Day 33: Refugio Sate Beach to Carpenteria State Park

Left the palm trees of Refugio and got back on the coast road heading south.

Arrived in the delightful city of Santa Barbara, and treated ourselves to some free Starbucks wifi o the street corner.

We always look distinctly out of place when we arrive in towns and cities, but particularly when they are pretty upmarket places. Whilst we shower each day, we definitely wear the same clothes for many miles and days between washes, so I’m not sure we smell all that good. Sweating wasn’t such a problem when it rained everyday, but since San Francisco, the sun has been shining bright, so we probably smell far from fresh.

We stopped at our favourite place of Trader Joes for a stock up on as much food as possible, and our new found favourite treat of all time, the ginger fingers. A delicious combination of a gingerbread biscuit, but enhanced by a chewy soft texture. Literally delicious, and we can’t leave the shop without a good supply to get us through the day.

We watched Ben for a bit at the Skate park, and then cycled along the cycle paths of palm trees and beautiful bright flowers. Definitely more homeless people here – probably because the weather is better than further north, but there were a lot of people ‘napping’ on the grass along the cycles paths.

We arrived in Carpinteria, and with heavy hearts had to say good bye to Neil, who needed to get to LA before us, so was peddling on. A fabulous Canadian, picked up at a service station, and filled the void of Canadian Guilliame leaving us. One of the funniest people ever met, who wore his paedophile, thrift store sneakers with pride, teamed with cycling shorts and fleece. A look not to be forgotten.

We turned right off the road, and headed straight to the beach and the beach campsite. Rose and I went for a wonder around the little town, treating ourselves to coffee and cake as a pre dinner snack, following it with coke, tacos and chocolate. Its easy to pack in the food when you are cycling all day, and we definitely don’t scrimp on the calories.

Rose has decided that tacos from the dogs looking taco shops are potentially the best thing she has ever eaten. I’ll wait to see if she gets food poisoning before passing judgment…

Day 32: Pismo Beach to Refugio State Park

Met a guy at some public toilets who we had seen when we were having lunch on the way to Morro Bay, in West Village. He was super annoying, and talked at us about his vast cycling experience. He said he was surprised to see us so far down the road, with our heavy loads. We took it as a compliment.

Arrived to the most gorgeous campsite, right on the beach under palm trees. Definitely some homeless people living in their tents there, but there was also a fair contingent of cycle tourers. We met Canadian Ben, as well as a guy from South Korea, who can’t speak any English but gave us all a beer, and we looked longingly at his little camping chair he was carrying along with him.

We went for a swim in the clothes – cheap and easy way to wash the shorts!

Day 31: Morro Bay to Pismo Beach

Day started with disappointment. We had discovered a gorgeous looking cafe on the waterfront, with a brunch menu. It was closed. We decided we couldn’t wait for it to open, and made do with the same old porridge and bagel options.

Arrived in Pismo Beach mid afternoon. It was full of secondary school kids, who apparently were there for a marching band convention and competition. Who knew it was such a big thing! Sadly we didn’t see any actual marching bands.

Rose managed to find a good cafe (seems to be what much of the daily planning is pinned around…), and we sat there in the sun stealing some wifi. We decided to call it a day, and stay in Pismo Beach for the night. I was delighted as had had enough of everyone who were all driving me nuts, so Rose and I escaped to do some tourist tat shopping – some lady in a shop bought our postcards for us as a treat. Not sure what we did to deserve them, but we were delighted! Probably won’t get around to sending them off, but you never know!

We managed to get the last spot in the campsite, which was HEAVING. Presumably because of the marching band fun in town. We shared with a woman who was cycle touring with her son. She was an interesting lady, living in Alaska, who was now touring California with her 3 year old on the back of her bike.

Laundry got done, phones got charged in the laundry place, and life was fabulous. Another day, no rain.

 

 

Day 30: Kirk Creek to Morro Bay

Delighted by the fact that the people opposite us had been robbed by racoons in the night, but we were untouched. What novices for leaving their baguettes unprotected!

