Santa Cruz to Pismo Beach

Another blitzkrieg of a week. Our strength as cyclists is increasing as we zoom along and we are making great time.

After an evening in Santa Cruz we took off for Monterey. This was a 44 mile ride around the bay dipping close to and then zooming away from the water. We passed through the Strawberry capital of the world and the Artichoke capital of the world and literally saw Strawberry fields forever.

As we closed in on Monterey this mini-van slowed along the highway and people yelled at us as we rode along the bike path. It was Kate and Adam and Ella and Jane! They pulled off at the next exit so that when we reached it Ella was on her bike ready to ride with Grandpa. We tooodled and rode a bit and they packed back into the van to go to their motel and Dave and I headed to the base.

Mary arranged a room for us in the old Hotel Del Monte, now part of the Navy's postgraduate school. We had a huge suite in a hotel that rivals the Hotel Del for opulence and granduer. Dave took off to have dinner with the family and I spent the evening in the club in the basement yakking with some very nice service people.

Next morning we took off for Kate and Adam's hotel. They all went to the Dennis the Menace park and I cleaned the bike and did some work on it. In the afternoon we said goodbyes and took off for Big Sur, just 35 miles away. What a gorgeous ride. I have done it in a car, but the SpeedofBike is the way to see this too. This was a depression era WPA project so all the coves have bridges spanning them. The mountains come right to the sea. We found a nice motel and checked in. Dave had some busted spokes again and a bent chain ring, but he fixed it with a hammer! The plan was to get up early the next day and head to Cambria (70+ miles) before the bike shop closed.

Now 70 miles is one thing on the level, but this had four long high climbs in it before the mountains moved away from the shore and the road headed to San Simeon. We climbed and climbed and along one climb I broke a spoke. Then we zooomed downhill and past San Simeon, though I stopped to see the sea elephants. Dave made it to the bike shop in Cambria but they were about to close and there was no mechanic. They told us their store in San Luis Obispo was open on Sunday and we could get help there, so we made arrangments to do that.

So we thought we would grab a room and call it a day. Only there was a Car show in Morro Bay and every room in the region was booked. Fortunately one of our hospitality angels offered us a room on short notice (we try to give people 48 hours notice). Barbara and Arnold Hagiwara of Cayucus told us to come on down. So we rode another 13 miles bringing the day's total to 91, a new record for us both.

As we got ready for bed Kate called to tell us there were in San Simeon and had not seen us on the road. Dave told them we were 20 miles further along. So plans got reshuffled so that he could spend the morning with them and I could go to St. Paul's with Barbara and Arnold.

St. Paul's is a lovely little church in Cambria full of warm welcoming people. Even though I looked like something the cat dragged in, they were interested in our journeys. After returning to Cayucus, I said goodbye the Barbara and Arnold (they were off to other things)and packed up stuff.

Dave and I finally took off about 12:30. We were at the bike shop by 1:40 (Camria Outfitters) and they had both bikes fixed in under an hour for a very reasonable price. If you need a bike shop in San Luis Obispo, see these folks.

Back on the road we found our way to Pismo. A ritzy seaside resort town that you have to get south of to find a reasonable room. Every 1/4 mile the rate drops $10 so we actually are in Grover, CA.

Tomorrow who can say? We are going to try for another long day, getting past Lompoc to Gaviota. We are probably six days from home and are devising plans for the celebration ride.

We have thus ridden the last of the really remote strips of the trip and will now bend more and more into the savagery called civilization. What is most interesting to me is that my legs and knees hurt only when I am NOT riding. Some change has been made in my chemistry that allows me to peddle on and on, but then hurt when I am not. More on this later.