Muttsta

Day 39 – Feels Like Christmas – 137.23 km
This morning I got a much later start than usual. I decided to sleep in a little since I had stayed up late the previous evening reading Lance Armstrong’s book: “It’s Not About The Bike”. I must say that it was an excellent read, I enjoyed it thoroughly and would really recommend it to others. Anyhow, 10 AM rolled around and I realized that I needed to get rolling as well.

Although it was slightly cloudy in the morning it soon cleared up, providing me with blue skies for the rest of the day. At times the wind was pushing me up hills, but at others it was pushing me back down them. In general the winds blow from the north-west, which is beneficial to me since I am traveling south, but I guess the wind get’s mixed up sometimes.

In the town of Port Orford I passed by a café called the “Wild Wind”. Although I wasn’t overly hungry, the sign on the restaurant read “Internet Access”. There is nothing better than being able to sit in a nice place with my laptop plugged into a power outlet and being able to use the internet. It isn’t the most fun experience in the world to travel around neighborhoods looking for wireless internet access, then having to balance your laptop on your knee while typing.

After I placed my order for a soup and salad the owner of the café came by and asked me what cause I was cycling for as well as some other things about my trip. He must have really liked what I was doing since he told me that he would cover the cost of my lunch! I thanked him sincerely, and being in a better mood already since I had saved $10 ate up my lunch and did all my bureaucratic doings on my laptop. I thought that things couldn’t get any better, but I was wrong. On my way out I was also bestowed with a bag full of baked goodies and two packs of beef jerky. I thank the great folks over at the “Wild Wind” in Port Orford once again!

Being in great spirits I pushed on once more. The road was once again littered with brilliant views of the Oregon shoreline. There were several medium sized climbs: trivial with a tail wind, slightly harder with a head wind. I passed over Oregon’s tallest bridge today: 325 feet. Let me tell you, that’s pretty high, and what a view it was from up there. I wish I could have gotten a picture of this bridge from the side but there were safety barriers all over so I couldn’t get out to the edge of a cliff to take a picture. Perhaps that’s a good thing after all!

I am currently camped out at the Harris Beach campground which is located very closed to Brookings, Oregon. I can hear the waves of the ocean in the distance. It sounds just like those nature sounds CDs you can buy, very relaxing! I am only a few miles from the California state line, which means that tomorrow I will be “California Dreaming”! All in all it was a very manageable day, may there be many, many more just like it!

Muttsta

Will start doing that now, people have mentioned it to me
Personally I find rain to be worse than snow
Snow may be cold, but rain just makes you drenched right through

Muttsta

Day 40 – Into The Woods – 108.30 km
Today in the morning I traveled through my last seven or so miles of Oregon and then made it into California. Yet another state, yet another stepping stone of my epic journey. I’m really surprised at how fast this is all going by, it seems just like yesterday that I landed at Anchorage International Airport.

I must say that it was quite exciting to see my first palm tree of the trip. That’s when it finally hit me as to how far I have actually traveled, since there isn’t any way that palm tree would make it up in Alaska. My joy would soon be subsided as I would soon be entering Redwoods National Park.

I will admit, there were a few decent climbs today. I have gotten lazy since British Columbia as I have been graced with a multitude of flatness, however today that changed. Although I had to struggle a bit, I made it to the tops of the hills with no problem.

The Redwoods are truly a magnificent sight to behold. They are the tallest trees in the world, quite a bit of which reach heights of well over 200 feet. Riding down this road it felt as if I was riding between skyscrapers in a large metropolis. The size of these trees is really something you have to see to behold, as pictures merely do not convey the same effect. The only downside was that these trees provided a large amount of shade in which it was actually quite cold!

Although most of the road today was simply stunning I will not bore you with details. It is best to check out the pictures in my album to see these amazing trees for yourself. Two trees of interest that I saw were the “Corkscrew Tree” and the “Big Tree”. The corkscrew tree simply looks as its name describes, like a corkscrew winding up into the heavens. Quite a neat sight to behold, really makes you wonder how it ended up growing like that. The big tree is once again true to its name, big. It is 304 feet tall with a diameter of 21’ 6” and an estimated age of 1500 years. It really was true to its name, the thing was simply massive!

I am currently camped out at a campground located not far from these magnificent Redwoods by the name of Elk Prairie Campground. I’m really starting to like these hiker/biker campgrounds as they are simply a great deal. Camping today cost me a staggering $3, tax included! Luckily I managed to find myself a new guidebook today, the same one that I lost, so I can find these sites a little easier.

Muttsta

Day 41 – A Step Back In Time - 158.54 km
The day begins just outside of the Redwoods at Elk Prairie Campground. I received a nice and early start as I knew that today would be a longer day. At the next town I stopped by the grocery store to grab some milk, cereal, and bagels; a fine breakfast and lunch! I also dropped by the post office to send some stuff home which I didn’t need anymore.

I moved pretty quickly on highway 101. The highway is now much flatter, but is unfortunately a wide interstate. Although there are wide shoulders, you still need to be very cautious at the on and off ramps as to avoid being hit by traffic. Although the miles go by quicker, they are nowhere as enjoyable as on the scenic side roads.

Right at the entrance to the city of Eukera I experienced my second flat tire of the trip, once again due to a shard of glass being embedded within my poor dying tire. To anymore out there who has ever thrown glass onto the side of the road, I seriously hate you. The wide shoulders on the freeways are nice as they are much safer with respect to traffic, but at the same time they are usually littered with glass and other potentially hazardous obstacles. No matter, I fixed up my flat tire and was good to go. Unfortunately, in the process I had also somehow lost one of my rear break pads. Don’t ask me how, but it happened. I decided to visit a bike shop to get my brakes looked at as they were giving me a little trouble anyhow.

It seems that this area of California is very well known for its’ stunning Victorian buildings. I must say that some of these buildings are very unique and beautiful. They are generally very ornate and encompass bright colors. One building in particular which I liked was the “Carson Mansion”. Unfortunately it was not possible to go inside as it is now a private men’s only club.

Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind I moved on. Highway 101 was once again flat as a pancake with little or no winds to hold me back. I passed through several small towns with nothing interesting in them. The only interesting thing I did was buy a map of California at some gas station, which proved to be useless as it is far too general.

I turned off of the busy highway onto a more scenic route called “The Avenue of the Giants”. I have once again entered the domain of the redwoods. No matter how many times you see these trees, they never cease to amaze you with their size. The ride between these trees provided a nice break from the busy traffic from the highway. I am currently camped in the midst of redwood trees at a place called Burlington Campground, not far from the town of Weott. I had originally planned on staying on a campground two miles before this one, but when I got there I found a sign which told me the campground was now closed. I moved on to find a closed road due to a mud slide. Luckily it was only closed to vehicles and not cyclists, otherwise that would have caused some more delays.

Muttsta

Day 42 – Flats (Tires) and Climbs (Hills) - 115.63 km
Yesterday when I pitched my tent it was already dark, thus I couldn’t really see the beautiful views around me. Today in the morning when I woke up I was in awe as to how beautiful the campground around me was. Redwoods towered into the sky, and in between them all was my humble little tent. No matter how many times I see these trees, they make me gasp in awe each time.

Since I had two punctured tubes I decided I should patch them up in case I get another flat. My tube from yesterday had not one, not two, not three, but four punctures in it. Don’t ask me how that’s even possible, but it somehow happened. After all my handiwork I headed out along the avenue of the giants once more for about 20 miles. I passed through several interesting small towns as well as some neat attractions. I reluctantly paid $2 to see a drive-through Redwood tree, although it was a must see since someone recommended it to me.

After the avenue of the giants ended the road threw me back onto highway 101. It would be smooth sailing for the next while, or so I thought. I felt a little off balance, so I knew something was up. It turns out a received a flat tire in my rear wheel yet again. This is really starting to get quite annoying, but I am intent on riding that tire all the way to San Diego. I swapped the tube out for one I had patched up that morning and was on my way.

About 5 miles later I see that my tire is almost flat once again. No puncture this time, but it turns out that there is some really some hole in my tube that I did not catch in the morning. Great, I fix another flat. I’m pumping and pumping, then boom! Although my tires were under their maximum recommended pressure my tube had exploded. Quite a scary event I must say! It sounded like a gunshot, causing quite the ringing in my ears and causing me to go deaf for a few seconds. Unfortunately the tube was not fixable as the blowout caused a nice five inch gash in it.