Saw a big colony of elephant seals from the side of the road. Lovely lady gave us a long talk about them and their breeding habits.

Arrived in Morro Bay, only to find Canadian Ben sitting at a table making his dinner. Beautiful campsite in amongst the eucalyptus trees.

Discovered Dr Broners all purpose soap, provided by Neil. Not only is it washing up liquid, but apparently, you can use it to brush your teeth too….

Day 29

3rd NovemberMonteray to Kirk Creek Campground
Well rested after our talking to from Turtle, we set off to tackle the hills of the Big Sur. never a group to move on an empty stomach, we stopped for snack gathering at the local Safeway. We decided the triple portions of porridge weren’t going to cut it today, so a few Cliff bars, bananas, jalapeño and cheese rolls and a few snickers got packed to see us through the day. 

It was beautiful, climbing along the Carrillo Highway in the sunshine, up and down along the coast. The climbs were steep, although not dreadful, and the beautiful views meant you didn’t quite notice the gradient.

 I find the best way to climb a hill is to go slow and sing loudly. Rose seems to think the fact I can sing means I’m not out of breath enough, and a good indicator I can go faster. She’s wrong. 

We stopped for lunch in Big Sur. not entirely what we were expecting, with a local store, gift shop and petrol station being the whole place really. Yet another example of place on map much smaller than imagined. But we sat in the garden of the shop, with humming birds in the flowers, eating another winning lunch of more Trader Joe torilla wraps, cold frankfurters and avocado. 

We cycled on in the afternoon sun, through the eucalyptus trees, up more hills, along a road cut out of the cliff, singing and smiling.

 Just before camp we arrived at the beloved random genral store/gift shop where we continued our hunt for souvenir tshirts, and the boys tried to buy beer but it was too expensive, even after all the hills. Us girls went wild sharing a bottle of pink lemonade. Woohoo!
We arrived at Kirk Creek Campground, to watch an amazing sunset.

On a less positive side, we were confronted with a sign saying there was no water at all in the campsite. Nothing. Not to shower, flush the loo or fill the water bottles. Fortunately for us, Greg as ever had a solution. He and Neil went off to a nearby creek to use his water filter, and supply us with water for dinner. We think it made them feel manly, although I’m not sure they were that excited by the task. 

We made a big family dinner of pasta and sauce (Rose and my turn to cook!). We had picked up some chorizo to spice it up, but on opening, it was not chorizo as we knew it. Soft, sludgy and made exclusively of salivary glands and lymph nodes. Rose and I decided it was inedible, but Charm and Greg tucked in. DISGUSTING. 

We celebrated our big day of climbing with a hit choccie, and bed by 8pm! Rock and roll!

Day 28

2nd November 2016

Sunset State Beach to Veterans Park, Monteray

Rose and I woke up smug. No death by raccoon in the night. But they had eaten Neil’s bread, despite being locked in a raccoon cupboard. Little bastards and their crafty little fingers. 

The tents were sopping wet after a misty night, so we left them to dry in the early morning sun whilst eating our triple portions of porridge, m and ms, nuts and honey. Rose still hasn’t come round to the idea of porridge, so us persevering with bad bagels and yoghurt. 

We cycled down to the beach, and decided to follow a small side trail marked on the map to save us from retracing our steps. Small trail it was to start with. Large collection of bushes it quickly became. Who doesn’t like to start the day with a bit of bushwaking?!

Despite being scratched and fearful if stepping on snakes, we made it. And by the time we’d spent ages covering the ‘shortcut’, the sun was out and tshirts were on. Blissful. 

We spent the morning cycling through Californian farmland, with fruit sharks next to the roads, selling bargain price fruit and veg. If only we had room to carry it. Panniers stuffed with bikinis and other useless items were a mistake; I’d rather they were stuffed with avocados and plums. 

