Racing the clouds

Day 27, Stage 20 - Santa Maria to Santa Barbara 65 miles in 5hrs 5mins
Total distance - 1,556 miles
Now up until last month I'd have considered a 65 mile, 5hr ride including over 3,000ft of climbing with a fully-laden bike as a monster day in the saddle. Today, it was just a short and easy day ... well fairly easy.

I was surprised to wake even before my 7.15 alarm and despite yesterday's exertions I felt ok, not great by any means but the 70+ miles day that I thought lay ahead didn't seem as terrifying as they could have. I had plugged various routes into the gps last night in an effort to find the quickest and had settled on the one that looked the shortest. However, the elevation plot for this one was a bit unnerving showing a 2,000ft climb followed by a 1,300ft descent in the first 12 miles. That didn't seem right to me from what I'd seen of the terrain when I'd arrived into Santa Maria and the guy I chatted to in the Starbucks first thing this morning confirmed there was no climb anywhere near that size nearby. Just another on the endless list of gps turd lies I assumed.

So, I set off in the sun under blue skies with no sign of the rain that was forecast for today. My head was down, not mentally but this was going to be a day of just pedalling to get here, not about the sights/photos/food or anything else. It was a bit of a grind out of Santa Maria and, after a while I looked back and saw an ominous darkness on the horizon upwind. The weather front had started it's chase. Seeing it spurred me on faster, but I'm thinking in terms of hours not dash across the car park quick. After a bite to eat at Los Alomos (nope, not that one, but i'll be there at the end of May) I rejoined the freeway to a sign showing 57 miles to Santa B. 8 miles later I was directed off the main road which was 'no bikes' onto a back road. And to my joy, the sign a mile later made it 35 miles to Santa B. The 'back road' was 13 miles shorter than the main road. I didn't try to understand, I was just thankful. So I continued along this route for another 20 or so miles through very pleasant, but-not-worth-photographing scenery.

Then, with just over 15 miles to go and at 800ft the realization began to dawn on me what the gps had been getting at. The elevation profile was in reverse and I was staring a 1,300ft climb in the face. Enter my old friend Tourettes again, though this time there was an air of excitement in my expletives, particularly because I knew that a 2000ft descent lay beyond the peak which I reached some 30 mins and 4 miles later to find today's pic - the best piece of road graffiti I think I've ever seen on my bike.

The descent down was an epic 35 mph 9 mile roller coaster through frighteningly gusty winds on which I only had the one very hairy unplanned off road excursion before cruising into Santa Barbara for the night.

Looking forward to a long but flat day tomorrow on the final leg into LA, and for that matter my very last stint on the pacific coast :(

I am, a Centurian

Day 26, Stage 19 - Big Sur (just north of Gorda) to Santa Maria
113 miles in 10 hrs 5 mins (incl 1 food stop and one wheel rebuild)
Total Distance - 1,490 miles
So, if you hadn't guessed from today's mileage, I'm going for the big push into LA in three not four days.

The morning started early - it always does when camping - to the strangely engaging combination of the calls of birds and elephant seals rousing me at 6.30, easily in time to see the sun's rays emerge from behind the Big Sur mountains and announce the start of another beautiful blue-skied day.

I was feeling good and, as much as the Treebones Resort is expensive, I'd have to say it's worth it. There's a certain air of tranquility about the place that I really needed after too many days clocking up the miles.

After a waffle fest breakfast I finally got on the road at 8.30 and very soon passed a mileage sign. 271 miles to Los Angeles. In three days...can I? Hang on, that's 90+ a day. No, don't think about the big picture, Fraser. I had to repeat to myself. Let's just see how I'm going by midday.

For the first few miles the rolling coastal roads were mine, no really they were as it wasn't until after 5 miles in that the first car passed me. By then I had started on the curves and climbs that the guy at Treebones had kindly told me about. Namely the climbs! But those early climbs were a spectacular way to start the day and got my engine turning nicely - considerably better than my ipod which decided to go on some bizarre skip and pause fest. Still, I didn't really care on a day like this and I soon reached the end of the climbs and took a moment to look back on from where I'd come (see pic).

Following on from the calls this morning, today's marine mammal of choice was very definitely elephant seals as after 25 miles I rounded a corner to see thousands of these gigantic blubbery sausages sunning themselves on the beach. They really are quite weird creatures.

