Thank you for reading my daily ride posts. I’ve tried to capture some key facts from each day, and to describe my thoughts as I was greeted by, or confronted with, new vistas, people, and events as I cycled through the daily lives of “West Coast People” at 8 to 15-miles per hour. As my curiosity was sparked, I looked deeper into what might be under the surface.

Up early, breakfast, and on the road at 7:44 AM. Today’s ride is short but there are a lot of logistics to attend to when I am finally out of the saddle.

This was my last full day of riding, having ended close enough to Mexico to enjoy dinner on a restaurant  patio in the glow of the city lights of Tijuana. Today’s ride had distinct parts, each very different from the others. 

I left at 8 AM from the Grandview Inn in Hermosa Beach, just a block off The Strand, that I bicycled yesterday from Santa Monica. My “grand view” was of a neighboring roof—I booked an economy room.

Today is one of those days where I have to strain my brain to remember how it began. I started in Ventura, which seems so long ago. This may be because I felt so thoroughly “in the moment” for most of the day. The bike worked fine, the body is holding up—even getting stronger as the day wears on—and the surroundings were always stimulating. 

Lompoc to Ventura, 85 miles

Today would be a stretch day, mileage wise. I stuffed down lots of motel breakfast, including two bowls of Lucky Charms cereal, a guilty pleasure.

Today’s roads, south of Paso Robles, are in much better shape. I rode all day in designated bike lanes or on roads signed to “Share the Road”, 79 miles, into Lompoc, on the edge of Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Awake early, very sore from yesterday’s increased mileage and climbing. But no sense hanging around the Motel 6 in King City, so I headed out the door for probably my earliest start yet.

With the Big Sur Highway still closed, it was back over the hump to the Salinas Valley today. I spent last night with Seaberry and Chris, and for breakfast this morning, I enjoyed eggs from their chickens and bread that Chris baked with jam that Seaberry made. Pretty great.

Santa Cruz to Carmel-by-the-Sea, 53 miles

Last night, I reached my hotel, showered, ate, wrote my blog and collapsed into bed. At this point, I’m tired after a day on the bike, but not hating life. So it wasn’t agony that drove me to bed, I just couldn’t stay awake.

San Jose to Santa Cruz, 45 miles

Day 25! So good to be back on the road!  Today was a good reaffirmation of why I am doing this thing, this ride. Fair questions: where did this need to do this come from? And, where is it going? What do I do with it? 

Short ride today, at only 35 miles, but it was filled with wonder.

From a landscape perspective, today was easily the most diverse ride of the trip. I woke early in my tent in an otherwise empty campground in China Camp State Park. All of China Camp’s campsites are walk in, which nixes the RV rabble. And everyone else too, apparently. Except for me, and I didn’t walk, I rode in.

Today promised to be a straight forward ride of about 60 miles. Temperatures have moderated in the inland valleys and I am heading towards San Francisco Bay, where temperatures are cooler still. Hill climbs are short—no mountains, just gentle ups and downs. Most of today’s route is on dedicated bike paths. 

Today’s blog should have been short because today was supposed to be simple. Yet here we are with me having something more to say.

Patio dining in Calistoga, with a live Spanish guitarist doing contemporary flamingo, surrounded by a well scrubbed and groomed clientele makes me not want to camp tomorrow night. I’m really in Napa County now. Is this really the same planet, much less the same state, that has Eureka?

Up and out early this morning. I didn’t see Johnson, as he said I wouldn’t. He pulls the to-midnight shift and isn’t up at dawn. Johnson is an Americanized version of his name in Chinese, which he never shared. But the Villas has very much an East-West fusion to it.

Absolutely the best day of the ride. First, the Avenue of the Giants. Second, 80 miles, hills and all! Third, Johnson and the Royal Tree Villa.

Today was a transition from the quiet forest of the Drury Scenic Parkway to the manic gotta-get-there-fast of US 101 the California Freeway. I first hit 101 in Reedsport, OR. Until just north of Trinidad, CA, 101 serves as the main street of towns it passes through. From Trinidad south, it bypasses towns. I got off the freeway at Trinidad and found a quaint little town and a fantastic lunch. Much of today’s ride, and pretty much anytime I am on 101 going south, I’ll be riding a freeway shoulder. Of course, this means cars and trucks whizzing by a high speed, but it also means a predictably wide, smooth and clean shoulder, which is much safer than the narrow and occasionally disappearing shoulders I’ve been on in recent days. 

Great night’s sleep! The sky was the same this morning as last evening: hanging fog, and the temperature dropped maybe 4 degrees through the night. I still don’t have a strict regime of what gear goes in which pannier, but it’s pretty well zoned, front and back. Packing is getting faster. First stop: 7 miles through Brookings to Mattie’s Pancake House. Monday morning and the place is packed, so obviously a local favorite. Breakfast was big enough to last me until after 3 PM before I needed to eat again.