Pacific Coast Part I

This will have to be a multi-part post because we saw just too much to put into one post!

I'm still in LA (100+ today in the valley, can't wait to get back to Minny).

DAY 1

My aunt Barbie and cousin Jeff drove Joe and I up to San Francisco. Long trip, those two are troopers for driving there and back in the same day! We got to Fisherman's Wharf and spent some time tooling around, had some ice cream at Ghiradelli's (see photo below).

Our rule was ice cream EVERYDAY of the trip. We never failed to achieve that goal!

Then Joe and I started getting our bikes ready to make the ride from San Fran north to the campground in Marin Headlands. But before we even got going, Joe and I each had a flat tire!! Luckily, those were 2 of the 3 flats we had the entire trip (and the other was a really slow leak). Mechanically speaking, the trip was incredibly smooth.

After that ominous beginning, we started north to cross the Golden Gate Bridge to get to our campsite at Marin Headlands. The weather was clear and gorgeous (not typical San Fran weather), so we took our time, taking tons of photos.

Look at that skyline... and those legs!

Alcatraz... and a purse-snatcher????

That night we got to the campsite sort of late, and since no one was there to check us in, we set our tent up in the wrong spot and had to move it at about 10pm when the park ranger came around! And since by then the marine layer had settled in and it was in the 50s, it was not the best start to our trip! Luckily, the rest of the trip was really smooth!

DAY 2

We woke up and biked BACK across the Golden Gate Bridge and began making our way south along the coast, first through San Francisco, and then the suburbs to the south.

Mark Twain once said, the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Fran

About halfway through our trip for the day we came upon a stretch called the Devil's Slide, which is part of Highway 1 that is very steep, has no shoulder, is VERY busy with semis, and prone to landslides. It was definitely the most nerve-wracking part of the trip as we were slowly climbing this long pass with semis screaming by at times inches from us. But we passed through the fire and eventually made it to the other side, where the beautiful Half Moon Bay State Beach was waiting for us. Had some great pizza and ice cream and watched a beautiful sunset.

DAY 3

We woke up that next morning to COLD again. But the marine layer soon lifted and pleasantly never returned! For the rest of the trip we had perfect weather, never too hot or cold, and always sunny. We found out later that the rest of inland California was suffering through a major heat wave due to the nice weather we had along the coast. Worked out well for us!

That day we had a longer ride (60+ miles) to New Brighton Beach south of Santa Cruz. There were some hills and a lot of beautiful coastal scenery that day, and the wind picked up and blew us up over some pretty major hills and made for a nice day of riding. Once we got to Santa Cruz, however, the directions got murky and we lost our way a couple of times, so we were a little cranky by the time we reached camp. But we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset and some Sierra Nevada beer!

Day 4

This day we road south through the strawberry and avocado fields along the coast and into Monterey. The first part of the trip was gorgeous through rolling fields and interesting watching migrant workers do the tough but obviously communal work of picking our nation's fruit and vegetables. Very fascinating and eye-opening. The last part of the trip was kind of boring along highways but we were treated to a night at a motel (as opposed to campground. read: SHOWER!!!!)

Along the way we picked some illicit strawberries, delicious!!!

Me riding through strawberry fields south of Santa Cruz

That afternoon, since it was a shorter ride, I decided to take an extra ride around Monterey and see the sights while Joe rested at the motel. I toured through Cannery Row, and then onto the 17-mile road that goes by Pebble Beach and along the coast. I was following the directions in the book, but I read them wrong and my leisurely 19 mile planned route turned into a grueling 30 mile death march (Joe's phrase) through some major hills around Pebble Beach. It was gorgeous and quite worth it, just more than I had bargained for! In total, 72 miles on the day, by far the most I had ever ridden in one day!

Cannery Row, not quite as Steinbeck would remember it

That night we went down to Fisherman's Wharf and had the most overpriced and disgusting seafood I've ever had. It's a tourist trap, avoid it all costs! Well, take a photo of it and then move on. But that night we celebrated our ride with a bottle of Fat Tire (which should be sold in Minneapolis by the time I get home!!)

The harbor in Monterey at sunset

That's all for now, Days 5, 6 and 7 to follow!

California Dreamin'

Am I completely nuts?? Who decides that for their longest vacation in over 2 years they're going to fly to California and spend the whole time on a bike? I'm sure there are quite a few others like that out there, but they're crazy. I must be too.

I'm leaving on Tuesday for the great state of California to bike the coast with my uncle Joe. Joe's a great guy, pastor at a church in Valencia, CA. We're starting just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and biking to just north of Santa Barbara. We're biking 6 days in total, and camping 5 nights. We're living it up in Monterey, however, we're staying in luxurious 2-star accommodations!

Side note, typing "accommodations" with 2 pairs of repeating letters reminded me of Cartalk's weekly puzzler. Which word has 3 pairs of consecutive letters that are all in a row. For example, 2 pairs of repeated consecutive letters would be "commiTTEE". If not for the "i" then it would be 3 pairs in a row. There is one word that I know of, and I remember reading about that riddle in an Encyclopedia Brown book back in the day. Remember those books? I was totally into them, heck, I wanted to BE Encyclopedia Brown. And Alex P Keaton. And Frank Hardy (not Joe Hardy however) Man was I dork. In any case, if you know that word, email Cartalk, or better yet, post it on my comments. If no one gets it I'll post the answer in a couple days.

I was the coolest kid in elementary school.

Back to the biking trip. So I'm riding my newish bike, a Surly Crosscheck. It's a locally made bike that is perfect for commuting and touring. My friend Tom and I put it together (really, he did all the work, but I supplied the Surly beer - while both companies are local, they are not related that I know of. Surly bikes is in the south metro, Surly beer is in the north). Here are some photos from the bike building experience. I don't have a finished photo, but I'll have some photos of it from California I'm sure.

Me with the pieces in Tom's basement

It's starting to look like a bike! Thanks Tom!

Hopefully I will be uploading photos and blogging about my trip occasionally from Cali. Big Sur here I come!!

This will be me in a couple days!!!!