By then it was 11.05, and I knew that if I was going to have any chance of making it to LA by Saturday then I'd have to get some serious miles in. And I did just that. 15.6 miles in the next hour, my best of the trip, followed 15.7 in the next hour. So before I knew it it was 1.15 and I was in Morro Bay eating lunch with 57 miles chalked up. LA in 3 was back on.

But as I climbed out of Morro I heard the a distinctive twang from my rear wheel. It was a spoke giving up. Not disastrous, but the second twang 8 miles later got me more worried. Still, as long as they aren't nearby and on the same side of the wheel I should be ok til at least the end of the day. But they were, so 5 miles later twang number three - same side and adjacent - meant I was in very urgent need of a bike shop. I soon managed to track down Wally's in San Luis Obispo who were great and replaced the casualties there and then. Still, it'll need another full rebuild in LA.

I set off on the final stint down to Guadalupe, which seemed strangely to be getting further away on the GPS. I knew then that today was going to be the day for my first 100. I didn't get there without incident though as at about 95 miles in a little insect got caught up in the vents of my helmet. After half a mile or so of feeling it still crawling around my hair and with it having failed to free itself I decided to give it a poke of encouragement. However, it poked back, and some. Yup, it was a wasp and I was suddenly growing an extra forehead. So, wasps can sting more than once can they? Err, not once they've been caught in a non-existent gap between the California soil and a shimano cycling shoe they can't. Harsh, but.

The mileage finally ticked to a hundred a few miles outside Guadalupe and I felt surprisingly much more proud about it than I thought I would so paused by the side of the non-descript road to take a moment to reflect on the cycling moments in my life, and to take a fair few pics.

So I cruised into Guadalupe, my stop for the night. Or so I thought, but I cruised right through and there wasn't a motel or B&B to be seen anywhere. And to make it worse, my phone was dead so I couldn't search for anywhere. Oh, oh cr@p, was my thoughts. There's nothing down the road for 20 miles. But, hang on, I don't need to go down, I can go across 8 miles to Santa Maria, and to make it better the breeze will be right at my back. I set off, fast and got faster, perhaps with no small bit of anger in my legs, I covered those flat 8 miles in 20 mins - which 100+ miles and almost 10 hours in was a fitting high on which to end this very, very long day.

Big Sur = Big Fun

Day 25, Stage 18 - Monterey to, eh, somewhere in Big Sur 81 miles in ~ 8hrs (incl about 50 pic stops)
Total Distance 1,377 miles
This is what it's meant to be like! An awesome day. Stunning scenery, clear blue skies, ideal temperature, tailwind, feeling good, and with a spectacular campsite to finish. More like this, yes please.

I awoke early from dreams of bagels (and I mean entire packs, not just one or two) feeling refreshed after yesterday's short day and quickly set off in the direction of my first must see place for the day - the cinnamon bakery. Having stocked up there I set out along the coastal path through Pacific Grove towards the detour that is the 17 mile drive. Now the guidebook I have didn't seem overly impressed by this part of the world so my hopes weren't that high. But I thought I'd try none-the-less.

The guidebook is wrong. It was stunning. Now I'm definitely not one for flowers (as I'm sure any of my ex's will testify) but the carpet of pink blooms along the first mile or so of the path were quite beautiful. Then came the pristine golf courses sculpted through the dunes with picture postcards beach backdrops (gents, I have definitely found the location for our next Mhesa golf outing). Just when I thought it couldn't get better, as I was spinning along the road a vulture decided to join me and cruised along beside me for 200yrds, almost in touching distance. Special.

My main reason for taking this 17 mile detour was that I was particularly keen and excited to see the Pebble Beach golf course, albeit not quite as excited as it must have looked to the line of cars stuck behind me as I cycled past the entrance, cause at that very moment, the drinking tube came off my Camelbak. I rapidly ended up very wet but to those following me it must have looked like I'd lost control of myself.

I then passed through Carmel where I'd hoped to get some breakfast but it seemed the emphasis in that part of the world is Tiffany and Villroy & Bosch stores rather than french toast and pancakes. Still, I had my cinnamon treats to keep me going. So, I rejoined Highway 1 after a 70 mile absence and turned south towards Big Sur.

