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…
Day 9: Malibu to Newport Beach
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…
Day 8: El Capitan to Leo Carrillo Beach
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…
Day 7: Oceano to El Capitàn State Beach
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…
Day 6: San Simeon to Oceano
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…
Day 5: Big Sur to San Simeon
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…
Day 4: Manresa campground to Big Sur
I think I made a wrong turn right out of the campground gates this morning. It maybe cost me 15 km and possibly views I’ll never know I missed. What I received was 2 hours of common, uneventful rural riding and breakfast at a roadside fruit truck. At least it was quiet. For the first…
Day 3: Half Moon Bay to Manresa State Beach
Much, much better. Spectacular, actually. I started early today, hitting the road at 8:30. I was anxious to get going. 4 hours of stunning and fairly quiet costal riding. Endless views of beaches, wide shoulders, cool breeze scooting me along and not much else. And I really mean not much else. I hadn’t anticipated no…
Day 1.5: Half Moon Bay back to Half Moon Bay
Small bits of metal in all the wrong places. 🤬 I didn’t even make it out of the campground before I got a flat. Without boring you with minute technical details, I lost a small metal bit that connects a shifter to a 3 speed internal gear hub while removing the wheel. This, of course,…
Day 1: SFO to Half Moon Bay
I am not a morning person. So getting up at 4:30 to catch a flight is not my idea of a good time. But I did it today and am now in a tent on a beach just south of San Francisco. The sun is yet to set but I’ve been up since 1:30 AM…
A few days away
I’m not feeling it yet, but in a few short days I’m getting on a plane with one of my bikes headed for San Francisco. From there I’ll be pedalling to Oceanside to spend a week with Karen, my kids, my brothers and sisters in law, niece, nephews and my parents for their COVID delayed…