Ride Day 10

I left Point Mugu early as usual. When I got to Malibu I stopped at a Starbucks and caught up on the internet and ate. Then I hit the road. My goal was San Juan Capistrano. The little hills in Malibu were surprisingly hard for me today. They were just small rolling hills with easy grades but I guess my legs were just still tired from yesterday's century ride of over a hundred miles. It really was not my legs causing the problem but it was my sore butt. The last 8 or 10 miles yesterday were along a road with road expansion caused bumps two inches or so high every 8 to 10 feet. I did not notice yesterday that it was hurting me but today I felt it for sure. The first little bump I hit I groaned and immediately remembered the bumps from the day before. I presume that all the endorphins created on the long ride yesterday were acting to block the pain when it was happening to me. I will watch out for that happening again. Tonight after I completed my ride I was very sore. I hope it is better by morning.

After Malibu it was almost rural until I got to Santa Monica. There was a long slow grade That I had to rest twice on. Then it was city riding the rest of the day. Sometimes very busy city riding. The Santa Monica coast was a bit crazy but when I got to Venice Beach it just got weird. There is a bike trail That starts at the Will Rogers Beach State Park. I took that trail and sort of regret that I did. The path was full of sand which is very difficult to ride on. I was slipping and sliding if not outright just sinking into the irritating sand. The beaches were mostly deserted this early in the morning except for all the street freaks. I enjoy a good freak show but these people were all more clinically insane than they were just freaks. Lots of them seemed angry also. Maybe it is just a reflection of the tough times economically that we are all feeling.

I stopped for a burrito for lunch. I got a double carnitas, brown rice, black beans, cheese, guacamole and lettuce one. With all the meat in it the guy could barely roll it but I gobbled the entire thing. I waited about twenty minutes after eating before I got back on the bike.

After lunch I rode along the beach past LAX and into Manhattan Beach where I met up with another biker and we talked as we rode along. We talked and still rode hard for about ten miles to Redondo Beach where he gave me directions which made it easier for me. I have my Adventure Cycling map but it lacks fine details and I have made a few errors using it so a bit of personal knowledge of the area was nice to have. Plus he was fun to talk to which broke up the monotony of my long hard ride. I tend to ride hard and fast pushing myself basically to the limit all the time. It seems to work for me but when I run out of steam I sputter to a crawl until I catch my breath again.

The ride through Redondo Beach and Long Beach sucked. There was mostly no shoulder or bike lanes to speak of and the cars were skimming past very close to me at high rates of speed on the Pacific Coast Highway. Long Beach is appropriately named because it seemed like forever before I was out of the place. The breaks between the next few cities all had some shoulder but every city like Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport beach were all tough dangerous cities to ride a bike in. There was a long break with good shoulder after those cities until I got to Laguna Beach which I think had the worst bike riding roads of them all. I ended up riding on the sidewalk there a lot. A cop stopped me for riding on the sidewalk in Laguna Beach. I told him the bike was my wheel chair and that I needed to be allowed due to the Americans with disabilities act. He let me go when I pointed out that there was no one else using the side walks and that the road was extremely dangerous so this was the safest alternative. He warned me to walk it when there were pedestrians around and I was off again.

My butt was really sore by now and I knew I wasn't going to be able to ride much further but I made Dana Point just before dark. Long hard day again just like yesterday but tomorrow will be a fairly light day of only about thirty miles. I need the rest to heal this sore ass. More later...

Ride Day 9

After a couple of days rest in Bakersfield while the rain blew itself out I again hit the road heading south. My plan was to ride down to Gorman via Bear Creek Road and then down the other side of the Grapevine to Santa Clarita. I rode the 35 miles or so to where I was meant to hook up with Bear Creek and I ran into dirt roads flooded for irrigation purposes. It was totally impassable with a bike. I sat there and tried to come up with a way but the fact is I was screwed. The only other ways were to head over to Tehachapi and then go down to Palmdale and take 14 or to backtrack 170 miles via 166 to where I left the coast to come to Bakersfield. The other option was a 23 mile ride to the junction of 99 and 5 and hitch hike up and over the Grapevine. That is what I did. I had ridden almost 65 miles already and I was only 25 miles from where I started in the morning.

I got a ride in less than an hour with a friendly fellow bike rider going home to Santa Barbara from a ride up in the Bay Area. He did photography work for a bike parts company called Specialized. We talked about his ride and my ride along the way and he told me my best bet now was to go down to Ventura with him and ride the coastal highway 1 the rest of the way to Oceanside and San Diego. I took his advice.

