After a hearty breakfast, Ken and I exchanged our contact info and said our goodbyes. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend those days with.
I proceeded towards Capitola by way of Pleasure Point (an awesome surfing beach with practically perfect waves…every wave). I cycled with some University of Santa Cruz students towards the 1. They were headed to their bike workshop. After building a bike from parts, they donate it to the university’s bike library where any student may use it for an entire term. Excellent idea.
As soon as I left them I encountered Brian. He was on his first cycling outing of the season, trying to get into shape for a future bike trip. We ended up talking until Monterey. We detoured to a yacht club so he could show me a photo of his father who was on the wall of all the club’s previous commodores. Just before we parted, I met Bill and Ricardo. They were on a charity fund raising trip from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. They invited me to join them from LA to the border (I should do it so I can say I rode from border to border).
From Monterey I climbed the hill parallel to the 1 in order to avoid the 17-mile ride, which borders the peninsula. I couldn’t care less about seeing millionaire’s homes from afar.
I bought provisions at Carmel’s Safeway’s, knowing full well that anything bought during the Big Sur leg would cost me dearly. A group of Italians were there doing the same; they thought I was nuts for cycling all this distance.
Before reaching the climb towards the campground, I stopped in someone’s driveway for a snack. The gate opened and this large man in a Mercedes pull out and asked me if I was lost. During the conversation I mentioned how lucky he was to live in such a beautiful location. His reply was to shrug his shoulders. Sad.
At Big Sur I had to grit my teeth before handing over $40 to camp at a private site. One State park was closed; the other non-shower site wanted $15. The site was immersed in Redwoods and was very nice; the complimentary coffee and tea was a decent touch.
I proceeded towards Capitola by way of Pleasure Point (an awesome surfing beach with practically perfect waves…every wave). I cycled with some University of Santa Cruz students towards the 1. They were headed to their bike workshop. After building a bike from parts, they donate it to the university’s bike library where any student may use it for an entire term. Excellent idea.
As soon as I left them I encountered Brian. He was on his first cycling outing of the season, trying to get into shape for a future bike trip. We ended up talking until Monterey. We detoured to a yacht club so he could show me a photo of his father who was on the wall of all the club’s previous commodores. Just before we parted, I met Bill and Ricardo. They were on a charity fund raising trip from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. They invited me to join them from LA to the border (I should do it so I can say I rode from border to border).
From Monterey I climbed the hill parallel to the 1 in order to avoid the 17-mile ride, which borders the peninsula. I couldn’t care less about seeing millionaire’s homes from afar.
I bought provisions at Carmel’s Safeway’s, knowing full well that anything bought during the Big Sur leg would cost me dearly. A group of Italians were there doing the same; they thought I was nuts for cycling all this distance.
Before reaching the climb towards the campground, I stopped in someone’s driveway for a snack. The gate opened and this large man in a Mercedes pull out and asked me if I was lost. During the conversation I mentioned how lucky he was to live in such a beautiful location. His reply was to shrug his shoulders. Sad.
At Big Sur I had to grit my teeth before handing over $40 to camp at a private site. One State park was closed; the other non-shower site wanted $15. The site was immersed in Redwoods and was very nice; the complimentary coffee and tea was a decent touch.
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