Never a group of cyclist to go too far without a coffee stop, we headed to Moss Landing for our morning refreshments. We passed a Korean couple on their bike tour, dressed in buffs, trousers, gloves and duck down jackets. Not sure what they made of us in the shortest shorts, and tshirts rolled up for maximal tanning. Rose is desperate for the day it’s warm enough to cycle in a sports bra…she thinks it’s close. 

We cycled on to Monteray, along a gorgeous bike path which must have been the old highway at some point. We bumped into Brandon (from a few nights ago) who was cycling home to LA. Unknown to us, his bike had broken and he was riding it as a single speed. And was still going at the same speed as me. Gauling. 

We arrived in Monteray, looking slightly lost as usual. A local cyclist known as a Turtle saw us and came to say hi. He took us to Trader Joes so we like buy lunch, and came and joined us by the beach whilst we scoffed as many tortillas as possible. Greg and Neil managed a whole jar of cookie dough spread. Luckily Greg is very long legged, otherwise his hips would surely be getting pretty porky with his calorie intake!

Turtle convinced us that we would be making a mistake to cycle to our planned destination, as the hills out of Monteray were massive, and not to be done in tired legs. We were easily swayed, so went for a 2.5 hour coffee break, before heading up the hill to the city campsite. 

Slightly strange place – the park is gorgeous, but seems to have attracted a few strange people, who despite being in the hiker biker area are not really fellow hiker bikers. I suspect they are more of the permanent resident types. But we also bumped into our old friends the Duncan’s, and the twins and their boyfriends, and a few others. We all sat around one long table cooking various camp stove dinners and swapping tales. Free hot showers and full bellies and we are happy. 

2 positive things today. We are. Little sunburnt (which means it’s still not raining, and is in fact HOT, and I managed to wash and dry a pair of cycling shorts hanging them off my panniers. Washing woes solved by the arrival of forementioned sun. One less positive thing. We’ve roughed out or route for the rest of the trip. Lots of 60 mile days and no resting or options if we want to make our flight. San Diego here we come. 

Day 27

1st November 2016

Half moon to Sunset Beach State Park

A night of disturbed sleep, after Rose got woken to find we were being robbed. We both have a bag that attaches to our handlebars which we keep our snacks in, for easy eating whilst pedalling, as well as other important things like passports, money, and bum cream. These live next to us our tent, inside the door where we think they are pretty safe. Rose woke up to rustling, and after gathering courage to have a look outside the tent, found our bags gone. On close inspection (and by the light of an iPhone) she located them halfway between our tent and a big tree, with a raccoon tucking into our trail mix and bananas. She managed to retrieve the bags, although not the food, and then woke me up to share in the experience. I then spent the next 20 minutes googling whether raccoons could undo the zip on our tent and get inside, tempted by the hot chocolate sachets we had stashed, and the. Kill us with their little fingers and evil eyes. They can. So at 2am, we got out of the tent and began hiding our food in the raccoon cupboards dotted around the campsite. Lesson learnt. 

We set off in the morning, taking Garage-Forecourt Neil with us for company. We spent the morning cycling along the coast IN THE SUNSHINE until we reached the little collection of shop and cafe called Davenport. We had a very long lunch, enjoying the warmth and lack of sunshine and coffee refills. Good place to people spot, as we saw the Aussies, Canadian Ben and Brandon all go past us. 

We cycled on tot Santa Cruz, and stood watching the huge numbers of surfers catching waves in the sun. Loads of people on their bikes, some even set up with a way to carry their surfboards on the side, and great cycle paths through the city. 

Greg and Charm needed a bike shop for repairs, so we found somewhere in the centre who let us leave our bikes whilst Neil introduced us to the American institution of Trader Joes, potentially the best supermarket in the world. Cheap, organic, and full of delicious things like cookie dough spread, we bought super and snacks to replace the raccoon eaten ones. 

We left Santa Cruz pretty late in the day, and spent the afternoon chasing the sun, trying desperately to arrive before sunset and darkness. Rose and I have always had a rule that we would be off the road an hour before sunset, but it doesn’t seem such a problem when there are a few of us. Unfortunately, we still don’t really age Amy working lights between us (apart from Greg), so darkness and the hard shoulder isn’t a great combination for us.

