Big Sur Bicycle Tour

On Tuesday, November 16, 2010, I left for my little, very own spiritual journey.

It started with my usual trip through Sausalito, California, my adopted home town, then up to and across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco, through Lincoln Park, Chain-of-Lakes Drive, 41st Ave to the Zoo along Lake Merced Drive to Daly City where I met Skyline Drive. I then dropped down into Pacifica and began the climb along Hiway 1 through Montara, Devil's Slide and to Half Moon Bay. Devil's Slide is actually a slightly more dangerous stretch of Hiway One as there is almost no shoulder. Perhaps once they complete the tunnel circumventing the road, it will be easier.

It was a rewarding first day, crisp and clear. 170 miles to Big Sur, 70+ to Sta Cruz. My Waterford bike, weighing 70 lbs and change, seemed so difficult to move at first but once under way, it moved quickly on the flatter sections of the road! A welcome tail-wind was sweetly pushing me along and just a few hours later, I took the side road to Pescadero for a quick bite at Archangeli's Store: some nice artichoke bread, water and juice for breakfast and lunch. The weather chilled me a little bit as the sun reached its quarter above the ocean, so I continued back on to Highway One and decided to check out the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel.

The setting is magnificent, and there was nobody there. The rooms are so reasonable here! 29 bucks for a dorm room and just a few dollars for a few minutes of jacuzzi time!

As it was only 2:30 pm and I felt I could make it to Santa Cruz, California easily, so I continued.

The wonderful thing about cycling is it gives you that space-time slot to think, experience, stop, take photos, breathe it all in. You just don't get anywhere as fast, and of course, you are much more vulnerable to the elements and the vagrancies of other vehicular traffic drivers.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse
I saw lots of left-over pumpkin from the Halloween holidays in the fields before Pescadero, making for a very nice contrast to the green.

After that point however, I saw almost no more pumpkins. The road to Santa Cruz stretched out in what would be monotony to some, but this is where I got to think about all those things you store up during the work-year but were too busy to complete!





It seemed that all that I wanted to ponder was being laid out in front of my 28" Ruffy Tuffy tires, whirring along.

As my artichoke bread burned off, I rolled on but began to tire. I cranked
hard. Another 30 or so miles. On a regular, unladen bike, I would have been there fast. On a fully packed touring bike, it took a lot longer, especially since I had to periodically stop and refer to the route sheet. I finally arrived at Santa Cruz's Natural Bridges park at sunset (see top photo).

Leftover pumpkins North of Pescadero.
I loved seeing the kite sailors at Waddell Beach, near Santa Cruz, Monterey and others near Carmel. Once in a while I'd see windsurfers, whose sport is a lot closer to my heart, as I was a crazed fanatical windsurfer for about 10 years until I wrenched my knee and switched fanatical pursuits for bicycling! I'm so glad I did as I would never have been obsessed with this healthy sport (I went from 204 lbs windsurfing, an asset in counterpoising the forces of the wind, to 180 lbs in a couple of years, really!).

Strawberry Fields forever.
The smell of the ripe fruit was heavenly. I always wondered why we seem to have strawberries year-round now! Now I know. They're always covered in plastic to control the temperature of the fields. I saw fields in various phases of production up and down the coast.










This was S of Santa Cruz, near Aptos, California, on my way to Monterey on Wednesday.
















Although it was a mere 30 miles or so to Monterey, California, from Santa Cruz, a hostel, where I stayed the first night, I had decided it was a good stop before the big push over the Carmel Highlands and up a couple of big elevation gains on my Adventure Cycling Association map all the way to Big Sur, California. From just outside Marina through Seaside to Monterey, there was a really nice bike route! It was great so far!

I love Monterey and I found the hostel with ease.

I was tempted to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but at 27 bucks or so for entrance....not so much!

So, I hung out in front of the hostel for a while until they had pity on me and let me in!








Monterey, California. Near the Wharf.

The hostel was amazingly comfortable. Unlike the Santa Cruz hostel, they didn't allow single individuals to rent private rooms, where I shared a bathroom and shower with only the people in one other private room. This hostel was big and had lots of information for people to check things out in the area, a nice living space (see left photo), bike locker rooms, big spacious dorms and a very nice atmosphere.

The kitchen was nice and had tons of stuff to make absolutely anything you desired! Coffeemakers, waffle-makers, everything! This place was 10 times nicer than my kitchen.

There was even food which was common to others, for free! Nice!

Oh, lots of rules, too. 8 minutes of hot water for the shower, unlike Sta Cruz, unlimited. Curfews, no ETOH, etc.

The dorm I slept in had German tourists, just like in Sta Cruz. My bunkmate was a loud mouth-breather and as many hostel-goers are young, many were "party animals" and came in late. As such, I didn't sleep well, unfortunately.
On Wednesday, I made the big push through the Carmel Highlands where I saw these folks tracking sea otters with radio frequency antennae and GPS equipment.

I kept going up through the Highlands, then down the hill to Carmel and across the mouth of the Carmel Valley.









Carmel Highlands (otters)









Big Sur coastline....
















Amazingly beautiful vistas soothed my soul.
















