A long and eventful day brought me from San Francisco down to Santa Cruz. First I got stopped by a cop because I didn’t stop at a Stop sign – just rolled through gently on a downhill near the Golden Gate Recreation Area. (He lectured me on not driving recklessly, then let me go with an appeal to “make a better effort” at trying to stop / slow down. Got it!) Then I had a flat tire on my Bob Yak trailer caused by a tiny wire (like a paper staple) – a first after 6,700km.
Lastly, in the evening the cable of my gear shifter snapped with about 15km to go to Santa Cruz 🙁 Since I didn’t carry any spare I was left without the ability to shift gears; I manually selected a middle gear suitable for flat ground, cruised down the hills and pedaled like mad before getting to any uphills… Kelly, a local friendly rider helped me by waiting for me and then showing me some quiet backroads to the center of Santa Cruz.
I find a cheap hotel to stay in Santa Cruz to get to a bike shop next morning – my first hotel room on this entire trip! I stay there after having a nice evening conversation over dinner with Lou, a “road warrior” I had met two months ago up in Yukon at the Toad River lodge. (You can follow him on Twitter @bacpkr). We both reminisce on the trip to/from Alaska and philosophized on the value of time and traveling.
Next day I bring my bike to a nearby bike shop. They replaced the cables and also the worn out brake pads of my rear Magura disk brake. In the meantime I have time to explore the Santa Cruz beach on foot – not a bad place to get stuck for a few hours while waiting for the bike repairs…
However, it made for a late start to the day around 2pm, so I wouldn’t reach Monterey until 7pm when it gets dark (hence no time to visit the famous aquarium there). Rolling hills, dry pastures and cultivated farmland with artichoke and strawberry fields dominate the scenery (and a lot of cheap laborers picking fruit). I arrive in Monterey at sunset.
After some Indian food for dinner I push my bike up a steep hill to the Vets Memorial State Park and camp there for the night.
The following day brings very nice and rugged coastal scenery, but also some pretty big hills. US1 leads via Big Sur to a small campground between Lucia and Gorda (both these “villages” consist pretty much of one restaurant and grocery store).
The views in this area are spectacular, the price for food outrageous, there is no cell phone signal and only in one place did I find wireless Internet. I think this is about as remote as it gets nowadays along the California Coast. But hey, that’s why we riders come here, right?
September 13th, 2009
2 weeks after I left Seattle I arrived in San Francisco on Labor Day (Monday, Sep-7). The weather was glorious, luckily, as the last couple of days the Bay area was fogged in! For Labor Day, the sun came out and created this magnificent view!
I stayed at the Fort Mason Youth Hostel, just like 22 years ago on my trip around the world as freshly graduated college kid – amazing!
Today I’m bringing the bike to the San Francisco REI store for some maintenance (replace broken spokes in rear wheel). I’ll also take some time to organize the next sections of my trip into Mexico and Central America; probably have another day here in the Bay Area before heading further South towards San Diego.
I also uploaded some additional pictures to my California photo library.
September 8th, 2009
Exactly two months after I started my ride on July 1st in Alaska I finally reached California on September 1st. It was a real pleasure seeing the sun come out near Crescent City after the many cloudy and foggy days in Oregon.
After the sand dunes in Oregon the dominating feature here along the Northern Coast are the mammooth trees of the Redwood National Park. One campground (Elk Prairie) is situated on a large open meadow in the middle of large stands of redwoods. One of those trees is over 300ft tall and estimated to be 1500 years old! (Later today I’ll ride the “Avenue of the Giants” with more superlative trees.)
There are other scenic stops along the way, including the memorial lighthouse in Trinidad, some saltwater lagoons and the Victoria style homes in Eureka.
I posted more photos on the Oregon photo set and created a new one for California. The days are getting shorter, with sunset before 8pm. It’s cool in the mornings (around 50F) but heating up quite a bit during the day (mid 80s). So I’ll keep this post short to get on the road and see more redwoods…
September 3rd, 2009
The last 5 days I have been riding down the Oregon Coast following Hwy 101. There is a rugged beauty to this land, especially when the sun comes out. A sunset on a clear, cloudfree evening overlooking the cliffs and seastacks just off shore is truly a sight to behold.
At times some bridges have to be crossed, often without shoulder or sidewalk. Once I tried the narrow sidewalk, but the wind gusts threatened to throw me off! I walked up to the crest, then waited for a low in traffic, got back on the road and pedaled downhill with tailwind 🙂
The State Parks offer good facilities (incl. hot showers) at an unbeatable prize ($4 per day for hiker/biker camping), beach access, fire wood, and often put you in company of other riders to share stories of the road.
The campgrounds tend to be damp at night and I often packed a wet tent. Usually I would stop the next day around noon and unpack the tent to let the sun dry it out while I have lunch.
Sadly, the sun hides a lot behind fog and low clouds created by the cool waters of the Pacific, even on summer days in August! Then it gets breezy and cold on the bike. It was actually much cooler here in Oregon than in Alaska or Canada. I definitely would not want to ride here in the other 10 months of the year when it rains a lot! So as this was the last day of August, it’s time to get down to California – I should cross the border tomorrow…
September 1st, 2009
(Quick note: My SPOT tracking should be back on tomorrow, Thursday Aug-27. Also, I updated the US ride page, Washington section and created a photo gallery for Washington.)
I just crossed the mighty Columbia River over to Astoria, Oregon. This concludes my ride through Washington State. Here are a few impressions, both from the vacation trip with Jill (Olympic NP) as well as the last three days of riding to and finally along Pacific Coast Highway 101.
Olympic National Park is one of the finest parks in the US – it has so much variety: High mountains with glaciers, remote wilderness and wildlife, temperate rainforest with giant, old-growth trees, and ruggedly beautiful Pacific Coast. It is worth more than one trip, as it’s impossible to really see everything here in just a few days.
After resuming my ride from Bellevue I first need to get over to Seattle. There are many bike paths, so it’s not too bad. Still, riding near downtown Seattle is quite the contrast to the lonely stretches up North in Yukon and Alaska…
From Seattle I take a ferry across Puget Sound to Bermerton. This way I escape the traffic South of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia.
Beautiful scenery along the Hood Canal and two memorable stays at the Potlatch State Park and later the Twin Harbor State Park near Westport.
More fresh Blackberries along the way – oh it’s good to ride in berry season! Finally the Columbia River crossing across the Megler bridge is pretty cool, some 6.5km and a good hill climb, very scenic but also very narrow shoulder…
Astoria has charm with all it’s piers and restaurants; also the bridge and the Ocean-going vessels are something you don’t see every day!
Now I’m looking forward to the Oregon Coast!
August 27th, 2009
Next Posts
Previous Posts