We pedalled as fast as we could, and managed to get to camp just as the sun was setting, to see an amazing sunset over the beach. 

We set up camp, and made dinner surrounded by the glowing eyes of raccoons. Hundreds of them. Everywhere. 

We are now in the tent, with not a single scented or sugared item in our vicinity to hope for a quiet, raccoon free night. Wish us luck…

Day 26

31st October 2016

San Francisco to Half Moon Bay State Beach

I woke up feeling better, and we packed up our many belongings and left the hostel. The room definitely didn’t smell much better without us in it, but we hoped that the smell of grubby cyclist would dissapait quite quickly with our exit. 

We said a very sad farewell to Guillaume who was heading to Santa Rosa to the vineyards to do his sommelier’ing, so we waved him off with a heavy heart, leaving us as a trimmed down gang of 4 biking Brits. Big G is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and the cycling gang won’t be quite the same without him and his jokes that sound better in French than English.

We had a gorgeous ride through the city, out through Golden Gate Park, which despite the name, isn’t next to the Golden Gate Bridge. We cycled through the park and its bike lanes as far as we could before hitting the coast, and then turning left and south to San Diego. We were met with an amazing smell of the sea, gorgeous views of the dunes, AND WE GOT SUN!! Enough to take your long sleeves off and need sun glasses! It’s like we hit heaven when we reached the coast. Much more what I was expecting, and what I had promised Rose when I talked her in coming along. 

Just out of San Francisco, we came across the Australian couple Kevin and Shannon, who we had met in Manchester. We always seem to overtake them in hills and then they overtake us when we stop for our extended breaks. This was no different. They very kindly offered me a bed with them for the night if I wasn’t feeling up to camping, but I decided I was feeling Ok, and powered with ginger beer I’d make the campsite. 

We stopped in Fairmont for a classic garage style lunch. Crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks. Exactly what was required after not eating for 48 hours. But we sat in the forecourt delighted we were warm and dry in sunshine. And watched the Aussies overtake us once again. 

A guy stopped with his bike laden with touring bags to say hi. Neil was also on the way south to Los Angeles, having started in Vancouver a few days before us. His group of on the road friends has separated in San Fran, so he was riding solo. We thought he might be a good Canadian for us to cycle with having lost Big G, but he disappeared before we had finished our cheap processed carb and sugar lunch. He was heading to the same campsite as us for the night, so we thought we would see him there and assess his pro points. 

We spent the afternoon cycling along the coast, and then up through hills in fairly anonymous towns that I can’t remember the names of. They certainly weren’t little beach fronted towns I was expecting. More shopping centres on a high way. At one point we cycled through a huge tunnel, with Greg guarding us at the back with the only working rear light, and my head torch trying to do a job of making me conspicuous. We made it through with no accidents which was fairly lucky really. 

Late afternoon, we cycled through farmland where they had loads of pumpkins patches. 

I knew America went wild for Halloween, but I didn’t realise quite how wild they went for pumpkins. Never seen so many in my life. And I’m not sure I knew they grew on the ground. Although I can’t think quite how else I thought they would grow. 

We eventually arrived at Half a Moon Bay State Beach after a trip to Safeway for family dinner purchase. We’ve decided it’s cheaper and easier to buy in bulk and cook as a group, although I’m hoping the variety of food improves from Charm and Gregs rice and beans diet, and our favourite of pasta and sauce. Time will tell. 

We arrived at the campsite to a huge group of cyclist. The Duncan’s (Emma and Luke) from Samuel Taylor State Park, twin girls from Oxford and their boyfriends, a guy called Brandon that Greg had met before, a woman on her own, a Canadian skater called Ben, and our potential buddy Garage-Forecourt Neil were all there, so we have shared a fire and eaten too many marshmallows. We are now in bed feeling sick as usual.