Sunday May 17, 2015

We had robbers in the night. A masked ‘man’ stole our bread and was trying to get into the trail mix before Ralf scared him away with the flashlight and yelled at him. Yes, our first encounter with raccoons. We had, as usual, left our panniers on the bikes and had them covered with the yellow covers and the bike cover. The amazing thing with the raccoon was he did not damage the panniers. The raccoon had peeled back the yellow cover and UNZIPPED the pannier, honestly he unzipped the pannier. (The photo shows what the raccoon had to do to get into the pannier)!

He had eaten a loaf of bread before Ralf got out of the tent and scared him away. Ralf then took both panniers and put them in the food safe. Rocky was not happy and Ralf could hear him growling away at him from the trees.

Needless to say we will be using the food-safes that are provided at the camp-sites from now on.

It took us a while to get back to sleep after the encounter, but we both eventually slept until 6:30, when the rest of the campers started to wake up. Zips on tents make a lot of noise early in the morning.

After breakfast we were packed and away by 8:30 am.

It was a great ride today, very hilly, elevation gain of 954 metres and a couple of 12% grades which I managed to ride up. We left the campsite and followed the trail for about 10 kms, then we headed inland.

We followed Tomales Bay for about 25 kms which was very reminiscent of Scotland.

Cycling alongside a loch with rolling hills, even the weather was cool and overcast. The names of the Town\’s are also Scottish.

The North Coast of California is generally cool in the morning with overcast skies and then by noon the sun comes out and it is lovely. Today was no different. We came into Bodega Bay at about 12:30 and we were cool, we were tempted to find a motel, but they started at $160.00!! We decided to brave the cool temperatures and head to the Dunes State Park hiker/biker site ($10.00) and free hot showers. The site was sandy and hilly, but we managed to find a flat spot.

The sun came out, the wind died down and we had a lovely afternoon. I even managed to get some washing done.

We chatted to our “neighbour” who was on a regular site. He has done some travelling before he settled down. He had spent time on Tall Ships sailing around the world and had also cycled in Spain (Madrid to Barcelona). He didn’t enjoy the route he took in Spain – too hilly and not very friendly people in Southern Spain. We found the same thing when we were there. Northern Spain was great cycling, Andalucia was tough.

Ralf was going to cycle back into Town to get some beer, and go to the ATM. Our neighbour generously offered to drive him, “two and a half men on a beer run”.

Saturday May 16, 2015

It was sad to say goodbye to Leslie and Jerry but we had to be on the road today, as tomorrow there is a Bay to Breakers 10 kms race in San Francisco. Some of the roads we are taking are going to be closed tomorrow. As many as 50,000 people can turn up for this “party run”.

We had a great breakfast and were on the road by 9:00 am.

We meandered through the Golden Gate Bridge State Park and eventually found the access to the bridge for cyclists.

We had asked a few roadies to confirm we were on the right road to the bridge but they didn’t know the names of the streets to give us directions. One guy offered to guide us UP the hill, it was a short cut. We opted to take the route on the ACA map, we still had to climb a hill but I am sure not it would have been as steep as what he would have us go up. Some roadies just do not understand the weight we are carrying. We decided that when we get back to Barrie we will definitely know the names of streets in the City and be able to give good directions for cyclists who need to find their way around.

The area around the bridge was a busy area, with roadies, tourists on bikes and Ralf and I on our big wide touring bikes. The bridge had earthquake isolators installed – these types of isolators were invented in New Zealand in 1970.

We stopped to take a few photos and then we were on the bridge heading towards Sausalito.

The Marin County area was lovely, lots of off-road bike paths and on-road dedicated lanes. We saw hundreds of road bikes today. Some in big pelotons of 20 or more bikes and others in groups of twos and threes. It felt almost like a week-end in Spain.

Surprisingly the car drivers were very patient with all the cyclists.

I think we saw more bike shops today than we have seen in our total time in the States. Every Town we went through had two or three bike shops. We stopped in a couple, but they were all quite expensive.

We were taking a rest at the top of one hill, when two German touring cyclists came up the other side. They stopped to chat.

They had interesting shaped bikes, made in Denmark.

They started in Vancouver and were heading to Chile. It has been rather odd in California, most touring cyclists have not stopped and chatted. I always click out from my pedals and am slowing down ready for the chat, but they don’t stop. Sometimes there is a reason, often it is because of the hills, but more often than not we are surprised that they do not stop, only wave and shout a greeting.