Shell shocked and displeased with the fact that I had to change out my tube three times today, I moved on. I made it to the town of Legett where I took a short break to “borrow” someone’s wireless internet as I like to call it and update all of you back home. The climb out of Legett contains the largest climb of the whole United States portion of the Pacific Coast route. Many cyclists despise this climb, others simply fear it. Seriously, they’re over-exaggerating. Although it was the first decent climb I have had since British Columbia, it is still a bunny hill in comparison with some of the other hills I have conquered. I actually quite enjoyed this portion of the ride. There were barely any cars, great views, and the downhill ride from the top made it all worth it. There is nothing like the feeling of rushing around a corner at 50 km/h.

Now out of the forests and on the coast, I am currently staying at the Westport Union Landing State Beach. Once again I only paid $3 for camping, but this time there isn’t any showers or electricity. No worries, the location of this campground more than makes up for it. I am right beside the Pacific Ocean, thus today the sound of waves will lull me to sleep.

Remember to check out my website for pictures!

The Smokester

Holy Cow! You're really moving. It's possible you will be at San Francisco (or at least on the north side of the Golden Gate) by Saturday.

Muttsta

Day 43 – From Costal Cliffs to Rolling Meadows - 127.38 km
Last night’s sleep wasn’t terrible by any means, but it wasn’t exactly as relaxing as I had hoped. The sharp winds from the ocean made it seem like my tent was situated within a wind tunnel. But no worries, I still managed to get enough rest to be up on my feet this morning, and that’s all that matters.

So far the coast of California has been much rockier than that of Oregon. Additionally, there are much taller rock cliffs which seem to just plummet into the water. It’s quite interesting riding your bicycle on a road where there is a 200 foot drop to the ocean just beyond the turn and no safety barrier. Kind of makes you think twice before taking that turn at top speed! Talk about a bad place for your brakes to fail.

Today’s road was not very interesting, luckily my iPod managed to saved me from boredom. The road hugged the coast for awhile where at times the wind would help me along by pushing me, while at others hinder me by pushing me back. There were a few decent climbs which I was not expecting, but I somehow managed to crawl up them. Afterwards the road pushed slightly inland where it passed through some flatter terrain. The rolling meadows were a nice change of scenery from the towering Redwoods as well as the rocky coast.

I must say that there are some interesting people here in California. Today in the morning while buying milk I saw a guy who looked exactly like the mad doctor from the “Back to the Future” movies. I so wish I could have gotten a picture, but he too looked a little crazy so I didn’t want to risk it.

I did however manage to shatter my previous top speed today. While on a downhill today I reached a speed of 78 km/h. So what if it was only for about two seconds, it was still fast! The wind is really nice when it’s at your back, not so when it’s hitting you from the front!

Currently I am camped at the Guala Point Regional Park campground. I am starting to feel the effects of the ridiculously high prices of southern California; today I paid a staggering $5 for a campsite as opposed to the regular $3 or $4! I only have 114 miles to go to get to San Francisco, so the next two days shouldn’t be too bad. I will be taking a day off in San Francisco to see the city, I figure I will have earned a break after 45 days!

Remember to check out my website for pictures!

Muttsta

It is currently Saturday and I am writing from a cafe here in San Fran
Going to finally take a day off tommorow! Whew!

Muttsta

Day 44 – The Road is Long and Winding - 137.65 km
Today in the morning, as you may recall from yesterday, I started off from the seriously overpriced (although very nice) Guala Point campground. I set off southwards once again. I stopped at a corner store to pick up my obligatory half box of cereal and one quart of milk for breakfast, then once again moved on.

I came upon a historical site called “Fort Ross”. It turns out that this fort was constructed by Russian settlers back in the 1800s as a base for their trading operations here in America. I had no idea that the Russians ever had a settlement here in America! The fort turned out to be awesome and a very worthwhile side trip. I got a bunch of great pictures there and a nice little break from cycling.

After Fort Ross I traveled over what seemed an endless cycle of ups and downs. Eventually I made it to the town of Bodega Bay. I occasionally use this list called the “Warm Showers List”. It is basically a list of people you can call to ask if you can spend the night at their house. It is exclusively by cyclists for cyclists. When I was checking this list out earlier I recalled that there was someone on it from Bodega Bay, and that they also owned a candy store in town. I figured I might as well drop in and say hello!

I walked into “Candy & Kites” and was right away asked where I was traveling from. I told them all the details and asked if they were in fact the people from the list. They were delighted that I had dropped by and even gave me a bag full of free salt water taffy! At this point I was kind of regretting that I had to push on! I tell you, some of the best salt water taffy on the coast; if you’re ever in these parts be sure to drop by here and try some!

From Bodega Bay the route pushes inward, becoming much hillier and hotter. In order to prepare myself for this tougher section of the road I bought a pound of delicious California cherries by the side of the road, which I snacked on while riding. The inland section proved to be much harder than I had supposed, and for all the wrong reasons! The road was indeed very hilly, but I wasn’t expecting was the very strong headwinds that I had the battle. Additionally, as opposed to being hotter it actually proved to be much colder since it was windy and cloudy. No matter, those two things were trivial, what really killed me was allergies.

I have a terrible allergy when it comes to pollen. It makes me sneeze like crazy and it makes my eyes burn so bad that I wish I could gouge them out with my fingernails. Luckily my mom packed eye drops into my first aid kit, which provided at least some degree of relief, otherwise I would have gone crazy! You can throw gale winds and mountains that reach into the clouds at me, but when you toss microscopic sized pollen particles at me I will fall to my knees in pain and suffering.

Much pain and suffering later, I made it to the Samuel P. Taylor State Park, where I paid a very modest $3 for camping. From here I only have about 25 miles to San Francisco, so it should be a really nice and easy day tomorrow. On a side note, today I almost had a heart attack as my laptop didn’t work! I powered it on but it stayed frozen at the boot screen. I am typing this journal a day later, you will find out how my laptop dilemma was fixed in my next entry!

Muttsta

Day 45 – Over The Golden Gate – 55.87 km
I purposely caught up on miles the last few days so that today could be a nice and relaxing day into San Francisco. Luckily it proved to be a short day mileage wise, because it was the most confusing day of cycling I have ever endured. Today was a day full of twists and turns, side roads and alley ways.

The first ten miles or so out of the campground were fairly straightforward, following only one road through some rolling fields. At this point I am keeping an eye out for one of those things: a library or a computer shop. As you may recall from yesterday, my laptop was non-operational. This was really bad since I had to get in touch online with the person I would be couch surfing with in order to get their exact address. At this point I was heading into San Francisco but no idea where exactly!

Soon afterwards started the suburban sprawl and what seemed to be an endless city. The route took a combination of residential roads, bicycle paths, alley ways, and even major roads. Nearly the whole time I had my trusty guidebook in hand to make sure I didn’t miss a turn somewhere. I stopped at a gas station in order to pick up two maps; one of the county that I was in currently and one of San Francisco. I have found out on this trip that it is a very bad idea to visit any large city without a decent map. It is well worthwhile to spend a few bucks on a map but to save yourself a lot of headaches!

I managed to hunt down a library, where I was graciously allowed to use one of their computers to access the internet. I marked down the locations of several computer shops on my map as well as the address of the person I would be staying with tonight. I headed off to the computer shop, which I managed to find without great difficulty. I bring my laptop inside and power it up in order to show the guy what’s wrong with it. I was absolutely dumbfounded when it worked perfectly fine. I had tried it at least ten times the night before and it did not work once, but now it was working just fine. I swear, the guy in that computer shop must have thought that I was crazy or something.

With my laptop miraculously fixed I finally headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco. The bridge really is quite the sight to behold; truly beautiful indeed. What the pictures do not show is the absolutely chaotic headwinds on that bridge. These winds literally rivaled gale wind speeds. You had to be careful not to be blown off your bicycle! The view from the bridge was phenomenal. What I found kind of funny was that there were telephones along the side of the bridge which were advertised as having two uses: emergency phone and crisis counseling.

