Wednesday May 6, 2015

What a ride today, we are now experiencing the headwinds that everyone has warned us about. It was brutal. Although it was a relatively short ride, it was exhausting. We knew we had some hills today, they would have been manageable, if it wasn\’t for the wind. The scenery was stunning, although with the wind and hanging onto my bike to keep it in a straight line, I couldn’t really enjoy it. We saw about eight other touring cyclists, all going in the opposite direction. We didn’t stop to talk to anyone, we were either pedaling down a hill or struggling up a hill. Please note I said pedaling down a hill. If you remember my posts in New Zealand where I complained bitterly of having to pedal downhill, well we had to do the same today. At one point the wind stopped me completely. I had to get off the bike as it had stopped me in my tracks and pushed me into the middle of the road, a little scary. The road was quite narrow and no shoulders. At times it was a little scary as the Californian drivers didn’t like to share the road. For the very first time on this trip, I gave someone the finger, he was overtaking a car and heading towards us, I had nowhere to go.

Enough complaining, we cycled into the Hearst Castle grounds. We decided we would see how close we could get to it. The castle is on top of the hill and you get a bus from the parking area up to the buildings and gardens. We decided not to bother with the tours.

We carried on along Hwy 1, and saw elephant seals. They are in their molting period at the moment.

The younger males also practice their fighting skills. Swinging their heads around and trying to bite another young male.

The route was very scenic.

We had to remember to look away from the sea and look at the hills and valleys opposite the coast.

We arrived at our warmshowers host at 2:30, he was not due home until 6:30, we had a long, cold wait. Although the door was unlocked he had said he would come home and let us in, then leave again for a meeting. I took this to mean that he didn’t want us making ourselves at home, while he wasn’t here. Some people will let us in to their homes without them being there, others are more comfortable in being around.  When Murdoch got home, he was very friendly and welcoming.  He let us in to his house, he showed us where we would be sleeping and told us to make ourselves at home.  My house is your house.

When he came home from his meeting,  he made us a wonderful dinner of pasta, spicy sausage and garlic bread, lovely.  He also gave us the choice to stay an extra day if we needed to.