The Towns were very pretty and had some nice restaurants and boutique type shops. I have decided I need some pyjamas (pj\’s) for camping, especially early in the morning or if I need to get up in the night. It can get quite chilly at night, and I am only wearing an oversized T.shirt. As we cycled through one of the Towns I spotted a shop with some pj\’s hanging outside on a nice rack and decided to check them out. I realized as we made the u-turn, that these pj\’s were ones that I could not afford. I did look at one pair that had bikes, the Eiffel tower and poodles on them. The shop assistant came out and informed me that they had lots more inside of smaller sizes. I asked how much for the pj\’s – $118.00. I smiled and said “maybe a little too expensive for camping” I wanted to say “are you crazy, 118 dollars for a pair of cotton pj\’s”. Her response was “you would be very glamorous camping”. I smiled and hopped on my bike and peddled away.

The sun came out in the afternoon and it was quite warm. We had a lovely baguette for lunch – ham and brie – tasty.

After we passed through Fairfax we were away from all the small towns and into the countryside and corridors of redwood trees. The sun glistening through the branches was a perfect end to the day.

We are staying at the Samuel Taylor State Park in another hiker/bike spot – $7.00 per person. Later in the day we were joined by four more cyclists (2 guys and a couple). They are doing a week-end ride from San Francisco and back. What a great idea to get the feel of bicycle touring.

Friday May 15, 2015

Another rest day in San Francisco. This one is a rest day. I updated the blog and Ralf went shopping for supplies with Jerry. A very quiet, relaxing day at our new-found friends house.

After lunch Ralf and Jerry went to play pool. I skyped Joy – she is doing well and keeps me up to date on all the family news. Dad is in Cyprus with my sister Wendy at the moment.

We have planned the route for the next couple of days and I am looking forward to moving on up the coast. The next map set (#3) takes us 663 kilometres (412 miles) up the coast almost into Oregon. As we head northwards, the temperatures will be a little cooler, but I think it is going to be a beautiful ride.

Thursday May 14, 2015

We had a nice lie-in and after breakfast we left to take the transit to downtown. San Francisco has several forms of public transit ranging from buses, light rail to old trolley cars (cable cars).

We were hoping to go to Alcatraz, but couldn’t get tickets. The earliest available tickets were for Tuesday, or we could get up at the crack of dawn to get the few daily tickets available.

What I didn\’t know about Alcatraz was it started its life as prison for confederate sympathizers.

It was converted to a penitentiary later in its history.

We decided to enjoy the downtown and take the old cable car to the top of one of the many hills in San Francisco.  First we walked back along the piers.

We might have been able to take the bike share, but once again I think you have to be a resident.

The old warehouse buildings have been converted, one of them had a variety of boutique style food outlets.

The downtown views from the waterfront were very interesting.

Of course there is always the other side of any big city.  We saw quite a few homeless people.

We took the trolley car (cable car) up California Street.

After we had taken the trolley car (cable car) we walked down the hill to China Town.

One of the interesting facts that Leslie told us about was the San Francisco Fountain.  On the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake, anyone that is still alive comes to this fountain. I am guessing that no-one comes here anymore. The cast iron fountain served as a meeting point during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires, which is commemorated by a metal panel attached to the monument.

\”Commemorations of the earthquake, including a dwindling pool of survivors, are held every year at 5:12 a.m. on April 18 at the intersection\”.

We really enjoyed exploring, San Francisco.

Wednesday May 13, 2014

A great cycle ride today. The sun was out, the wind was at our backs and the hills were manageable until we hit Daly City. There were some interesting sights on the way to San Francisco.

Not sure why you would build a house here!

Of course if you need extra luggage space in your sports car, you can always get a matching trailer.

We went through another tunnel (1.5 kms). There was a wide shoulder and only a single lane for traffic. Even though it was a long tunnel, I felt relatively safe because of the wide shoulder. The tunnel itself was well lit and the cars did not race through as if they were Formula 1 cars.

On the other side of the hill, we noticed that the other entrance was reduced to one lane (no shoulder). I am glad I wasn’t heading southbound.

The hill at Daly City was a 12% grade. I walked the hill and Ralf of course managed to cycle all the way to the top, I still do not know how he does it.

When we got to Leslie and Jerry’s house, Leslie told us that a song was written about Daly City – “Little boxes, little boxes and they are all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same”. Who knew that we would see the \”little boxes\” made famous by this song.

We got to Leslie and Jerry’s house at around noon. They had soup ready for us and we were able to get settled in and have a shower.

They then offered to take us for a drive around the city. We got to see some great places, that we would not have seen without their insight on the City.