I bicycled a little around San Francisco and then took a nice long break in a coffee shop. The streets and buildings here have a really unique feel to themselves. It’s also kind of interesting to see all these power lines running overhead. The city is very hilly, which makes it both beautiful and challenging for bicycling in. I also checked out a park here called Golden Gate Park, which proved to be a very beautiful park where I got a few really nice pictures.

My couch surfing host, Daniel, gave me a call in order to give me directions on how exactly to get to his house from where I was. He told me that there was a pretty steep hill in order to get there, and he sure wasn’t kidding. It’s a good thing I had been trained on those 14% grades over in British Columbia, or I would be absolutely dying here! I managed to find the house without too many difficulties and was then treated to an absolutely awesome stir fry dinner with tofu. There is nothing better than a great meal after a day of cycling!

Daniel marked a bunch of points of interest on my map which I will visit tomorrow. I have decided it will be much easier to visit the city by bicycle rather than by foot or bus. I mean, it’s just so much quicker and more convenient to travel by bicycle. So much for a day of rest!

Muttsta

Day 46 – San Francisco – 0.00 km
I know, I know, today’s title isn’t the most creative thing in the world, but it’s the best I could come up with. Although officially I didn’t do any mileage for my trip today, I did bicycle all around San Francisco. I assure you, even without all my baggage this was no easy feet. The hills I have encountered here are the steepest I have encountered on my whole trip, even those in British Columbia cannot compare.

The day started off with me heading out to a place called “Twin Peaks”. This is quite simply a large hill (with two peaks of course) from which you can catch a really great view of the city. From here I made my way down a busy road called Market St. and then turned off to a well known park called Mission Dolores Park. I decided I had enough of viewing the city from above and that it was time to dive straight into it. I first visited the city hall, which is an absolutely amazing building. It is quite possibly even more beautiful than the state capitol building.

I was lucky that I was visiting the city on a Sunday. There was less traffic than usual and there were a bunch of other interesting activities going on. I managed to visit three separate festivals as well as a farmers market today. It’s always nice to kick back, eat a little junk food, and listen to some live music!

Next I headed down to the coast, where I followed King St. all along the piers here in San Francisco. This area is simply stunning. The road parallels the bay, palm trees line the road, and countless interesting artworks and buildings line the road. Unfortunately, this also means that the area is filled with swarms of tourists. Normally I have to weave between cars in traffic, but today I was simply weaving between pedestrians.

Deciding that a break was in order I headed to my second favorite store after Tim Hortons, Starbucks. I absolutely adore their iced frappuchinos, however I despise their price tag. Nevertheless I decided to try the orange crème frappuchino today, which was deliciously refreshing.

Once again energized I moved along the piers. The piers are filled with countless restaurants, cafes, as well as other tourist attractions. Pier 39 is especially famous, and likewise very crowded. I tried to get in there with my bicycle, but there was simply no way to navigate. I will return there tomorrow on foot!

From the piers I climbed a fatally steep hill. It was bad, seriously. People who were walking on the side of the road were actually cheering me on as I struggled upwards. It was honestly the steepest hill I have ever climbed up. Had I stopped pedaling I probably would have started rolling backwards! At the top of this hill I headed down a famous section of a street called Lombard. This section of the street is so steep that it has a series of tight switchbacks just so that it’s possible to drive down. The road is so steep that there are stairs on the sides of the road for people to walk up. Let’s say that it was quite an interesting experience biking down that!

Next I visited a famous hill called “Telegraph Hill”. Once again another climb, but I was rewarded with a great view of the city. Apart from the Coit Tower on top of the hill, Telegraph Hill is also famous for its’ population of wild parrots, which are descended from escaped or released pets. It’s not everyday that you see hundreds of wild parrots in the middle of a bustling city!

My next stop of the day was in Chinatown. If there are two things I absolutely love its bubble tea and Chinese food, so of course I managed to hunt down both of those here. If you have never tried bubble tea before you absolutely must try it. It is most commonly served as an iced beverage with a choice of a variety of flavors and contains these little black jelly balls called tapioca on the bottom. Although it may look kind of funny, it is mouthwateringly amazing. The Chinatown here in San Francisco was truly neat, it made me feel just as if I were back in Shanghai again.

From here I visited several more city parks which had a variety of other interesting buildings ranging from a windmill to a palace. After a long day of exploring I made my way back to where I was stay with my host Daniel for the night. An awesome guy who not only put me up for a few nights in San Francisco, but also helped me out tremendously by giving me tons of recommendations on what to see in the city and how to go about doing it. If you’re reading this, thanks again!

All in all today was not exactly a relaxing day, but it was a day in which I saw a great deal of interesting things. My legs are sore and I’m sure that my brakes feel the same pain. Tomorrow I will be taking a ferry out to Alcatraz at 1 PM, where I have a private tour scheduled thanks to Raybo from BikeForums.Net. I will be taking the subway downtown as I cannot bring my bicycle with me to Alcatraz. Afterwards I will push on south out of San Francisco to a campground not too far away. It should be another nice day!

Be sure to check out the album on my website for a bunch of photos!

ronzorini

Hey Michal,

If you need a place to stay in the Los Angeles area, just PM me. As you probably know, there aren't any campgrounds in the immediate area. I live a few miles from the Pacific Coast route.

Muttsta

Day 47 – Alcatraz and Onwards – 61.16 km
I decided that a trip to San Francisco would not be complete if I did not go visit the infamous island of Alcatraz. I was thinking of going to see this on Sunday, but Ray from over at bikeforums.net volunteered to take me on a private tour on Monday. How could I turn an offer like that down?

Since no bicycles are allowed on the ferry or the island I had to resort to my second best mode of transportation, my feet. I tell you, I felt crippled without my bicycle. This walking thing is so inefficient! No matter. I headed off to the subway station in order to catch the subway to the main station downtown. Since the machines took only change I had to put in a dollar into the change machine. I thought the machine ripped me off when it gave me only one coin, but it turns out that these machines give out those one dollar coins. I have never seen one yet, so I obviously thought it was the coolest thing ever. People behind me must have thought I was crazy or something.

The subway ride downtown was fairly uneventful. It was just like a subway ride in any other city, with the subway cars being jam packed way beyond capacity. When I made it downtown I decided to go check out Pier 39 since yesterday I couldn’t really get inside there with the ridiculous swarms of people present. Being as today was Monday, it was nowhere as busy as the day beforehand. The pier is basically a series of shops, restaurants and other neat things. The really cool thing about it is that there are no stores or restaurants of any national chains there, so everything there is native to San Francisco in some way.

Some highlights of the pier included but were not limited to: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (Forest Gump fans rejoice), Hard Rock Café, a store with nothing by socks, a store with nothing but magnets, a huge store with nothing but candy, a store which sold nothing but things from Alpaca. I swear, you can find the weirdest stores here in San Francisco. I will admit that some of those candy stores had a great selection of stuff, but their prices were ridiculously high. I saw a bar of European chocolate for $4 which back in Windsor I can buy for a mere $1.50 Canadian!

After relaxing on the pier for a few hours it was time to catch my boat over to Alcatraz. The ferry ride itself was fairly short, lasting perhaps 15 minutes. When I arrived on the island I met up with Ray, who would be giving me a private behind the scenes tour of Alcatraz. Although Alcatraz is best known as a federal penitentiary which housed the nations worst criminals, it turns out that it’s history stretches back much further. It was previously used as both a military fortress as well as a military prison.

One thing I found very neat is that the coast of the island was blasted away so that there would be no suitable landing spots for ships. The only place where boats could land was at the docks, which were heavily protected by cannons. Although it must say it is kind of humorous that in all the years of the fortresses operation they never once had to fire their cannons!

The prison itself was simply awesome not only from a historical point of view but also from a photography point of view. Ray showed me around every nook and cranny of the prison, even taking me off into closed off areas where other tourists were not allowed. Thank you again Ray, it made my Alcatraz experience something truly unique! I managed to get a ton of neat pictures, I could explore this place for days! If you are ever in San Francisco the prison is definitely worth checking out. It would be so neat to be able to spend a night there!

