Last night I slept without the fly on my tent. It was cloudy, so no stars, but the breeze and open air was divine. The ride this morning was through neighborhoods in Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente. Communities built into the hills on the shore. 30 seconds downhill, 3 minutes uphill over and… Read More

Beaches, beaches, beaches all day long. Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, El Segundo, Redondo, Long, Seal, Sunset, Huntington, Newport. Almost 100 out of 135 kms were right on the beach. Like right on it. About 30 minutes into the day I stopped at a chichi plaza in Malibu for a breakfast burrito at Lily’s. It was… Read More

That was the best sleep I’ve had on this trip. I have mixed results sleeping in tents, but I think the warmth and the sound of the waves did me in. Google maps was doing backflips to keep me off parts on the 101. I mean, it’s not amazing riding on the side of a… Read More

It was a grind of a ride with a happy ending today. If you want to kill a mini-adventure vibe, call the government. That’s how I started my day. Trying to sort out my plan to get to Oceanside based on campground spacing and availability. Turns out some of the campgrounds in and around LA… Read More

And suddenly everything is different. All the drama and scenery (which I missed) from the last few days gave way to rolling grassy hills with little beach towns here and there. I rode a breezy 90 or so km today. Flat by comparison the preceding days. Through Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo and finally Pismo… Read More

Willful ignorance can be useful. As can friends and loved ones who withhold unpleasant information. To any of you who know this route and did not point out yesterday that the real cliffs were in front of me, my heartfelt thanks. Truly. Behold the elevation chart below. The climb and cliff I mentioned yesterday is… Read More