He dropped me off in Ventura and I rode another three hours South to Point Mugu State Park just South of Oxnard. It was a good ride but it put me over the century mark in miles for the day and I can feel it this morning in my legs and joints. I put up my tent and went straight to sleep for a couple of hours. I woke up around sunrise and took a couple of pics and ate some food and drank some water. A bit of music and I was right back to sleep. In the early morning before the sun came up I heard whales blowing just off the shore. It was too dark to see them but they hung out for a while blowing and snorting then disappeared.

I was awake before the crack of dawn and rode my bike down to Malibu for breakfast and to write this. Now I am off again trying to get to Capistrano to camp for the night. It is a long ride through the cities of LA but I hope to make it otherwise I will need to get a hotel and I can't afford that. More later...

Easy Saturday

Today I took the day off from riding my bike to rest up. I did ride about twenty miles first thing this morning to go get coffee at the Padre Hotel but I did that with no weight on my bike so it was a breeze to go that far round trip. It actually felt good for my legs. The rest of the day I have just dried out my stuf and repacked but mostly just rested quietly all day.

I repaired a few things around the house for Peggy and we watched some movies on TV. She made pasta for dinner and now we are going to watch some more TV. I don't mind watching a bit of TV like this but in general I just don't like to sit and do nothing.

I am contemplating skipping San Diego entirely now. If I cut across the Mohave Desert I might be able to get through the Texas deserts before it is too hot. Those few extra days going to San Diego just might put me in the hotbox in Texas. I will weight the idea tonight and tomorrow but most likely will not decide until I jump on my bike when this storm blows over. It is predicted to end Monday morning around 6AM But I need to leave around that time to make it to the Antelope Valley in one day. I might need to wait until Tuesday to leave. The time constraints are starting to irritate me.

More later...

Ride Day 8

I woke up really stiff this morning. I am sure it is still from the mountain riding I did over the last few days. It took me over half an hour to get loose enough to get out of my tent and go over to the rest room. Once I started moving I loosened up so I packed up camp and left while the rest of the camp was still sleeping. I headed to Bakersfield.

It was almost 140 mile from my camp to the house in Bakersfield so i rode about thirty miles to the main road to Bakersfield route 166 and I decided to hitch hike. I got a ride in less than ten minutes from an oilfield worker going home and towing his trailer. I was very pleased that he stopped as I could have stood there a long time with my bike and stuff. I would not fit in most cars so I pretty much needed a truck to give me a ride.

We had a nice comfortable ride to Bakersfield. We talked about my bike ride and about his family, wife and four kids. He was Laotian and so was his wife. He worked directing drilling directions but was heading home then to Houston for some more training. I enjoyed talking to him.

I rode my bike the last five miles or so to get to the house. I sat down and talked to my friend Peggy and when I tried to get up I was all locked up again. I do need the rest this weekend if I plan on continuing this ride next Monday. Took a shower and soaked in the tub for a bit then put on clean, not sweaty clothes and sat down to update all my computer stuff. Going out for a beer in a few...if I can get up out of this chair again. Again no pics today but I might post some of the road that I took on a drive a few months ago if I have the time. I just added some pics of the road I took earlier. Enjoy life

Ride Day 7

Well much to my own surprise, I did not go to sleep last night until 11pm. A couple of laid back Dutch guys came into the hiker biker camp and we hung out for a few hours. They invited me over for some pasta with sausages in it that they had cooked. The food was good and so was the company. Every year these two take a bike tour somewhere in the world. They have done Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland, and more that I can’t remember right now. After we ate we made a big fire with collected firewood and sat around talking about stuff. It was entertaining enough to keep me awake even though a few hours earlier I felt like I was going to die.

I left the camp at the crack of dawn again to avoid the hot sun later in the day. I rode from Morro Bay through San Luis Obispo. Then I stopped for coffee and checked my online stuff while I enjoyed my coffee and bagel. A short 15 more miles through rolling farmlands and oilfields and I was in Pismo Beach. I ate a nice crab and clam chowder at Splash Restaurant then headed over to set up camp. I met a few nice people in camp that I chatted with, took a shower and am currently doing my stinky sweaty laundry.

I am going to take it easy now for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I want to figure out how to get to Bakersfield for a couple of days. I tried Greyhound but those jerks won’t put bike racks on their bus so The bike has to be boxed and they charge extra for it. I am going to check Amtrak later. Otherwise I will hitch hike to Bakersfield. Lots of people travel back and forth from Pismo to Bakersfield and many of them drive trucks so I think I could find a ride. I have all day to get there and it is only a two hour drive. I would bike it but that might take me two days and I don’t have that much time available to me if I want to get through Texas before the thermometer there breaks through the top.

