Friday 14 August

Today's ride was from Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park to Kirk Creek campground which is just north of Pacific Valley. The ride continued south climbing a long hill that passed through the town of Big Sur and peaked out with some great views along the coast. 

 The cloud formation made it look like you could see the mountains of Hawaii.

The cloud formation made it look like you could see the mountains of Hawaii.

The ride today I saw several pods of dolphins and many whales.  I have no whale pictures because they were so far offshore.  You could see their spray and flapping of their tails. 

Lots of pictures of the road going up, here is one of it going down for miles. 

stopping along the edge of the road and looking down over 500 ft 

many places where there are turnouts for card there are trails you can hike down to the water. 

Fresh water coming down from a spring high up in the hills. And another natural arch. 

 Two pictures of the same bridge.

 The next two pictures were taken from the campground. 

You can see the same bridge as the previous picture. 

Thursday 13 August

at Pebble Beach

In California there are signs everywhere about the drought and everyone needs to help save water.  Out on 17 mile drive with lots of ritzy golf courses around, and multi-million dollar homes they are building another golf course. Go figure.  

There is a very large car show going on in Monterey area for all kinds of vehicles. From the very old to the new, mostly very high end vehicles.  There were hundreds of cars on the road strutting their stuff. 

 Outside Carmel, the route returned to Route 1. There was a sign indicating the road might not be very straight for a couple of miles. 

Not only is the road windy but it also goes up and down. This picture shows how the road continued up for a long ways. 

This is called Point Sur. 

 The road today has been mostly south and the wind has been blowing from the west. At this point the road headed east for about 10 miles WITH a slight down grade. At the campground everyone was talking about this part of the ride being lots of fun with the tail wind.

Camping among the Redwoods. 

Wednesday 12 August

Today's ride was from New Brighton State Beach to Pacific Grove. Most of the route was through farmland until getting back to the coast near Monterey. 

picking strawberries

There are MILES of strawberry fields. 

 Outside Moss Landing I stopped at a local fruit stand and bought a container of strawberries. They were so good I ate all of the strawberries in the container and bought a second container to have with dinner.

Lots of fields of artichokes. 

A bike path that paralleled Route 1. the was about 15 miles, ending up in Monterey. 

 The trip has had lots of great scenery.  The weather, for the most part has been favorable cycling weather. But the best part about the trip has been meeting LOTS of other cyclists. You meet someone then don't see them again for several days. Point being I met Hans several days before San Francisco and again at Samuel P Taylor State Park.  

I diverge a little.  The campground,  Samuel P Taylor State Park is a popular place to stage before going into San Francisco. Regardless if you are doing 30 mile days or 80 mile days the campground is a collection spot. The park only allows 8 people per campsite and they have overflow sights if the hiker / biker site fills up. This day we had 3 sites full of cyclists and two more sites the young adults from the east coast were in. The great part about this eclectic group was no one knew everyone there but, everyone there had met someone in the group along the road. 

Case in point. Hans said he was going to spend 3 days in San Francisco, I thought I would only stay one. I ended up staying two. A few days later, while riding the bike path in Pacific Grove, who would I meet again, none other than Hans.

Such a small world we live in! 

Tuesday 11 August

Today's ride was from Half Moon Bay State Park to New Brighton State Beach. This state beach is just south of Santa Cruz. The route was inland a few miles through rolling hills and farmland.  

On the outskirts of Half Moon Bay was this cafe.

 The route made its way back to the coast. 

All along the coast people are out fishing. Some out in the water with waders, trying to get a few more yards from their cast. 

 This is the Pigeon Point Light Station.  The difference between a lighthouse and a light station is a lighthouse is the structure containing the light. A light station is a lighthouse and all of the supporting buildings. There have been a few light stations along the coast that are also a hostel. Pigeon Point is one example.