Having Diana depart for Whitehorse on an early morning (read 04:00 hr. pick up) flight made it relatively easy for me to have an early departure from S.F. There is something surreal about riding the streets of SF @ 06:00 and not really knowing where you are going!
Day one: Out of SF and headed south. It was a great ride the streets were nearly deserted and the weather was super. I liked the early morning ride so much I inadvertently added on about 30 to 40 extra Km by taking a wrong turn somewhere along the way. By noon I had made it to Half Moon Bay after a screamin downhill coming from the east side of the peninsula. Made it to Santa Cruz that evening and was completly happy to grab the first hotel I saw. In my defense however it was already dark and Diana would have killed me if I had gotten run over on the first day of the trip!
Day Two: After some zigging and zagging through the streets of Santa Cruz I finally made it to the open highway. You know all those fruits & vegetables that say California on them at your local supermarket? Well I think I rode past pretty much all of them on day 2. There were miles of strawberry fields with the requisit migrant workers as well. The route essentially followed Monteray Bay and after going through several small towns ended up going through Monteray itself. The two pictures that follow are the town of Marina. I still don't know what the plant was!
By days end I had made it to Andrew Molera State Park and was happy to set up the tent and crash after ingesting a huge meal!.
Day 3: As cycling days go it doesn't get much better than this. The ride from AM State Park through Big Sur is spectacular to say the least.
A large day took me through some exceptional country and saw me ending up at San Simone State Park just south of an area where elephant seals come ashore. These are large smelly creatures; for sure!
Day four: By now I am tired and sore and thinking that it would be nice to have a rest day. However there is this small issue of having to catch a plane out of Santa Barbara on the mornign of the 7th that means bienig in SB the evening of the 06th. Hmmm what to do? The solution; Amtrack. I take a leisurly ride into Morrow Bay and then figure out how to get to the Amtrack station in San Lois Obisbo. The next day I hope a bus with my Bike Friday stowed in its travel suitcase and make my way to the station. By 18:00 I am in a hotel getting ready to fly to Mexico for two weeks of Yoga retreat followed by what would turn out to be a three week bike ride through north west Mexico. More on that later!!
No comments:
Post a Comment