Having heard so many good things about the San Fran to LA stage of Highway 1, I had so far been largely disappointed so was really hoping that this 'jewel in the crown' of the route would deliver. And boy does it. Cliffs, mountains, beaches and blue skies mixed together in a beautiful collage to produce headland after stunning headland (I lost count of how many there were when I stopped to take today's pic). And lost count of how many times I stopped to take some snaps. And to make it even better, the cycling was relatively flat given the harshness of the terrain (only relatively, though). However, I did get the fastest descent of the trip, a 2.5 mile +40mph swooping stint where I caused some confusion to the driver of the SUV I was politely harassing all the way down and where I clocked my fastest speed of the trip so far - which I'm not putting here cause my mother reads this.

To add to my marine mammal filled day of yesterday I also caught a glimpse of two distinctive sprays of breath from the ocean - porpoises, dolphins, whales, who knows, but after all the looking I've been doing over the past weeks for some sign of something big in the water it was a cheer to finally see it.

So, I finally arrived in the expensive but great little Treebones Resort where I'm paying more for a simple campsite than I did for my motel in Coos Bay. But the view, easily, easily worth it.

The only slight dampener on the day was the guy in reception saying it's the next 12 miles that are by far the most 'curvy' - and not just laterally. Which brings me onto my dilemma. I'm kind of in no-mans-land in terms of getting to L.A. being either three a-bit-too-long or four a-bit-too-short days out. I guess I'll just see how I feel tomorrow but if I can get a +90 day on the clock then three is a definite possibility.

A beautiful day to get lost

Day 24, Stage 18 - Santa Cruz to Monterey
50 miles in 4hrs 25mins (incl many, many minutes watching the sealife)
Total distance - 1,296 miles
Now, to clarify, I was never really lost. The sea was somewhere a few miles or so to my right(ish), Highway 1 was somewhere a few miles to my left(ish) and the sun was in the general place in the sky I thought it should be. But other than that, yup, not a damn clue where I was, asides from when I ended up in someone's front garden. And that was the story for most of today.

Things hadn't exactly started well. I awoke, after a bad night's sleep due to a combination of noise from the car park outside but more so from the air con being up at +80F to dry my washing for today. And when I awoke it was 9.45am. Oops! Guess I did need my rest. I wasn't exactly able to rush out the door as I first had to replace a couple of spokes that broke yesterday late into the day. Therefore, it wasn't til 11.15 that I finally rolled out of Santa Cruz, hopefully never to return. Getting out the town wasn't easy though as Highway 1 appears to be off-limits to bikes around here so I had to take to following the random 'bike route' signs out of (more like all around) town. Unlike in Washington and particularly Oregon, there doesn't really appear much thought or structure has been put into the Pacific Coast bike route here in California. Some of the 'diversions' are comical, and on dreadful road surfaces and several junctions are totally devoid of direction signs. I kind of get the feeling that it's really all just about keeping the bikes away from the main roads so the traffic keeps flowing rather than planning a good route for bikes. Anyway, I digress. Well, I quickly became, how do I put it, not lost just temporarily unaware of my exact location. This temporary situation continued off and mostly on for the next 25 miles which took me through vast water-sprayed fields of strawberries, the aroma from which was quite superb.

Not being allowed on the main road meant no sign of the food stops I'd been hoping for so it was with no small element of desperation that I pulled off the road at Moss Landing in the hope of finding sustenance. And I was soon delighted I had done, not cause I found food other than the cranberry muffin in my pack, but because I found this sight in the pic of a pier farcically overflowing with sealions. And to add to the sight, there was also at least three of what are my favourite animals, otters, lazily swimming around the bay feasting on whatever they could dredge up. There's actually one of them in the pic in the water a couple of metres beyond the pier near the middle of the shot. I was happy. I stood in the sun watching them for quite some time but, at 1.45, with only 28 miles on the clock, I knew I had to move on. So I reluctantly saddled up and started out through the now endless fields of artichokes, some of them complete with pictures of Miss Artichoke Festival 1947, none other than a certain Norma Jeane Mortenson. Around 35 miles in a great 2-lane cycle path appeared in what seemed the middle of nowhere and I happily shot along it for the next 15 miles successfully avoiding taking out any of the many squirrels and lizards dashing across the path. Then, into Monterey where the path went down to the blue sandy beach and around the harbour. The sun was out, I was hungry, and when I saw the seals sunning themselves on the rocks in the harbour I succumbed to the charm of this town and decided to call an early end to the day.

Looking forward to tomorrow it'll take me along the famous (apparently) 17 Mile Drive including past Pebble Beach Golf Course before disappearing into the depths of Big Sur county where, based on what Mark Beamont said on his round the world trip, I think I'm highly unlikely to get a mobile signal so could be signing off on the blog for a couple of days.