I ended up going into town and watching the Wisconsin Badgers lose in the sweet sixteen NCAA Tournament. The team pissed me off watching them play at the end of the game. They were behind in points and they were eating clock playing slow which just helped them lose the game. I just do not understand that coaching strategy. I went back to camp and went almost straight to sleep. Strange for me that I did not take a single pic on this leg of the ride so I posted some from a couple months ago when I was in Morro Bay and Pismo Beach.

Ride Day 6

I left my campsite just as dawn was breaking. Again there was a thick marine layer and it was very cold. I bundled up like yesterday and took off. My first few hours were all uphill to Gorda. I was feeling the pain and burn in my legs. I had to stop for rest more than I did yesterday. When I crested a grade and rode downhill I froze my ass off. I took almost no pics because there was nothing to see due to thick fog. I did catch a wild turkey hen on camera that shot out of the forest right in front of me and was so startled to see me that she just ran around in circles while I got my camera out. I tried to take some of the foggy marine layer once I climbed above it but the pics just do not show the awesome beauty of it all. The marine layer did not burn off for most of the morning.

I made if over both peaks of Gorda one 1000’ the other 900’. Then I had a short respite from uphill until the Salmon creek grade. That one is only about 750’ I think it was. I stopped for lunch at Lucia Lodge and had a cheeseburger and pasta salad. It tasted so great to me and the friendly waitress gave me two pitchers of water while I ate, she was greatly appreciated. I could have eaten three plates of the food. I knew that would take away from my hill climbing energy so I just ate the one. Then I hit the road.

There was a lot of down hill next and the marine layer was starting to thin out. Still could not take a pic though. I stopped at the bottom of the hills and had an ice cream bar and bottle of mixed berry juice at Ragged Point. Then I headed toward San Simeon along the mostly flat valley.

There were lots of elephant seals along the beaches near Piedras Blancas Lighthouse as I rode south. I stopped at a couple of beaches to take some pics of the stinky beasts. I had to laugh, I heard a kid ask his father why all the rocks were white and he said somebody paints them all so boats won’t hit them. I used to say the same thing to people that don’t know that birds have bleached almost every rock in the ocean white. I was waiting for him to say who farted because of the smell from the elephant seals but he never did while I was eavesdropping.

I made it to Cambria and stopped for coffee and was able to use the net for a few minutes. I uploaded all my pics to Picasa web albums and read my Facebook and email. Then I made the stupid decision to try to ride all the way to Morro Bay.
I took off and rode hard. The road was mostly flat with a few small grades that I was able to climb easily after the three mountains I climbed earlier today. It took me about four hours to make it to Morro Bay and find my campground which I did without taking a single pic after the elephant seals. I took a shower right away. Then I went down to the wharf and had some clam chowder and a couple of beers. I felt like falling asleep at the bar so I headed back to my campground and played with my computer writing this and listening to music. There is no web here in camp but there are plenty of coffee shops around where I can post this tomorrow. More later because I am falling asleep right now.

Ride Day 5

I started my ride very early in the morning today. There was a marine layer of misty fog in the air and it was cold. I put on my rain jacket and both sweatshirts and hit the road from the north side of Big Sur heading South. I had to immediately climb 800 feet so I warmed up quickly. Off with the rain coat and one sweatshirt to cool down. I would rest often on the steep grades just because I am an out of shape fat old man. Maybe if I keep riding I will get fitter at some point.

I stopped for breakfast at the Big Sur Bakery and it was a good meal. Then I rode on down the south side of Big Sur. A wild turkey burst out of the forest just in front of me. We caught each other off guard and I had time to get my camera out to get a pic of the hen as she ran around in circles until she got her bearings and took off again. I had to put my second sweatshirt back on for the downhill because the cold wet air was cooling my sweaty body so fast I was almost getting hypothermia. I started to shake and shiver which is never a good thing, but luckily there was plenty of uphill to rewarm my cold stiff body.

After the marine layer burned off the views of the mountains and coast were just gorgeous yet again. I took a lot of pics but they just do not capture the real world views. The mist in the air washed out the pics and the views are so large of a scale that they just do not fit in a single picture unless you blew them up to poster size pics. When I looked over the pics I was a bit disappointed with them. I will try harder in the future.

I had lunch on the go of just some power bars and some salami and cheese with a trail mix. I drank all four bottles of water that I was carrying. I need to work on my water use. Smaller sips to wet the mouth and then swallow just enough to keep me hydrated. I did not need to pee all day long so I know it was not too much water. Around two thirty I came to a campground just short of Gorda near Pacific Valley and I was tired so I stopped and made camp. I wanted to go further but there is not much of anything along this stretch of road and I did not want to get caught out overnight without a campsite.

I had some pain problems so I took some narcotics and went straight to sleep. A long hard day on the road but I loved it. Despite the pain I slept hard.