Just to clarify for everyone, it is fairly certain that no one ever escaped from Alcatraz. Several people did make it off the island, but were soon after apprehended. Five are ‘missing’, but are presumed to have drowned in the waters of the bay. The temperature of the water is anywhere from 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine that with the fact that there are decent waves and that it’s 2200 yards to San Francisco from the island and you have a slight problem. Even the most excellent of swimmers would have huge issues here.

After returning from Alcatraz to San Francisco I headed back to Daniel’s house (my host for the previous two evenings) in order to pick up my bicycle and all the gear that I had left there. I once again took the subway, which is always a very efficient means of transportation in any large city. I would have had some serious trouble without Daniel’s help here in San Francisco. He not only gave me a place to stay, but also recommended the best things to see in the city as well as how to get to them. Not to mention, he is also a very cool guy to just chat with!

Once again on my bicycle I headed southwards out of San Francisco to the town of Half Moon Bay. Although the ride today was fairly short, it was not easy. I made it out of San Francisco late, at 6 PM, thus I had only three hours to complete all my mileage for the day. This would not be a problem were it not for the unavoidable hills and chaotic headwinds I encountered along the way. The hills I could manage with no problem, but the winds I got hit with were truly insane. You know that the wind is strong when you have problems going downhill in your lowest gear. Not to mention, you have to hold on to your handlebars for dear life and hope you don’t get blown off your bicycle, or even worse, into traffic.

No worries, I made it to Half Moon Beach State Park just before dark. The park entrance was closed, but I snuck it anyway. Normally they have envelopes where you deposit your payment and a slip you detach to keep as a receipt. It seems this campground doesn’t have such a service. Needless to say I am currently camped unregistered, hopefully a park ranger doesn’t come knocking on my tent door!

Muttsta

Day 48 – The Winds Must Be Confused - 112.50 km
Today in the morning at my campsite there were several other cyclists, and I must say, some of them were very strange. One cyclist in particular caught my attention. He was a man in his late fifties with long, white, dreaded hair. He looked like a total hippie. Not only that, but he also said he was a church minister and that although he did not drink, he loved to smoke marijuana. According to him, nowhere in scripture does it say it’s wrong! I tell you, you sure meet some strange people in California!

Most people bicycle the United States portion of the Pacific Coast from North to South for one reason: wind. Winds typically blow from the North-West, thus pushing you nearly effortlessly along the coast. It seems that these last few days the winds have confused their directions.

For the first five hours of the day I encountered some of the most vicious headwinds that I have ever had the displeasure of encountering. They were very strong, nearly throwing me off my bicycle more than once. It also happened to be a cloudy day, so it was absolutely freezing cold. These winds kept blowing and blowing for hours without stopping to give me a break. It was especially bad near the beaches when the sand started to hit me along with the wind, quite painful. I was really struggling. I was moving at a snails pace on straight and downhill sections of the road in my lowest gear. Let’s not even mention the up hills! As if things weren’t bad enough, I also got a flat tire. Luckily being an expert bicycle mechanic (I wish), I was able to change it quickly and be once again slowly on my way.

Much pain, suffering, and breaks later, the winds decided to finally give me a little break. Although there was still a headwind, it was nowhere as strong and thus I was able to make up some lost mileage. The road today passed by numerous beaches and fields, both of which I had seen plenty of before, so it was actually quite dull. The bouncing rhythms of my iPod were the only thing that kept me from falling asleep.

I passed through the city of Santa Cruz which is quite a nice place. There was a very nice bicycle path along the coast which also leads next to their famous boardwalk. The boardwalk basically consists of an amusement park with numerous rollercoaster’s, a bunch of restaurants, as well as a casino. Unfortunately, I did get lost in this city for awhile. There are sign which indicate where the bicycle path goes. However, sometimes a sign is omitted or stolen, and although you were supposed to make that turn back there, you keep going straight. No worries, I consulted a map and made my way back to the correct road.

I am currently camped at the Sunset Beach State Park Campground. The original plan was to make it a slightly longer day and arrive in the city of Monterey, however I did not anticipate the delays of the mornings wind. No matter, I am still ahead of schedule, so no need to worry.

The only power outlet I could find at this campground was conveniently located right inside the bathroom beside the sinks. Here I plugged in my phone and laptop and began to work away feverishly. It was kind of funny to see the expressions of people in the bathroom. They ranged from confusion to embarrassment to simply not caring. I mean, it’s not every day you see a person set up a mobile office in a bathroom!

The campsite where I am found at also happens to be conveniently found next to a very large field of strawberries. Not being able to resist such a delicious snack, I could not resist and had to try a few. Under the cover of night I took my flashlight and headed out into the field. Very sneakily I snacked until I could snack no more. What a great location for a campsite!

Muttsta

Day 49 – Unexpected Hills - 144.90 km
I am by no means a morning person. Although the sun may rise at six or so, I will still wake up at seven thirty or eight. This must be of course followed by some snooze time. I will then eat breakfast and pack up my tent. All in all, I end up hitting the road anywhere between nine and ten.

Even with my late start I made it to Monterey quite quickly. It was also quite the boring road through endless fields of strawberries and artichokes. In Monterey I found a restaurant which was equipped with wireless internet and updated you all back home. This unfortunately took up quite a bit of my time. I had intended to visit the city of Monterey a little bit today, but since I wanted to catch up on my mileage a little bit there was no way I could.

I pushed on through Monterey. Unfortunately I did not have a good map of the city, and the route that my guidebook recommended was quite brutal to say the least. Bicycles were not permitted on this stretch of highway 1, and my guidebook directed me to the summit of the highest hill in the city and then back down. It was not a climb that I was expecting or looking forward to, but I determined it would be better to follow a route I know is right rather than waste time being lost.

Past Monterey I received yet another flat tire. This really started to annoy me. I went over 4,500 km without a single flat tire, and now on roads which are better condition I am getting one after another. May I also point out that every single flat tire I have received has been in my rear wheel. I decided it was time to finally switch this rear tire out for my brand new spare. I am still having new tires shipped to myself in San Diego so that I am prepared for Central America!

From Monterey I still had 60 miles of pavement to cover and only five and a half hours to do it. Normally this wouldn’t be too bad, but I had underestimated the road. Although the road was beautiful with cliffs which dived into the ocean, it was also quite hilly. There were many climbs and descents with not many flat sections. I took only several short breaks and managed to make it to the campsite with thirty minutes of sunlight to spare. My legs are sore from all this climbing and the longer day. I would have really been in trouble if the winds were working against me today. I have about 190 miles to go until I reach Santa Barbara, so I can take these next three days at a slightly more leisurely pace!

The place where I am staying today, Kirk Campground, is a very popular stop for cyclists. Today there are seven other cyclists apart from myself here. Three other cyclists around my age are also headed to Santa Barbara, so I may see them yet again up ahead. We have decided to collaborate on breakfast tomorrow since I have an entire box of cereal as well as half a gallon of milk, whereas they have pancakes and hash browns. What a feast it shall be!

Muttsta

Day 50 – A Castle Filled With Treasures - 108.60 km
Today’s morning was the most eventful yet. As you may recall from yesterday’s entry, the large group of us cyclists basically all decided to share the food we had. It ended up working out great since we all had a little variety of stuff as opposed to the same old thing as always. Camped next to us at the hiker/biker sites was a guy who came in on a motorcycle and was there his eighth day. In the morning they came to evict him, but this guy was really putting up a struggle. It led to a shouting match between him and the park rangers. Finally they gave up and decided to call the police, then this guy came over and started whining about why we didn’t come help him. Since I was tired and simply didn’t care, I told the guy exactly what was on our minds, and needless to say he became quite offended, but eventually left us in peace.

With that behind me I set off. The first thirty kilometers or so were not very easy as they were once again quite hilly just as during the previous day. Luckily today was a nice day with respect to winds, as during the whole day I had a very nice tailwind. Afterwards the road flattened out significantly, so I was able to make great time. Since today I needed to only go to a certain campground I decided to see some sights along the way.

The first stop of the day was at a section of coast that is a breeding ground for the once nearly extinct elephant seals. They have now decided to breed here on this section of the coast where they are coming back in large numbers. When I saw them all lying on the beach I thought at first that they were all dead. They just lie in the sand and relax, throwing sand on top of themselves to stay cool.

