Bay to LA: Day 2

Sorry for the lag. I just realized I only have a few days left till I move and didn't realize how much stuff I have to do.

But here is Day 2.

Woke up freezing. I actually barely slept cause I was so cold. My sleeping bag didn't keep me warm at all. I even took NyQuil to help me go to sleep. But here's Jeff again... last one to get ready.
Bike permit.
This road is in the middle of strawberry fields nearing Monterrey and with all the strawberries ready for picking the air smelled like strawberries!
Look. Jensen Road. haha
Seals
Reminder for how many more miles we have.
Jeff ran over a snake on this trail.



Monterey.
Stopped for lunch.
Carmel Beach.

Going into Big Sur. I think one of the best places to see in the west coast.
This view put such a big smile on my face.

Nearing the clouds.

Pretty awesome.
So Im actually scared of heights and for some reason riding on those bridges had me really scared. Might have been that I was inches from the barrier with the ocean a hundred feet down and the wind blowing me all over the place, but that had me riding through those as fast as I can. At one point I ended up leaving Tommy and Jeff. I looked back no one was there.
I dont know if you're able to see it, but we didnt have a lot of space to ride on. Sometimes there wasnt even any space.
This was at one of the highest peaks in Big Sur.
So this spot. I almost died on. The higher we rode the stronger the wind got. We stopped at this turnoff to take a picture and the wind was howling. Literally. We take pictures and get back on the bike. As soon as I get on and let go of the brakes the wind pushed me 6-7 feet to my left and almost into a car! I was able to grab the brakes and stop right before.

The wind out there was very unpredictable. You had the wind coming from the ocean and when it hit the cliff it would circle back out so you would have pockets of wind coming from your left and right which made it very tricky to control the bike. Especially since Im very light and that made it easier to push me around.

I tried to descend after the incident but I found that I was just unable to control it. I had to stop and take off my jacket because it was catching too much wind and I went ahead and took up the full lane so I had space between me and the edge of the cliffs.

No one got hurt and we eventually made it to our campsite. Pfeiffer State Park.

Right under the trees.
Before heading there we stopped by a store and bought us a pan.
to cook some steaks! just cause were on our bikes and sleeping on dirt doesnt mean we cant eat good.
our bedroom for the night.
Finished.
So good.
Spider.
My bed.
Met a couple other people touring down the coast. Very interesting to hear their stories and find out where theyre from, how long have they been riding, what they do for a living, etc. Also got to take a shower and do some laundry. The campsite actually had a laundromat, crazy huh? But it was nice lighting up and sitting next to the fire for a couple of hours. Its so quiet out there, the air is so fresh, and you can see a whole lot of stars. I wouldn't mind going back.

Bay to LA: Day 1

Allright. Im back from my trip. Biked all the way down to Los Angeles, well actually all the way down to Long Beach. Took us 5 days and almost 600 miles of riding. My body is now recovered and Im trying to gain the 14 pounds that I lost on the trip. So here is a recap.

Day 1

Left an hour later than we planned cause Jeff was lagging which would be an everyday thing during this trip.


Somewhere in San Jose
Had to ride on this rocky path to get to out of Los Gatos. These guys had to walk their bikes cause their bikes were too heavy to ride up the steep hill with all of their gear.
Here we are riding next to Highway 17. We had a hell of a time finding this road. We had to ride on this dirt path for about had a mile. We were even contemplating of crossing the freeway but we managed.


Riding through the Santa Cruz mountains.


Reached our destination point. Capitola. Then Tommy got a flat.
Couldnt check into the campsite till later in the afternoon so we stuffed ourselves with some mexican food.
This is our campsite. Specifically just for bikes.
See those sleeping bags behind Tommy? That was our bedroom. I was freezing!
Had some fun collecting all these little timbers and dried grass to make some fire later.

The view.
New Brighton State Beach.
We bought some hotdogs for dinner but we didnt have a pan or skewers to cook them on. So we took twigs and made some ourselves. The hotdogs turned out really really good, but maybe because we just rode 80 miles.


I was also craving some tea so I went ahead and cut up my Fosters can and dropped it in the coal.
and it worked!
Total miles for the day was about 80 miles. Rode around the town for a bit. Took some nyquil to help me sleep but I kept waking up through the night cause the sleeping bag I bought didnt work very well in keeping me warm. I slept with 4 jackets on! But yea. very good first day. Day 2 tomorrow.