How did I get here?

Day 23, Stage 16 - San Francisco to Santa Cruz 81 miles in 7hrs 40mins (incl. 1 food, BK stop)
Total distance 1,247 miles
You know that feeling you get when driving along and you can't remember the past mile or two? (Or is that just me?) Well that's exactly what the last 50 miles of today were like. Probably the most unremarkable stretch of coastline. The one stand out sight, and a seriously impressive one at that, was these incredibly unstable looking cliffs somewhere along the coast.

At least my destination for today, Santa Cruz, is memorable. Namely cause it's just so bad it's an absolute must see (maybe I should have listened to you, Sara). Though, I've got to be honest, it's so bad I actually kind of like it.

The first 30 miles out of San Fran were also more memorable. I had contemplated staying on for an extra day but my legs were getting twitchy to get spinning again and when the pneumatic drill started out in the street early this morning I was pleased I was moving on. It was a late start though as I had to replace my rear tyre which was worn to the thread after a mere 1500 or so miles. And the city didn't let me out easily though as every corner I turned seemed to unveil yet another frighteningly steep climb and, as a result, I'd done some 2,000ft of climbing before I'd reached the 20 mile mark at midday. 25 miles in and I passed the site of the legendary Mavericks big wave at Half Moon Bay. Alas, it wasn't breaking - all was quiet - much like the next 50 miles.

Sorry for the short blog but today is the start of a possible six day stint in the saddle so need my rest tonight.

Go to jail. Go directly to jail.

Day 22 - Tourist day
Just back from a hugely impressive tour round this little 'Rock' in the bay. Fabulous place to visit although the seriousness of the setting was comically reduced by the noises coming from the colony of nesting snowy egrets on the island. Beautiful looking birds but definitely worth a google to hear their calls - got to be up there as one of the most ludicrous animal noises going.

Bowl you can eat

Day 21 - Rest Day
And as you can see I found the perfect meal - chilli served in a loaf of bread. Awesome.

...and that's just for starters

A Golden day

Day 20, Stage 15 - Jenner to San Francisco
85 miles in 7hrs 50mins (incl. only 1 food stop but an obscene amount of adrenaline)
Total Distance - 1,165 miles
This was it, the day of the final push into San Francisco.

I set off at 8.25am assuming I had some 80 miles to go but was quickly cheered up by the first, and come to think of it, only mileage sign 2 miles in saying it was 72 miles to the city. The sky was blue, the wind was with me and I didn't feel as god awful as I had the past 3 mornings. I was almost feeling good about the day ahead. Now, I'd assumed, that this close to a major city that towns (read cafes) would be relatively plentiful so hadn't paid too much attention to the map in terms of planning food stops along the way. There was nothing at the first town of Bodega which I breezed through after 13 joyous wind-assisted miles along the Sonama Beach Park. So I continued on and the road then headed inland for a cafeless 20 miles through beautiful lush dairy fields stopping only to eat the blueberry muffin (and paper case) that had been stuffed in the bottom of my Camelbak for three days. I was making great progress despite my growing hunger and when I met the ocean again the wind almost picked me up and carried me the 10 miles along the coast into Point Reyes where I finally refuelled properly(ish) on a slice of pizza. It was midday and I had 44 miles on the clock - by far my best by that time. This was followed by a slowish 7 miles up a gentle climb as I attempted to digest the dough, after which a short fast descent took me out of the woods and back into the tailwind. As I looked down the road I was a bit surprised to see a couple of road bikes zooming along a couple of hundred yards ahead. I couldn't figure where they'd come from but these guys looked serious and they weren't hanging about. But, to my complete astonishment, without really trying I was gaining on them, 18mph, 20, 24mph, I just kept going faster, but still not trying, and when I glided past them on my fully-laden 70lb battlecruiser of a bike the look of incredulity from them was so priceless you would not believe. Now to be fair, they did put in a sprint to get back past me after a couple of miles, but only all of 30 yards ahead. And they chatted away to me in a perfectly civilised manner when they passed, but their pride was so obviously hurt it was cruelly comical. However, after 8 miles of this the road then went up sharply at Stinson Beach and I was, not unsurprisingly, dropped. Still, I'd had my moment of glory and boy had it been fun.

