles a day on highway 1 but then grew tiresome. There was much checking of directions as we wound through Marin County and it slowed us down considerably. Thankfully one of our hosts for the weekend, Joven, rode out to meet us as a grocery store and he took the lead towards the Golden Gate bridge. We stopped for some obligatory photos along with 1000 other people. The ride over the bridge was windy but fun. Joven, his wife Katelyn, son Tino, and dog Artie generously put us up for a couple of nights as we had a rest day to give us time to catch up with each other. As a bonus, Blake (whom we stayed with in New York) was also in town. The r...

The last few days have offered incredible riding and scenery. Our route has taken us nearly exclusively on Highway 1. Through this area its two lanes wind and dip, curve and drop, ascend and pitch as we follow a craggy and beautiful coastline. The bushes and trees and brush tend now more to the golden than rich greens - fine with us if it means less rainfall. We've played hopscotch with a group of four riders that we first met at the top of a climb in Oregon. It's been fun to compare notes when we run into each other at the only grocery store in the small, tourist towns that dot the route. Yesterday we took an inland detour into cow country. Sprawling dairy farms spread over hills the color of straw and we pushed up and over repeated climbs back to the water. These roads were very twisty and curvy too. In the late afternoon the shadows began to grow and we rode along Tomales Bay. The bay is a narrow inlet of roughly fifteen miles with quaint houses and cottages tucked into ti...

Yesterday was the longest day of riding since we gained our third member in Centralia, Washington. The day took us up and down the Californian coast. The climbs were never long but some were very steep. We gave our granny gears a good workout along with our legs. We passed bay after beautiful bay. The water was turquoise in places and the large sandy beaches mostly deserted. We saw a whale offshore at a break in a park. Later we stopped in the town of Elk to visit their general store. Mike and I enjoyed ice creams, Mike Sr raised the stakes by getting a Monster energy drink. It's like coffee on steroids. He liked it. After 60 miles we reached our destination: Manchester beach. There is a chain of campgrounds called KOA ("Kampgrounds of America"). They are typically overpriced and a little gimmicky, we have thus far avoided staying at one. However, the nearby state campground was closed and the KOA had special rates for cyclists so we swung in. And we were glad we did. F...