The next stop of the day was at a famous ranch called Hearst Castle. It was the most elaborate ranch that a certain very wealthy newspaper mogul named William Hurst owned. It sits on tens of thousands of acres of land and even had its own private zoo. The living area was made up of three separate guest houses as well as the main house. It turns out that Mr. Hurst was also a true fanatic when it came to collecting precious art, and thus he amassed a private collection of over 22,000 pieces. They range from famous French tapestries to ancient Roman mosaics and even Egyptian sculptures. The ranch was a frequent visiting place for famous people of the day whom Mr. Hurst would invite over for a visit. They ranged from avionics experts such as Mr. Lindenberg to Hollywood stars such as Catherine Hepburn.

The ranch was truly an impressive building, definitely one of the most exquisite that I have seen. The style at times is strange as it mixes ancient Greek and Egyptian styles with medieval and everything in between, but it seems to work in some mysterious way. There is an enormous and beautifully decorated outdoor swimming pool, lined with marble statues and columns. There is as well as another indoor swimming pool where the floor tiles are coated with 24 karat gold. Let’s not forget about the exquisite dining hall from which the production crew of the Harry Potter movies took sketches in order to model it into what we know to be as the dining hall in Hogwarts. There is also that movie theatre that I almost neglected to mention. Basically the castle is simply a work of art, a marvel that is truly priceless and something that is a must see if in this region of California.

From the Hearst Castle it was fairly close to Morro Bay, which is where I am staying tonight. For dinner today I devoured an entire pizza because I managed to get a good deal on one. This also gave me a chance to charge up all my electronically gadgets. The campground is actually about three or four miles past the city, but that’s not too bad! The nice thing about this campground is that the showers are free and not coin operated like at other campgrounds. It’s kind of strange taking a shower without soap or shampoo (mine ran out), but I make do with what I have!

Day 51 – The Rising Cost of Water - 114.53 km
Today in the morning I was full of energy and thus decided to get a nice and early start. I was packed and on my way out of the campground by 9:03 AM. Everyone else was still drowsy and waking up while I was pedaling away. I must admit that today’s road was mind numbingly boring. I passed through miles upon miles of fields.

On the up side, bicycling through these fields is also tremendously easy. The miles seem to just melt away. In order to break the monotony of my ride I decided to stop at one of those fruit stands and pick up some strawberries. The smallest size they sold was a two pound box, which I could not resist buying for an excellent price of $4. For that price it’s not worth sneaking around for strawberries in the middle of the night!

Today I also passed through the town of Pismo Beach. It is a neat beach town just like the countless others I have passed along the way. Here I saw a bakery where they had cinnamon buns. If you have been following my journal you very well know that I am both an addict and connoisseur of cinnamon buns. Unfortunately, the ones I sampled today were below my standards. Although the buns themselves were not terrible, they were coated with a sheet of sugar about a quarter of an inch thick. The quest for the perfect cinnamon bun continues!

From Pismo Beach I once again headed out into the great Californian agriculture fields where I passed through miles of artichokes and strawberries. The road later branched off to the side, where I had to endure a pretty decent climb over several hills. Although this was much harder than the rolling hills, it was a very welcome change. Once over the hill I descended to the city of Lompoc, where the first thing I saw was a Chinese buffet.

As you also can probably tell from my journals, I love Chinese food, so I could obviously not resist an all you can eat buffet for the low price of $9.99. At this price it’s really not worth it for me to go to the grocery store and actually cook dinner for several reasons. I will never be able to prepare something as good as this on the road, I will never get such a variety of food, and I won’t be able to charge up all my electronics. Although I must say that the food was very good, I was disappointed. This was the second time in my life that I have been charged for water in all my dining experiences in the United States. No, not bottled water, but simple tap water with ice. I was charged $1.07 in addition to the cost of the buffet. Honestly, how cheap do you have to be? Needless to say, I didn’t leave a tip.

I am currently camped at a campground just a little outside of Lompoc. My guidebook did not mention if it had a hiker/biker campground, but I decided to check anyway and luckily it did. If it did not I would have to pedal another 23 miles to the next campground. Tomorrow: Santa Barbara!

pmseattle

Muttsta, is your rack a Topeak Explorer ? If so, how has it held up so far ?

Muttsta

Day 52 – Party Up! – 107.28 km
I set out in the morning once again full of energy. The first eighteen or so miles of the day consisted of a slight uphill portion, which was then followed by a very enjoyable and steep two miles of downhill. Don’t get me wrong, it was hot. It is going to be much hotter in Mexico, where I will most likely have to take siestas during the middle of the day to avoid getting heat stroke.

I made it to Goleta, which is practically connected to Santa Barbara, in record time. In fact, I made it here about 1 PM whereas I was supposed to be here at 5 PM! Deciding to take advantage of the extra time I had I decided it was time to do some maintenance on my bicycle. I had to change out my rear cassette (the gears in the back) as they had been worn down after so many miles as well as my chain. Since I was changing my gearing anyway I decided to go with something that would be slightly easier on my legs on the uphill portions as I hear that the Baja region of Mexico is quite mountainous. $112 later my bicycle was once again in perfect working condition. Although I can’t really complain since parts alone cost me $80, and I also bought a pair of socks for $11. Although very pricy, these expensive socks last forever, as an added bonus the color matches my bike. I decided that it was time for a new pair since my old one’s smelled worse than death itself.

Even after my bicycle was fixed I still had plenty of time to spare, so I decided to head down to downtown Santa Barbara. Although this was about 7 miles away or so, it proved to be a very worthwhile trip. The town itself is very beautiful; the architecture resembles a Mexican look. The streets are lined with chic shops as well as towering palm trees. I of course just had to stop into a Starbucks for a frappuchino. Santa Barbara and the surrounding area is however a very expensive place in which to live. In fact, on my way into town I saw a sign advertising homes from the low two millions.

I just so happened to pick one of the best weekends of the year to come to Santa Barbara, as today happened to be the summer solstice festival. Let me tell you, these people really know how to party. The downtown area was filled with music and people. I then headed over to a certain park a little further from the center where I heard the bulk of the festivities were going on. Here were found countless food tents, live music, other entertainment, as well as thousands of people. I must say that I was quite impressed. It seems that this is in fact quite the party town since University of California: Santa Barbara was voted the number one party school in the United States several years ago. If I went here I doubt I would get much studying done!

At this point I got in touch with sygyzy from Anandtech, more commonly known to the world as David, who I would be staying with tonight. He invited me over to a house party a little ways away from the park, how could I turn that down? Here the spirits flowed freely and there was as much food as one could eat. A live band played on the porch and everyone simply relaxed on the lawn. After being all partied out we headed on a long trek back to David’s car so that I could drop my bags off in his trunk. As much as he would have wanted to give me a ride back to his place, it just wasn’t physically possible. Even so, just removing my bags was a great help as riding without those is virtually effortless, feeling as if a lead ball and chain have been removed from my foot

Over at David’s place I was able to do laundry for the first time in quite a long while, I won’t say exactly how long in order to avoid scaring you all. Afterwards we headed back downtown in order to grab something to eat. This time I didn’t really feel like biking half an hour each way in the dark, so I decided to get a ride. We went to a very cool restaurant called “The Palace Grill”. Although not cheap, the food was truly excellent. You have to spoil yourself every once in awhile!

Being all full we decided to head back to David’s place. Being as it was still early we had to pass the hours by somehow. We decided to watch not one, but two movies. Today’s movies included: ‘Vacancy’ and ‘The Proposition’. It’s kind of funny that I watched more movies today than I have in the whole last two months!

Day 53 – Suburban Sprawl - 110.56 km
Today in the morning I awoke refreshed on a very comfy couch. I take the term couch surfing quite literally! Sygyzy, or as the rest of the world likes to call him, David, made us an excellent breakfast of pancakes. Best of all was the true Canadian syrup that accompanied them. A taste of home!

Before I head out onto the road David gave me some cycling specific, scientifically engineered food. The first were some organic, electrolyte filled shark gummy bears, which I must say were actually quite good. The second of which was something called ‘Gu’. Basically the name says it all: it’s a goo. Although they claim its orange flavored, I can hardly say that it tasted like oranges at all. Sure, it may be full of vitamins and electrolytes, but that goo tasted like… I can’t even find the words to describe it, but it was pretty bad. The things I do to stay well nourished on this trip!

