US Prologue - Big Sur and a big surge

This 5 days of rather spectacular cycling down Big Sur and beyond saw me finally put some reasonable distance between me and Sanny Franny, and also saw me push myself a little more than was perhaps wise. I started in Monterey, and ended up in Santa Barbara for New Year's Eve.

Trees at Point Lobos

More Point Lobos

Things started off serenely enough, with an easy day's ride from Monterey to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, via the beautiful and rugged Point Lobos. The next day was much tougher, with many climbs along the undulating Big Sur coastline. The rewards were spectacular views and vistas at almost every turn. Plunging cliffs, sometimes only a metre or two from the road, warded the vast Pacific, stirred, rolling, and heavy from the recent storms. Occasionally peaceful little coves and bays interrupted the raw coastline as it stretched north and south, flanked by highway one with its tall bridges, narrow shoulders distant horizons. It will be hard to forget those images, as it will be to forget the smell of the ocean and the sweet scent of clover that grew alongside most of the highway in southern California.

The Bixby Bridge

Looking back north

It's a magical place, and I think even moreso on a bicycle. It was also pretty freaking tough riding. Just after sunset I spied a potential place to do some stealth camping - a first for me. I found somewhere out of view of the road at an abandoned forestry post to pitch my tent. I cooked, ate, and slept like a log.

The next morning brought the last of the major climbs, and then a long, fast and ridiculously fun downhill section. I think I cracked 60km/hr for the first time in the ride. It did not feel particularly safe. I did not do that again. Later in the day I met some more bike tourists heading for San Luis Obisbo. The afternoon passed rather quickly chatting with Gabriel and his friends, before I found myself in Los Osos, and about to experience another novelty - staying with a warmshowers host.

Warmshowers, for the uninitiated, is like couchsurfing for bike tourists. It's not as... well it's not what you're thinking. Trust me, you don't need safe search on to put warmshowers.org into your browser. Richard and David, with whom I stayed, were great hosts. They told me all about the local area, gave me advice on routes, and sped me on my way to another warmshowers host, Don, in Nipomo. Don was very kind and generous, and had lots of interesting stories. Of his most prized possessions, is a 1942 Pontiac 'Woody'. If you're anything like me, you probably didn't know that there have been cars with bodies made almost entirely of wood. Don restored one, and now uses the sizeable beast for trips to the beach. Cool!

The next day brought the biggest challenge of the ride so far. I estimated there to be about 130km remaining until Santa Barbara, and I really wanted to be there for New Years Eve, rather than in the no man's land in between. However, I hadn't ridden more than 90km in one day before this, I had been on the bike for four days straight, having done about 300km, and was a little tired and sore. So even with an early start it wasn't going to be easy.

The first 60km wasn't too bad, and I stopped for a big lunch in Lompoc in anticipation of the big surge over the remainder of the day. The next 30km brought a very long climb, but through the beautiful Lompoc valley scenery. A short sharp and appropriately fun descent brought me through a rocky pass to the ocean, where I hit the 100km mark. Although nearly all the climbing for the day was done, it was after this when I really started to struggle. I took some extra breaks, and ate some extra food, but each 10km seemed to come more slowly, and Santa Barbara didn't seem to be getting much closer. I began to wonder if I would actually make it. At some point, I don't quite remember when, I got my second wind. Not long after, I picked up a tailwind too. Good thing too, because by the time I rolled in to Santa Barbara, it was dark and I had racked up 160km. A little more than I had planned. I also did not plan to get lost on the extensive Santa Barbara bike paths, but I did that too. By the time I found my couchsurfers I had racked up 175km, and it had been 12hrs since I started that morning. Ouch. So I was completely wrecked when I met Brooke, my couchsurfing host in Santa Barbara, and I could only manage to hold a can of beer up and sit on the couch in front of a movie until the tick of the clock brought with it a new year. But I had made it!