Danish and coffee

Friday 10th June : Pismo Beach to Lake Cashuma (78m)

Felt knackered all morning not sure why but had craving for coffee and cake so prob not fuelled up properly , no great food options till Lompoc, Starbucks on left, pull in litre of bold blend and some major carb loading ( I could give up anytime I wanted, I choose muffins and coffee, it's not an addiction...... Wonder if you can get patches...) much better after lunch spinning up and down climbs for the next 40 miles.



Great route this pm, came inland through the Santa Ynez Valley ( great scenery, strong tailwind, sunshine) and through a town called Solvang (aka little Denmark ) lots of Danish bakeries, coffee houses, v quaint if maybe a bit Disney. Still impressed by the friendly nature of your average American, several conversations today about the trip , maybe a west coast thing ?( now being met with incredulity by most ) all beginning with a 'where you going/from?' . Also had an invitation to join a family for dinner tonight, felt a bit guilty passing it up. I'd like to think an American travelling the length of the UK would be met with the same warmth and hospitality but I'm not sure (that said there is a special place in hell reserved for the MF who buzzed me in their pick-up this morning with horn blaring) Lake cachuma is pretty spectacular, huge lake surrounded by hills. Another crazy Friday night for yours truly. Is it worrying that I'm beginning to find my tent quite homely ?

Highlight of the day, sunset over the lake, tent up and coffee in hand


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Here comes the sun

9th June :San Simeon to Oceana State Beach (57 m)

Quick departure from motel this morning, had to tear myself away from the complimentary breakfast, muffin count reaching dangerously high levels. Grey start to the day but on a mission to find someone to remove sheared rack bolt. Had been told by Bram yesterday about bike shop in Cambria,


soon found it and spoke go owner , used to work in engineering, built bikes , now runs a shop, couldn't script it better , half an hour later old bolt out, relief. Ride today was mainly along highway 1, tailwind and very sunny. Almost like I woke up in a different country, very similar landscape to southern Spain, low brown scrub hills, pine & eucalyptus trees but with wide American palm lined boulevards. Really feels like 'southern' california, busier roads, pools appearing in back gardens. Pretty easy riding meant arriving at campsite by late afternoon, making a welcome change from last few days. Got stung for 35 dollars for campsite as hiker/biker facility here no longer open( usually 5 bucks) Nice campsite though and not in a forest ! Good to have a drama free day today( found our from bike shop guy that highway 1 has been closed for three months because of the slide!) 1770 miles done btw. :)

Highlight of the day: riding Alongside the ocean, bike sorted, warm sun on road, and a taco for lunch.


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Mission acomplished

8th June Big Sur to San Simeon (66 miles)

Day didn't start too well when checking bike over this am to find the left hand bolt supporting rear rack had sheared so rack now being supported by about 1 mil of steel from beneath. Out with cable ties and fingers crossed. First 35 miles swooping descents and long climbs along Big Sur. Arrived at road block to find big landslide has closed road last 3 weeks. Detour is about 150 miles including 4 hour climb. Think I'll pass. Found out that the road workers knocked off at 8:30 so ( 5 hours away) sat in sunshine, read book and ate a cheeseburger. Plan is to wait till all workers have left and sneak through, hoping that road will be passable, that rack holds together and that batteries last as will be dark, what could possibly go wrong? Suprisingly all went ok. Bit of a challenge cycling Coastal cliff roads in the dark but doable. Only problem left was finding somewhere to sleep, did another 35 miles ( really surreal as road totally deserted,) clear night , tailwind and desire to get to bed meant miles flew by. Hadn't found camping ground by 10:40 so checked into cheap motel, gotta be happy with that.

Highlight of the day: Sat waiting on kerb outside cafe, start chatting to a guy (Bram, originally from norway)who recommends a bike shop in next town and gives me his mobile in case I get stuck or need somewhere to pitch my tent (kindness of strangers and all that)







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Big Sur Prize

Tue 7th June Santa Cruz to Big Sur (85 miles)

Felt tired first thing , prob due to yesterdays antics and late night. Weather sunny though and discovered that peanut butter makes excellent addition to oatmeal so not a bad start to the day. Riding through central California now beginning to see changes, more Spanish signs, palms beginning to appear, felt warmer today as well. Route went through huge strawberry fields so great summer smells. All going well until monterey , spent about an hour trying to find route south (there are stretches of highway 1 that won't allow bikes as too dangerous) ended up relying on the phones gps which took me up a huge climb through the skyline forest, eventually found route and promptly punctured, one my way an hour later ( bit of a mission changing tyre with rear facing dropouts) and began the Coastal section of route 1 that leads to Big Sur, amazing road that hugs the coast , lots of climbing through large dark clouds. Sun comes back out and tailwind kicks in , nice. Eventually arrive at Pfiffer big Sur state Pk around 730 so better than yest. Have now discovered that highway 1 ( only Coastal Rd ) is shut due to landslide about 30miles down the road. Alternative is big old climb across to next valley so will see how this shapes up tomorrow but am expecting big detour with lots or climbing. Oh good




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Business as usual

6th June: SF to Brighton beach state park (96 miles)

Finally left SF this afternoon at about one, bit late really considering a pretty big day mileage wise. Bit of a shock to the system as last 3 days cruising round SF ( rephrase?) drinking coffee and hanging out. Stopped for coffee today (& bran muffin natch) at about 4 ,realised still had 60 miles to do. Weather not good first 70 miles today, heavy, wet mist. Sun came out eventually and felt like summer again. Got lost after passing through Santa Cruz (dark by now of course) and couldn't find state park, eventually found someone who gave directions and rolled into bike camp just after 10. Also had iPhone jump out of cradle at high speed and bounce down the road in the dark, amazingly, relatively unscathed, props to Mr Jobs. Final insult of the day was seeing a racoon run off with my last bar of granola whilst I put
tent up . Ho hum

Highlight of the day, should be the arrival of proper long shadow summer evening sun as I roll into Santa Cruz, but think it was prob skyping Ju whilst enjoying damn fine coffee in SF this morning.



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R&R

So 3 days off the bike in SF. Great City, prob should have been to a couple of galleries ,seen a show maybe. Much better sitting around in coffee bars watching Life drift by, hanging out at the Rapha cycle club and catching up on news ( great coverage of Sarah (the gift that keeps on giving) Palins latest gaffe where she reinvents U.S history, priceless). Motel near union st, very encouraging to see Americans spending all day in bars along union st getting hammered, by 7 pm looked like Brighton on a Sat night, made me feel quite at home( later discovered that this weekend is a festival which took the shine off a bit , had hoped they did this every weekend) Met an old friend of Julia's and his Gf on sat night, few beers and meal at a German place (surprisingly good tbh, watched the Tri event on sun, and movies last night ( hangover 2, ditto) . Haircut first thing this am , now having coffee waiting for rain to ease ( fcast looking good tho) before heading off, hopefully Just beyond Santa Cruz today.


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