Today’s road wasn’t difficult due to winds or hills, but it was simply tiresome. The challenges started off right from the very morning. David told me I should take a bike path that runs through the University of California: Santa Barbara campus as it is a bicycle path on which there are no cars. Not a bad idea, but he omitted a small detail, there’s a bunch of bike paths there and they all look identical! The path I was supposed to take was only labeled in certain areas, but there were countless twists and turns. I felt as if I were in a maze! Eventually I managed to make it out in one piece, but boy was my head spinning! Both the campus and the city of Santa Barbara itself are very nice, as I also mentioned yesterday. The town simply has a very enjoyable and laid back feel to it which is quite relaxing. Today I took the bicycle path along the beach, which also provided me with great views of the ocean and the palm tree lines boulevards.

Nearly the whole time I was riding through towns and cities. This is convenient as there are always places to stop and grab a bite to eat, but at the same time this is also quite a hassle. You have to be extra cautious of traffic, especially when bicycling on busy freeways. Additionally, stop lights and stop signs are quite a pain since you have to stop and unclip your shoes. I’ve actually developed a bad habit of running quite a bit of these if they are only three-ways, where there is no traffic on my side. Although not the safest thing in the world, it saves me a bunch of time.

Earlier someone left me a comment that should a see a place called In-N-Out Burger I must absolutely drop by. Anytime anyone leaves me a suggestion, I must of course follow through on it, so when I saw this place today I dropped in. This is simply a burger joint where the menu basically consists of three options: burger with two beef patties and two slices of cheese, burger with one beef patty and one slice of cheese, burger with one beef patty. All of these are served with lettuce and all that other good stuff, then they come with fries and a drink on the side.

The décor of the place is quite neat as it has the style of an old retro burger joint, but I must say that the food was substandard. The fries were truly quite miserable and in fact were almost painful to digest, but as I need my nutrition I struggled through them anyway. The burger was actually half decent for being fast food, but I must say that I have had better. I guess it’s just hard to compare a mere burger such as this one to the likes of a delicious two pound burger that I was served in Vancouver. All in all, not the worst place in the world, but then again nowhere near one of my favorites.

Thus far I have encountered some strange people as well as some strange signs here in California. Today I saw a sign near the road that almost made me fall off my bike not only from shock but also from laughter. The sign read, and I quote directly: “Nude Girls Car Wash & ‘Hot’ Wax”. Unfortunately I was a little short on time so I did not sidetrack in order to see what was going on (for educational purposes of course). Either way, pictures from such a car wash probably wouldn’t be too appropriate for this blog! These crazy Californians I tell you!

The road later left the cities for a bit and headed next to a very large air force facility which seemed to stretch on and on forever. This provided me with a much needed break from the hustle and the bustle of the city. From what I have heard the next few days of riding will be quite challenging as they will be always spent in the cities, following countless twists and turns on numerous bicycle paths. As for now, I am currently camped at the Sycamore Canyon Campground where I was charged only a mere $3 for camping.

Muttsta

Yup, nice and cheap
It's the one with the disc mounts since I have disc brakes in the back and front
No problems with the rack itself, however I did have a screw snap on me
It was the one that holds the bottom part of the rack to the bike
Quite a pain in the ass since it had to be drilled out

dang133

Sweet tour man, I'm jealous.

Muttsta

Day 54 – A Taste of Japan - 91.59 km
Today my day started off at the Sycamore Canyon campground. I got a nice and early start as I expected to lose quite a bit of time cycling through the huge metropolis that some people like to refer to as Los Angeles.

At the beginning of the day I cycled through the famous city of Malibu. Here multimillion dollar homes tower on the edges of cliffs while expensive cars drive below. I saw countless Porsches, at least a dozen Bentleys, several Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins, even a few Rolls-Royces. Keep in mind that these are not some old cars, but rather the newest models money can buy. Apart from ogling over expensive cars I also had to watch out so that I wouldn’t get killed. A shoulder in Malibu was virtually non-existent as it was used as a parking lane, however cars blazing beside me didn’t seem to care.

After Malibu I turned off of highway 1 onto a bicycle path which runs almost the whole length of the coastal region of Los Angeles. It is conveniently named the L.A. Bike Path. It was kind of funny since this bike path seemed out of place at times, winding through the middle of white sand beaches. Along the way I saw a bunch of great beaches and several cool piers. I passed through the famous Venice Beach as well. One part of the route that I found really strange was when I had to bicycle through a parking garage. Surprisingly, I wasn’t lost, I was actually on the right road! It just seemed a little awkward to me.

At one point I because a little lost. I was thrown off the bicycle path into a suburb. Not wanting to get even more lost, I decided to take out my laptop and see where I was. It turned out that in my bliss of cycling I had actually gone three miles past where I was supposed to go. It was only 2 PM, so I decided to kill some time around one of the beach piers before heading off to my host for the night. I of course could not resist bubble tea when I saw it at pier, another one of my weaknesses.

I managed to make it to ronzorini’s house, more commonly known to the world as Ron, with relative ease. They were quite surprised to see me, and rightly so! It turns out that when I e-mailed Ron I made a mistake and told him I would be there Tuesday, whereas in fact I was going to be there Monday. Although it worked out in the end, I did end up causing a little bit of confusion.

Although I had done laundry a mere two days ago, I decided that it would be wise to do it again. My shirts which were once white now actually resemble more of the color grey than anything. I put in my laundry and let it do its thing. When Ron’s wife was moving my clothes from the washer to the dryer, she was so appalled with the condition of my shirt that she ended up washing it again! I must say that at least now my shirt looks suitable for human use.

In order to prepare for dinner we of course had to go shopping. I decided that I wouldn’t just sit at home and would tag along. In this area there are many Japanese people, and thus many Japanese businesses, restaurants, and stores. We went to two separate Japanese markets in order to buy sushi as well as numerous other delicacies. These markets are staggering in size, and absolutely everything comes from Japan. They even sell furniture from Japan! Ron told me that this looks exactly what a market in Japan would look like, with a little more people in it of course.

Back at home I was treated to an excellent dinner of various Japanese foods: meso soup, sticky rice, sushi, fish cakes, as well as countless other interesting dishes. I love to sample new foods, so I of course had to try everything. I enjoyed most of the dishes, however next time I would pass on the squid as well as caviar sushi’s. The squid sushi was simply very hard to chew, and the caviar was a little too salty tasting for my liking. The dinner was truly excellent though, and definitely a nice change from pasta!

As if things couldn’t get any better I was also treated to a delicious desert. Shaved ice served with condensed milk, green tea powder, and red beans. It’s really difficult to describe the taste of it, but take my word for it when I say it was good! Ron and his wife’s great hospitality almost made me want to take a day off in Los Angeles, but alas, I must move on![/B]

Day 55 – Los Angeles and Beyond – 118.82 km
Today in the morning I woke up refreshed and full of energy after a great rest on a real bed. Ron’s wife could not imagine letting me go without breakfast, so she practically prepared a feast. We were treated to freshly made waffles served with a choice of either syrup or a combination of various fruits. These waffles were sinfully delicious; I actually ate five of them! When I get back home I definitely have to look into getting a waffle iron, I am addicted! I must say that this breakfast was a very nice change from the regular half a box of cereal and a quarter gallon of milk.

Ron decided that he would escort me through part of the city in order to save me a bunch of headaches in getting lost. At the same time, he also wanted to show me part of the city, so he decided to take me through the heart of Compton. Yes my dear readers, I bicycled through the heart of Compton and live to tell the tale. It wasn’t actually that bad, but then again we weren’t in any of the really bad areas. I know that there are parts of Detroit that I would be afraid to drive through in my car, let alone ride through on my bicycle!

Without getting jumped or anything we made it to the Los Angeles River. Lets just say that never in my life would I call this thing a river. It was basically a channel made of concrete through which water flowed. Then again, the water that flowed in it was so ridiculously dirty that it was simply, well, ridiculous! The Detroit River’s water is crystal clear in comparison to the Los Angeles River! Following a bicycle path near this ‘river’ we made it to the city of Long Beach, which is a very nice town. Here unfortunately Ron could no further act as my escort and had to return home. Either way, it was great he could take me even this far. It’s always a lot more fun to ride with someone else as time goes by much faster.

