California Bike Ride

04.02.2007 - 04.08.2007 0 °F
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Mon, April 2: Day 0
Miles ridden: A few

Today I took the BART to San Francisco and made my way to Dusty's place and to see Lea. I warmed up my legs for the big ride with a casual ten mile ride to the beach and back (without my bags on the back). The wind seemed to be blowing from the South, which was a bad omen.

I always love going to San Fran, and am still thinking about moving there. Maybe I will pull a John Mulligan and live there for a couple of months. Anyway, Dusty, Lea and I went to a free showing of the new James Bond movie, which was hilarious and then to a free Ozo Matli concert, which was okay.

Tues, April 3: Day 1 San Francisco - Pigeon Point
Miles Ridden: 52.36
Time Ridden: 4:02
Avg Speed: 12.98 mph
Max Speed: 38 mph

This morning I had to go to the Vietnamese Embassy to get tourist visas for Erin and I. They were quick to send them back, but my dumb ass wrote down the wrong dates and I had to send them back a week later. Anyway, Lea walked around with me while I ate about four donuts and then I packed up my bike and was off.

My first destination was Pacifica to record some Mexican guitar and rediculous lyrics for Tony's upcoming "So Right Now I Can't Take This" album. Look for that in your local record store soon. As I pulled in to his place, my rear tire was deflating and I had to fix it. Tony was confused when I asked hime to fill up the sink with water to find the hole and was even more confused when I pulled out the rubber drain stop from my bag (it is actually a quite useful item and I never travel without it.) Anyway, I fixed the flat (caused by a damn staple), recorded a bit and the headed south on my bike.

The first part of the ride was a bit hectic. Just south of Pacifica, the road gets narrow to the point where there is no shoulder and winds uphill through forests of eucalyptis trees. Turns out that climbing hills is quite a bit tougher with 30-40 pounds of supplies over the back tire. My concerns about the wind were unjustified as it was, if anything, at my back. After some really nice downhills and views of the coast and rolling green hills, I spotted a lighthouse popping its head over the horizon. I was pretty excited to see it, as I was about spend for day one.

The youth hostel at the Pigeon Point lighthouse was a bit strange, with many families and their kids. They didn't have any beds left, so they let me sleep on the couch in one of the cottages. I met a few cool people who took me to dinner in nearby Pescadero and then I crashed at about 10:00. I was told the next morning that I was snoring away on the cottage couch, while a family was eating dinner and looking at pictures all night.

Wed, April 4: Day 2 Pigeon Point - Monterey
Miles Ridden: 77.47
Time Ridden: 6:17
Avg Speed: 12.33 mph
Max Speed: 39 mph

This day was absolutely rediculous. I spent the morning chugging away to Santa Cruz and found a bike shop where the owner gave me a free water bottle that says "Team Luna Chix". I strapped a big 1.5 liter water bottle to the rack and headed down the coast through Aptos, where I somehow got lost several times. By the time I found the bike path, I was in the middle of strawberry fields, miles away from any town. It was then that I noticed that the big bottle of water had fallen off somewhere around Aptos and my Luna Chix bottle was empty. I found some field workers who were fairly impressed with my Spanish and offered to fill up my small bottle a couple of times.

The weather turned very cold approaching Monterey and I was completely out of energy. I rode along a busy highway and through artichoke fields for what seemed like an eternity and noticed that I was talking to myself quite a bit. After 77 grueling miles, I pulled up to Ted's house in Seaside. Ted is Chris Roemer's uncle and a long time friend. We always have a lot to talk about including computers and scuba diving. I ate at giant meal at Wendy's and a pint of Ben and Jerry's just to try to get enough calories. I decided to take the next day off.

Thurs, April 5: Day 3 Monterey
Miles Ridden: 0

Today I hung out with Ted in the morning and again, ate massive amounts of food. In the Afternoon, I went to the aquarium, which was crowded with little kids who blocked the view of most of the exhibits. I took some city buses back to Seaside and ate a massive dinner including a Carl's Jr. buffalo chicken burger.

Fri, April 6: Day 4 Monterey - Lucia
Miles Ridden: 73.96
Time Ridden: 5:44
Avg Speed: 12.90 mph
Max Speed: 42 mph

Back in the saddle again, I rode around a foggy Monterey Peninsula, by world-class golf courses and multi-million dollar homes. After some beautiful scenery, tough climbs, and jaw dropping downhills I made it past Big Sur and to the town of Lucia where an old hippy from Berkeley told me about when he used to live out of his bike. I pulled into a campsite just south of Lucia and setup my new tent and sleeping bag for the first time. There were no showers, so I took a splash shower from the sink to wash some of the sweat off. After talking to a Dutch couple who were cycling the whole West Coast of the USA, I fell asleep about 9:00.

Sat, April 7: Day 5 Lucia - Morro Bay
Miles Ridden: 71.52
Time Ridden: 5:30
Avg Speed: 13.00 mph
Max Speed: 39 mph

I woke up this morning to extremely sore muscles and back (thanks to my lack of a sleeping pad) and a soaking wet bike. I ate like it was the end of the world and headed south past two of the toughest climbs (and most fun downhills) on the trip and pulled into a town called Ragged Point for lunch. From that point on, the road was much more flat and straight. There was a really nice wind at my back for awhile; enough to make me go 25 mph on flat ground. That was a nice part of the ride: sailing past San Simeon and Cambria with beaches full of elephant seals beside me.

About ten miles from Morro Bay, my left knee started suddenly hurting. I tried resting, stretching, and walking it off, but I could not shake it and rode, in pain, to Morro Bay State Park. I camped again and talked with a bike riding English couple for awhile, before taking a shower and doing my laundry in town. Some campsite are really nice for bikers, with spots reserved for "hike and bike" that are significantly discounted and usually vacant. That is how I met so many other bike riders. I called Erin from a pay phone and told her about my bum knee and she almost came to pick me up, but I resisted and would try the next day to continue on.

Sun April 8: Day 6 Morro Bay - San Luis Obispo
Miles Ridden: about 15
Time Ridden: about 1.5 hours
Avg Speed: who cares?
Max Speed: ow, my knee

I tried to make it to Lompoc today, but my knee was even worse than the day before. I talked to a few people and found out that there is a train station in San Luis Obispo, so I rode very slowly and painfully to the station and got a ticket all the way back to San Diego.

I am a little disappointed with myself for not resting a day or two and then trying again. I threw in the towel a bit early, but I did not want to injure my knee before my 5 month backpacking trip coming up. Beside, I completed the most scenic and bike-friendly part of the trip and rode almost 300 miles in five days.

In retrospect, I made two major blunders. First, I rode too much with insufficient training. Other bikers I talked to along the way were averaging about 45 miles a day, not 70. I think that is why my knee crapped out. Second, I did not have a sleeping pad and slept on the hard ground. It is not good to wake up as sore from sleeping as riding a bike all day.

Next update in a few weeks from Fiji or New Zealand,
Tom

Lea reminds me to always recycle as I leave on the bike ride from San Francisco