Cycling The Pacific Coast

After 1,901.6 miles of riding, we made it to the Mexico Border! This last day of riding seemed surreal, it was exciting, but at the same disapointing that it was coming to an end. The last day's ride started in Cardiff (Gillian's parents house, thanks Pam and Steve!) and as we rode our way through North County SD and eventually proper San Diego, the miles seemed to roll by a little slower than usual. Having gotten used to finding the rhythm of logging 50 mile days, this was an unexpected change. It must have been the anticipation of reaching the finish line. This was really it. This was the final ride of the trip. Navigating the San Diego was a little tricky, which I remember as being a surprise. Being that we had just finished riding through Los Angeles, I didn't think San Diego would be very difficult. There were several route directions that we had to double check. It was surreal to finally arrive. Lots of determination, emotion and beautiful vistas

We made it to Encinitas! We are only one days ride from the border! It is hard to believe that we are actually here. In a car it seems so far away, too far to ride the distance on bicycles. But we did it. It was really only last week or so when we were seeing signs for LA being over 300 miles away, but now we are over 100 miles south of LA.  Biking through the big metropolis was not as daunting as we had been envisioning. Luckily, Gillian's friend Ingrid allowed us to stay with her at her place in Santa Monica. She was then kind enough to drive down to Newport the next day so we could stay with her again at her Dad's place.  Here we were treated like kings in the Balboa Bay Yacht Club kitchen where he is the head chef. This was a real treat for finishing our ride through LA. I don't think it could have gone much smoother. Currently we are in Encinitas right now waiting one more day for the border ride so we can complete the final leg of the mission with Kieth and Diana. The

We made it through Big Sur! We camped along the river at Phieffer State beach and then got up before the sun to head out for the hilliest ride yet. It was a 70 mile day and filled with climbing, but cycling through the early morning in the light fog along that coastline was epic.  The next day we continued another 56 miles to a campground south of pismo beach. That ride was great too, we stopped in a coffee shop in cambria and stopped again for lunch in Cayucas. I finally got my smoked albacore sandwich from Ruddells that I've been dreaming about and describing to Colin since we got off the train up north.  Last night we went for an early evening swim at pismo beach and then sat at a mexican restraunt across from the campground and drank margaritas. Were not ready to leave here!  Today's ride is going to be hard...at 65 miles the route turns inland and goes through lompoc before returning back to the coast. Tomorrow we will be in Santa Barbara though and we plan to take a

"San Francisco here we come!" has been one of the most prominent and obnoxious mental mantras That I have been repeating to myself  since the deep forests of Washington and now San Fran is in the past. Weird!  Cycling through Marin County was beautiful and a nice warm up for the traverse through the big city. I wanted to stop in to say hello to friends but we still had lots of biking to do. After completing the dreaded climb over Devils Slide we arrived at our destination in Half Moon Bay at Colin's aunt and uncle's house. Thanks Uncle Johnny and Aunt Puala! They treated us to a delicious steak dinner, a warm shower, great company and a very relaxing stay. Colin and I each ate an entire steak! We also met up with Colin's Mom there. She stocked us up with homemade goodies and we had a great visit. Colin's brother and little niece met us in Half Moon Bay as well and we had a picnic together at the Moss Beach tide pools. It was wonderful to have some good famil

Travel from the vineyard has been a little less overwhelming, save for the scenic route we took to get back to the coast. This short addition covered about 2200 feet in 20 miles, a rough lung and leg burner! Minus this adventure our daily mileage totals have been considerably less and we are beginning to feel somewhat recovered. Although this feeling of strength will only be outdone today by a 60 mile ride into the city.  After staying in Samuel P. Taylor State Park we will begin our journey into the long anticipated San Francisco City (according to the guidebook S.P.T. State Park is one of the first state parks to promote camping as a recreational hobby). It will be fun to ride through Gillian's old stomping grounds and We are looking forward to visiting with family just south of the city in Half Moon Bay. Familiar grounds will be nice for a change. We will savor this last part of the trip because we are realizing that there is only about two weeks left in the trip. Hard to bel

After leaving Fort Bragg we have enjoyed many more miles of epic coast line. It is amazing to see such picturesque views in our own backyard! I've never known of all the sights that this state has to offer.  As amazing as the coast has been we have been grateful for a slight break.  Yesterday we rode inland to Guerneville, Ca where we are staying with Gillian's family friends. The scenic ride along the Russian River was nice for a change and ending the day at the Porter-Bass Vineyard, Gillian's friends, has been epic. We couldn't write out a better script for our time here, it has been great. Later on this afternoon we will continue our ride on through Occidental and Sebastapol where we will eventually find our way back to the coast with a destination of Bodega Dunes State Park. It is hard to believe that San Francisco is only two days away!  

California has been a series of drastic changes. It's been incredible. We are already saying goodbye to Fort Brag this morning, with plans to visit glass beach on our way out.  Since the big send off at the Oregon border Colin and I have climbed some big hills, hit some big mile stones and experienced many changes in weather  and climate. We left the lost coast behind and cruised into the breath taking redwood forests, an entirely different forest than the rainforest up North. I loved being in the redwoods, and it was amazing cycling  along the avenue of the giants.  For the first time we wore t-shirts instead of raincoats and swam in a river! We hit our halfway point of 900 miles at the start of the avenue of the giants. We also climbed to the highest point of this entire tour, at 2000 feet Leggett has been the dreaded and talked about climb. We devoured it. Yesterday we hit 1000 miles! - Gillian