Ron gave me directions through Long Beach, which worked for awhile until the bicycle path I was on ended. After the bicycle path ended I was supposed to go to the first street near the ocean and follow that. Unfortunately, this street was a dead end. No matter, I decided I would simply ask someone for directions. One thing I have noticed during this trip is that the majority of people, quite simply put, are morons at giving directions. I was asking people how to get to the Pacific Coast Highway, which is one of the major roads in the area. The first three people I asked all gave me different directions, all of which proved to be wrong. The only person who was able to direct me in the right direction was a very nice homeless guy, needless to say I gave him some very well deserved change!

After my slight confusion in Long Beach it was all smooth sailing. The route now followed highway 1 all the way to where I am staying tonight at San Clemente State Beach. Along the way I also passed through some very nice cities where I was once again drooling over ridiculous expensive and oh so excitingly fast cars. Unfortunately I suffered another flat tire in my rear wheel today, which should not have happened. I found the hole and it was not from a puncture due to glass or anything like that, so there is something from my rim causing it. I think that perhaps it may be due to my rim tape, so I will get that check out as soon as possible. I have been having nothing but problems with my rear wheel since I had to buy a new one in Astoria. Just for the record, the bicycle shop there, Bikes and Beyond, is not the greatest bike shop in the world. The guy only attached my disc brake rotor with half the screws needed, and I guess he did something else wrong since I keep getting these flat. No matter, tomorrow San Diego!

Day 56 – All Roads Lead to Sea World – 107.18 km
Today in the morning I awoke to the buzzing sound of cars and banging of campers packing away their belongings feverishly. The campground I stayed at wasn’t terrible, but was unfortunately located fairly close to the freeway. No matter. Feeling a little lazy this morning I got a fairly late start, but I did get going eventually!

I didn’t have any food or water bottles with me, so I decided I’d grab something on the road. This proved out to be quite the mistake. Soon after my campground the road headed into a United States military base, and needless to say I went without water and breakfast for a few hours. The road today was very, very neat. The bicycle path paralleled the freeway on a closed and abandoned highway, open only to bicycles and military vehicles. The road then turned into the military base itself. Here I came upon a military checkpoint at which I had to present my ID. Luckily they did not believe that I was a foreign spy or anything and let me through with no difficulty. In the base I saw troops performing training exercises. I saw parked tanks and helicopters flew over head. A refreshing change from the same old cars I see every day!

Past the military base I soon made my way into the town of Oceanside. Dehydrated and starving, I made my way to a restaurant that advertised all you can eat fish and chips. Thirteen pieces of fish, two plates of fries, and $12 later I was once again on my way. Let’s just say that today breakfast, lunch and dinner were all one meal! I have become quite skilled in the art of being able to load a massive amount of food into myself, which is quite effective cost wise with these all you can eat deals.

Barely able to move, I jumped back on my bicycle and hit the road. I passed by a bicycle shop and decided that I should get my rear wheel checked out. It turns out that the bicycle shop I got my rim at in Astoria was garbage. In addition to not giving me all my rotor bolts, they also gave me cheap rim tape which was installed incorrectly and thus giving me flats. Since I was already at a bicycle shop I decided to do a few more small things to my bike. I got new water bottle holders, new water bottles, new heel pads for my shoes, changed out my cleats, and got a helmet mirror. Sure, the mirror my look super nerdy, but I figure if it could save my life down in Mexico it’s worth it! Unfortunately all these things do add up, to $62 to be exact. I did get a free glass of iced tea though! I ended up spending a little more time than I should have here, I was literally there for an hour and a half!

From the bicycle shop I slowly made my way into San Diego. I took countless turns on side streets and unmarked alleys. I decided to buy myself a city map since I will be visiting San Diego tomorrow. Regardless, I still got lost. There was a tricky area near Sea World where a bunch of highways crossed each other and into each other. This is a problem as not only am I not allowed on these freeways on a bicycle, but the traffic is incredibly busy. Every street I turned into lead in Sea World. Even if my map said otherwise, the road would end and turn into Sea World. Arrgg! Eventually I made my way through the Sea World parking lot and managed to somehow get out of there.

The people I am staying with today live a little ways from downtown, so I had to make my way inland. This also means that there is a nice big hill which must be climbed in order to get here. Merle had warned me in a previous e-mail about this hill and told me several times not to take Texas St., as it is a nice 14% grade. No problem thought I. I decided to take a street called Qualcomm. What I failed to notice on my map was that Qualcomm later merges into Texas.

Some pain and suffering later I made it to the top. I also got lost here a little because the street Merle lives on is one of those divided streets. I made it to the street and couldn’t find the house number, so I thought that perhaps I had the wrong one. I then consulted my map and saw that at one point the road had a break and continued several blocks further on. These cities should really give divided streets like these different names, it make’s people’s lives a lot easier! Tomorrow I will be taking a day off in the city of San Diego to see the sights. Once again, I think it will be easier to see it on bike!

ronzorini

Hamilton Beach Flip 'n Fluff Belgian Waffle Baker


https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach...3074273&sr=8-1

Muttsta

Day 57 – Several Strange People, Many Wild Beasts, One Beautiful City - 0.00 km
Today I slept in a cabana located in the backyard of Merle’s house. Merle absolutely loves chickens, so I had to share the yard with a few, but no matter! They didn’t bug me and I didn’t bug them. I was treated to an excellent breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast; enough fuel to keep me going for quite a few hours! Afterwards I made my way on foot down to the main road in order to catch a bus to the famous San Diego Zoo.

Here is where the fun started. I met a nice although slightly strange woman at the bus stop. In the mere twelve minutes I had to wait to catch the bus she not only told me her whole life story, but also explained to me the dieting strategies she was using, the fact that men in California don’t appreciate women, and even gave me a short lesson in sex ed. Needless to say, it was one of the strangest and most hilarious conversations I have ever had in my life.

The bus ride to the zoo was fairly uneventful, which is usually a pretty good thing as it means I didn’t get lost! The entry fee for the zoo was only around $21 and was worth every penny. The San Diego Zoo is world famous for being a spectacular zoo, and people are not mistaken. I saw everything from flamingos to gorillas, elephants, bears, and even tigers. The exhibits looked truly spectacular and the paths between them were likewise, crossing over and under each other continually.

One thing I found really interesting were the walk in aviaries they had, particularly the hummingbird aviary. While walking through hummingbirds were blazing by mere inches from my head. Another very interesting exhibit was the polar bear exhibit in which the polar bears were splashing around in the water right next to the viewing glass. All in all it was truly a great zoo. If I lived in San Diego I would buy a membership to this zoo just so I could exercise around it while being immersed in the sounds of the wild.

The zoo is park of a large park in the city of San Diego called Balboa Park. After I visited the zoo I went to visit some of the other things in this famous park. The park is filled with a multitude of paths, interesting buildings, and impressive museums. After a quick stroll through this park I decided to make my way downtown to the post office where I had some things shipped for myself.

On the way I saw a barber shop, which reminded me that I was way past over due for a haircut. When they told me they wanted $18 I gladly passed on the offer. I did however find out that there was a barber school around the corner which charges a mere $4 for hair cuts. But there’s a catch. All the haircutting is done by students. I decided the severe discount was worth a bad haircut, after all, my hair will have two months to grow back. It wasn’t the best haircut in the world, but then again, luckily it wasn’t so bad that I would have to shave all my hair!

I managed to find the post office that I had my things shipped to, which was located in a shopping center called Horton Plaza. But alas, there was a problem. It turns out that I did not do enough research and found out that this post office does not allow people to ship things to them. This meant that they forwarded all my mail to the main post office in the city. Great, just great. This meant that I would have to travel five miles to get to this other post office. With no other option I jumped onto a trolley and made my way to San Diego’s Old Town.