Now when I say the road went up, I really mean it. In all the 1,200 miles I've done, the unexpected 1,500ft climbing in miles 60-68 today were the hardest by far. But as I stood, an hour and some later, gasping for breath at the top of the final climb before the road wound down into the city suburbs, the stereotypically brash but wholly welcome yells of encouragement from the group in a passing SUV lifted me from my happy tiredness. I was almost there. Or so I thought. It turned out that the mileage sign I'd seen was to the edge of the city, my destination lay some 11 miles beyond that. It could easily have been notably more as the GPS then tried remarkably hard to get me lost on several occasions over the next few miles as I tried to find the Golden Gate Bridge. Finding it actually proved considerably harder than I'd thought it would be finding something that size but after taking to navigating by the sun I realised I was on the right track. The adrenaline was surging now though and I even caught and passed another pretty serious looking roadie on the final 200ft climb up to The Bridge. Relative to the previous two guys, he actually took it remarkably well.

I savoured the ride across in the sun for all it was worth in near delirious laughter making me all but forget about the howling crosswind trying to make go swimming. Then into the city where I had my first taste of the famous hills this city is built on. Much, much steeper than they look. At one point I thought the gps was trying to finish me off by sending me down something nearer a cliff face than a road. The taxi drivers were chuckling at my obvious novice performance. I survived though and am off out on a pub crawl tonight to celebrate so will see if I've actually got any liver left or if I've metabolised it away in the past 3 weeks - it's the first thing to go, apparently. That combined with the fact I'm shattered, dehydrated, I haven't been drinking much beer at all and am probably around 10kgs or so lighter than at the start of the month means I reckon I might last 2 beers if I'm lucky.

Still, it's a rest day tomorrow and I think I deserve a beer.

The First Millenium

Day 19, Stage 14 - Mendocino to Jenner
88 miles in a gruelling 9hrs 40 mins (incl. 2 long food stops and a puncture)
Total Distance 1,080 miles
I need a vacation!

Woke up this morning truly exhausted, or so I thought, but in truth it was nothing compared with this evening. Thankfully a tailwind was already blowing, and if the forecast was to believed (a very, very big assumption for this trip) then it was going to be right behind me for the whole day. As I set off, I was 165 miles from San Fran and determined to leave myself less than 90 miles for tomorrow, but given how I was feeling I knew it would be a struggle. And so it proved as the winding, undulating coastal road combined with slow service for brunch meant I'd only done 17 miles by the time I left said cafe at 11.40am, 2hrs 20mins after I'd set out. Easily my slowest start of the whole trip with the only cycling bright spot (among the innumerable scenic ones) being the odometer ticking over to show four figures for the first time - 1000 miles done, only another 4,400ish to go, yikes.

As the road improved I sped up over the next 30 miles but was still struggling both mentally and my fuel levels. So I stopped in Gualala for fajitas and to fix another rear wheel puncture. Solid food still isn't really go down well and this meal was no different but I hoped I had managed enough to get me at least to bulk of the remaining 40 miles to Jenner.

Now, after almost three weeks on the bike I hadn't seen a single other fellow Pacific Coast tourer. Then as I left Gualala, I spotted a couple of fully laden bikes. Chatting to them over the next wind assisted super fast 15 miles it turned out they'd set out a couple of days ahead of me from Seattle and were on their way to San Fran. They also mentioned that, coincidentally, they'd met another Scottish guy a few hundred miles up the road who was heading south, and probably a day ahead. Bit of a coincidence, I thought, but not as much of a coincidence as when I stopped 10 miles later in a tiny grocery shop near Stillwater campsite and said Scottish guy walks into the said store. Small world!

It was after 5pm by then and I still had 15 miles to go if I was to make it to Jenner. I also knew that the last 10 miles consisted of a climb up and along the cliffs that the lady in the store described as 'awful'. As if that wasn't bad enough, the two guys had re caught and passed me telling me to take it easy cause I was looking very tired. So, at the start of the climb at Fort Ross I did the sensible thing - ate half a rice krispie cake, and pressed on. 'Summit fever' had well and truly taken hold :) So, as the shadows lengthened and the air cooled I pedalled very slowly up. And was I pleased I had. Stunning views in the evening sun down the coast (and the several hundred feet cliffs below). A very tentative descent down then took me into the fantastic River's End cabins/restaurant Jenner - definitely the best meal and lodgings of the trip. I had made it.

The final push into San Fran tomorrow, and at least two days much-needed rest. Can't wait.

P.s. - Phone signal

Forgot to say, I'm still stuck unable to make outgoing calls texts.
Hopefully that'll change at San Fran.

Sent from my iPhone