Bixby Bridge....N of Big Sur...oft-photographed. Since I was solo, no photos of me!













Nepenthe...a nice gift shop, a very cool restaurant....my third day in these bike clothes made me a bit self-conscious, but I was hungry, and lonely. I got a nice pair of earrings for my sister.





























































































view from the Cafe Phoenix, Nepenthe




Hawthorne Gallery, down the road from Nepenthe.

















I made such good friends there, they offered me a 40% discount on everything. Naaaah. Like it would've made a difference, anyway. At this point in the tour, it started to getting unusually cool. Everyone began to notice. Down the way just a little bit was the Henry Miller Memorial Library. Something akin to a beatnik-era homage/bookstore/performing arts mini-park and gathering place, I loved the warmth and good spirits that permeated the wooden structure. I must go back in the summer when they have outdoor music every week just in front of this tiny library. The library is right up the hill from Deetjen's, my next overnight port-of-call, and right down the hill (we're talking a few yards) from Nepenthe, so it would be easy to make this a whole 3 day event if you start from Monterey, for example, and if you made reservations for the whole thing far enough in advance!



Henry Miller Memorial Library (I was a bit apprehensive of taking too many shots inside...)








Like I said, Deetjen's Big Sur Inn was just two shakes of a lamb's tail down the road.

A dear friend recommended it. It's a pretty special place, indeed. The staff was amazingly nice and helpful. When I told them what my concerns were, we all tried to brain-storm a way to keep me safe and hopefully headed South, but there was no way I could stay anywhere as all rooms, yerts, etc. were taken. And in any case, I would have to "hole up" for several days until the storms blew over. At a minimum of $150 a pop, I liked the idea of going back North and continuing my journey in a totally different way, so I turned around the next morning and on I went... But, first, about the rooms, the smallest are about $90 and change and share a bathroom. The ads say the walls are paper-thin. Uh, they weren't kidding, I felt as though I could have joined in any conversation that came up. But, my room had a fireplace, it's own bathroom, a queen bed and a twin tucked away in its own cozy, little corner. It was appointed with lots of quaint rummage-sale like items, but very tastefully done.

Nice fireplace, nice comfy bed. Note the broken phonograph to the right of my bicycle. Lots of old vinyl, kinda shame I couldn't hear it...Hey, that's not what I came on this trip for, anyway. Back to the trip: I pored over maps and asked a lot of the locals about what they've heard the forecast was. They all said the same thing, "Rain, lots of it, 3 days!". I had no choice. I didn't have a rain fly, I didn't have a solid place to stay for enough days to wait out the rain. Plus, I would have to be in the rain for at least two days, possibly 3. I even thought of going back to Monterey, staying in the hostel then taking the bus back to Nepenthe and continuing South. That was pretty crazy, too. So, I concocted this plan of either going up the Carmel Valley to Soledad/Salinas/Watsonville to catch the Amtrak or going out of somewhere further N over the Hecker Pass Road (152) to Gilroy and somehow get home. Well, I quickly realized given the temperature, climbing 1000 ft. might be wicked tough and it might be even snowing up there! Being wet and in freezing temperature wasn't my idea of fun. Been there, done that! So, I decided to go N to Monterey after a good recommendation of a hotel to stay in, the Beachcomber Inn in Pacific Grove, or PG ( as the locals call the town which is just S of Monterey).
Kinda cool lamp in my Deetjen's domicile, "Grandpa's Room".






Big Sur Lighthouse Station



........near Carmel
San Carlos de Borromeo de Carmelo Mission or Carmel Mission



I finally got to Pacific Grove at 1 pm, having left Big Sur around 10, but the BeachComber Inn didn't open until 3! So I hung out and enjoyed the scenery!

The next day, I rolled on through nearby Monterey and onto the bike path which took me all the way through Seaside and Marina. It's a great bike path and remote at times. Perfect. This beach photo was near Asilomar. It struck me so I stuck my invisible self in the bench, wistfully looking at the crashing waves!
I somehow stayed on the bike path too long and took a small detour though Castroville, definitely what I would call a one-horse town, or should I say, one-artichoke town. Castroville proclaims itself as the artichoke capital of the world, with its own Artichoke Festival and queen, crowned at the festivities in the Spring.
They're definitely "big" on artichokes in this area. I saw a few fields, but it was definitely past the season. Most of them had not been cleared and were probably left for fallow for some reason.

Just past Castroville is Moss Landing, the site of a huge PGE power plant. I had my own "Power Plant" tri-tip sandwich at the produce market/deli/coffee shop across the street!
Brussels Sprouts, just past Moss Landing


Strawberries (I didn't eat any as perhaps they were sprayed)....

At this point in the tour, it began sprinkling and about 10 minutes after this shot was taken, the sky completely clouded over and rain in biblical proportions descended on me. By the time I reached Santa Cruz from Moss Landing, I was hypothermic, dazed, then confused, then torridly sleepy and I no longer cared about how my feet and body really felt. I shortened the trip at Santa Cruz when it began to hail very hard and the cold was no longer bearable and the rain never let up. I'm glad I did this ride. Although I never really found the answers I was looking for, I am glad I looked. It was my first solo bike tour, and for that, I'm glad I did it.