Here I was treated to some good news and some bad news. The good news is that two of my packages had made it, the bad was that one didn’t. Technically the third package had arrived, but was yet to be sorted, which is not an easy task since they have thousands of packages there. So I asked if there was a phone number I could call to ask when my package comes in. Nope! This means that I have to go back to this post office tomorrow, which is conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, and hope that my package is available for pick up. This also means that I will be spending an extra day in San Diego that I had not anticipated. Luckily I am well ahead of schedule, so no biggie, and San Diego is a pretty cool city anyway!

From the post office in the middle of nowhere I made my way to San Diego’s old town. Here there was a variety of unique old buildings, but unfortunately not much else of interest. I jumped back on the trolley and made my way back to downtown. I decided to walk along the coast and the piers, where I saw a several interesting historic ships. I continued along to Seaport Village, which is a series of shops and restaurants decorated in a very unique and exquisite style.

While at the post office in the middle of nowhere I did find out that there is a very good view of the city from the lounge at the Hyatt hotel. Not being one to be dismayed I jumped onto the elevator and went straight to the top. I didn’t order anything, I simply walked around for a few minutes and soaked in the views of the city. I think tomorrow I may go here and sip a beverage for a while. Who knows, I may be able to solicit some donations!

From the Hyatt I made my way to San Diego’s famous Gaslight district, which is an older district containing a ton of restaurants and nightclubs. I would have walked around a little more here, but since it was getting late, I decided it would be wise to return home. I managed to find the necessary bus with little difficulty. The bus driver for the trip was quite a strange individual. For the whole trip he was talking to himself over the bus intercom. It was strangely amusing and disturbing at the same time. You meet the strangest people when using public transportation!

Since I also have tomorrow to visit San Diego due to a problem with receiving one of my packages I decided that I will visit some museums. Tomorrow is the opening of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. There are posters for this everywhere around the city and quite a few people have mentioned it to me, so it should definitely be worth checking out. Looks like Mexico will have to wait another day!

Muttsta

Day 58 – Just Another Day In San Diego – 0.00 km
In the morning I was once again treated to a delicious breakfast courtesy of Merle and quickly headed off to the Museum of Natural History. Today was the opening of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, so it was quite busy. Security checked your bags to make sure you weren’t bringing anything dangerous in, and unfortunately photography was not permitted. I also got escorted out for simply wearing my camera around my neck! Needless to say the security guys weren’t very nice.

All in all the exhibit really wasn’t that interesting. Sure, you get to see some scrolls that are thousands of years old, but that was pretty much it. It definitely wasn’t worth paying $24 to go and so. To anyone thinking of going to see this exhibit, I would seriously reconsider. The rest of the museum was terribly dull as well as it had all been converted for this one particular exhibit. Unfortunately this attraction proved to be a disappointment.

I once again made my way onto a trolley and headed off to the post office in the middle of nowhere. Luckily my package had arrived that morning, otherwise I would have had a slight problem. Since it was still early I decided that I might as well go check out SeaWorld, since it’s also one of San Diego’s principal attractions.

Not wanting to once again pay for the bus, or for that matter find the right one, I decided to run over to SeaWorld. It only took me about 25 minutes or so, but let me tell you that running in Crocs isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world. No matter, $57 later I was inside SeaWorld. Can you say ouch?

Although SeaWorld is typically oriented towards young children there was still plenty of other things to see and do. I found many of the exhibits very interesting and the shows were likewise fun to watch. I even saw the world famous movie star Shamu. Another interesting show was the “Cirque De Mer”, which is a gymnastics show similar to Cirque De Soleil, but less elaborate and involving water. Overall SeaWorld was worth visiting, but that price tag for tickets still makes me cringe!

After starving myself in SeaWorld where the prices were out of this world, I decided to give In-N-Out burger another try after revolts against my last comments. Someone told me they have a hidden menu and will literally make your burger any way your heart desires. I just so wanted to order a 12x12 burger, that is 12 burger patties with 12 pieces of cheese. To my utter shock they said they could not do it, and that the most they could do was 4x4. Although their burgers may be good, In-N-Out disappoints once again.

I find it kind of strange that my legs have started to hurt after I took two days off from cycling. I have been simply walking around the city at a leisurely pace, but alas my legs were sorer this morning than they have ever been. Oh the irony! It looks like I’m better off not taking any zero days!

Muttsta

Day 59 – Loco! - 125.18 km
This morning I had to visit a few places before I could finally head down into Mexico. On my list of stops were: Best Buy, a bicycle shop, a post office, REI. As you may recall from previous journals my iPod freezes up from time to time, so I wanted to get it replaced. I looked up Best Buy on Google Maps, marked it on my map, and headed off. However when I got there, there was no Best Buy to be found! I even asked around and people told me the closest Best Buy was on the other side of town. Damn you Google Maps!

I pushed onward. I easily found a post office along the way in which I shipped some more stuff home. The less I have to carry, the easier my life will be! I also managed to find a bicycle shop, in which they could unfortunately not help me. The screws holding my bicycle rack seem to be snapping. I had one snap on me last week, and today I noticed that the one on the other side had snapped as well! I wasn’t able to find a good replacement, so I now have a temporary fix. Needless to say I have to somehow manage to find a bolt like this here in Mexico, that should be interesting!

On the way to REI I did manage to find a Best Buy. They confirmed that something was wrong with my iPod, but told me that there was absolutely nothing they could do at the store. I would have to send it in to Apple and in a week they would send me a refund slip. Great, that was a useless waste of time! The REI store proved to be difficult to find since it is new, and no one knew where it is! Eventually I did manage to find it in the horizon. Here I picked up some bicycle supplies as well as some new sunglasses as my old ones look like they have been through a war zone. Everything actually looks blurry through them!

I finally headed down to the notorious town of Tijuana, Mexico. On the way, while looking at my oh so legible map, I am ashamed to admit that I hit a parked car. Luckily no injuries to either myself or my car, but all my bags fell off my bike and everything went all over the road. The only casualty that occurred was that the filter for my camera got shattered, luckily not the lens itself!

The border crossing was much easier than I had anticipated, since you basically just drove through! There were guards just pretty much waving at people telling them to keep moving. No passports, no I.D., nothing. I wish my trip across the border every day was this easy! Unfortunately there was no welcome to Mexico sign I could take a picture next to. Here I was immediately thrust onto a series of freeways. I decided to skip Tijuana and pushed right through it.

I followed the signs for highway 1 almost religiously, but I still somehow managed to end up on highway 1D, which is a toll highway on which bicycles are not allowed. I passed my first military checkpoint and thought that I might be able to get away with riding on this highway. Unfortunately, near the toll plaza some security guys came out and told me that no bicycles were allowed. They directed me of onto a main city road and told me to go left, saying that it parallels the freeway. It did, for about 10 kilometers. Then the road turned into a dirt and gravel path. Seeing the highway a mere 20 feet away I decided to sneak across the barrier and continue along on the shoulder.

I saw several signs which blatantly said that no cyclists are allowed, but what exactly do they expect you to do if there is no other road to take? I took side streets where available, but I had to predominately stay on the shoulder. I luckily managed to evade the police and possibly some trouble. After a while highway 1 and 1D cross paths, so I was finally able to get on the right road. Here is where the real fun started.

Highway 1 is predominately a two lane paved road with absolutely no shoulders, in some places you have four inches if your lucky. Additionally, in some places there is a nice 18 inch drop off right beside this shoulder. Cars are rushing by me not even thinking of slowing down, and I’m staying as far to the right as possible, trying both not to get hit and to not fall off the road. I must say, cycling in Mexico is going to be quite stressful. It is much, much worse than even riding in any big city. In the United States cars will yield to bicycles, here it’s the other way around! Apart from simply pedaling, I am now in constant fear of my life!

Cycling though the cities is also quite interesting. The shoulder is wider, but is now used as a parking lane. Cars cross paths, others back out from parking spaces, and at the same time people are crossing the road. What a headache! Supposedly towns are a lot smaller once I move south, so that should be a relief. Then again, over there I will have to worry about the scorching hot desert.

I am currently staying in a campground right on the edge of the ocean around La Mision, Mexico. Unfortunately this northern stretch of Baja is not cheap. Campgrounds cost around $15 and rooms around $25. I would have stayed in a room, but it was soon going to get dark and I didn’t want to risk not being able to find one. Things should get much cheaper as I get into less touristy areas, at least I hope so!