We really enjoyed driving through the San Francisco Golden Gate Park. Leslie’s favourite place is down by the fort and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from here is fabulous.

We parked the car and had a short walk.

From the parking area we walked  to the Palace of Fine Arts Park, which is a favourite of both Jerry and Leslie’s.

I can understand why, we had a lovely walk around the park.

We spotted blue herons, there was a heronry with three babies clacking away. The most interesting bird was a Black Crown Night Heron.

This juvenile black crown night heron sat there while Ralf got closer and closer taking its photos. It only flew away when a small dog ran towards it.

The Palace and grounds were designed by Bernard Maybeck. Maybeck’s theory was “that as trees and plants grow so quickly in California, Californians are wasting their finest source of beauty if they do not combine landscape with building”.

He certainly knew what he was talking about with regards to the design and building of this lovely area.

After we had our walk, they drove us downtown and pointed out buildings and areas that we could visit tomorrow.

We were hungry when we got back to their house, we had stopped at Safeway to buy some wine for dinner and we had a lovely meal of salmon, veges and salad.  We had a great conversation with them.  We are staying with a really nice couple.

A lovely sunset to finish of a great day.

Tuesday May 12, 2015

The wind was blowing again this morning, but the sun was out. We quickly ate breakfast and left the KOA by 8:30 am. We had decided on a shorter ride to Half Moon Bay as we didn’t think we would make it all the way to Leslie’s place today and she is expecting us tomorrow.

The wind was not as bad as yesterday, we probably could have made it to Leslie’s house, but it is nice to take it easy once in a while.

We stopped in at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

This is a Hostel, we were hoping to stay here but when I checked on line at Barton’s house it was fully booked. It would have been a lot cheaper than the “garden shed” and warmer.

They are doing some major renovations to the lighthouse. Which will eventually include restoring the lens.

The sun was out for most of the ride, although the wind was cool. We had a few roller coaster hills to climb, and on two hills we had to peddle downhill.

Sometimes you have to look inland, the views are lovely.  We had stopped at this point to catch our breath.

We arrived at Half Moon Bay and stopped in at Safeway to get some sandwiches and some provisions for dinner. They had quiche, we decided on quiche and salads for dinner tonight. There were a couple of homeless people wandering around outside of Safeway. Ralf usually does the shopping for dinner but he asked me to do it instead. He wanted to keep an eye on the bikes and equipment. Ralf got talking to one of the homeless and was told that the people in Half Moon Bay were very kind and generous to the homeless. Ralf said “treat them like people, and most problems go away”.

We headed out to the State Park and stopped in at the bike shop (Bike Works) on the way. Our tires needed some air, fortunately touring tires do not need to be pumped up everyday, like the skinny tires do on a road bike. We had only lost about 20lbs of pressure since we last pumped them up which had to be about three weeks ago.

This State Park is on the beach, and costs $7.00 per person. It is nice and clean and the showers were hot. We will be listening to the roar of the surf again tonight.

The State Parks are trying to conserve water. They charge for the showers. The cost ranges from one token ($1.00) for 3.5 mins to .50 cents for 3 mins. I struggle to shower in 3.5 minutes, I can shower in 4 minutes, but prefer 4.5 minutes. This State Park uses quarters in their machines, so I used .75 cents and had a nice 4.5 minute shower. Big Sur used tokens and I actually wasted water, because I needed two tokens ($2.00) for my 4 minute shower and then stood underneath running water for another 3 minutes. I thought Big Sur should rethink their timing, but Ralf said they are making more money by reducing the time. I thought the whole point was to conserve water.

The ACA maps has us following the bike path through the State Park tomorrow morning. Fortunately I was chatting to a lady (Kath) who told me the bridge is out on the bike path and we need to use Highway 1.

We will be in San Francisco tomorrow and hopefully take a couple of days off visiting S.F.

When we leave San Francisco we will be on Map 3, we have already gone through two maps already and there are only five in this series. Does that mean we are half-way to Vancouver?

Monday May 11, 2015

A wonderful breakfast provided by our host Barton – stacks of pancakes and I mean stacks. He made sure we were not going to leave his house hungry! What a lovely, caring man. We headed out in slightly sunny skies at just after 9:00.

We headed into Santa Cruz and followed the bike path all the way through Santa Cruz.

By the time we rejoined Highway 1 it was getting a little chilly and we had turned the corner on the sunshine and the wind. The wind was now heading straight at us!

Ralf took the lead and stayed there for the rest of the ride.  Although we were on the coast again, the wind was so bad we put our heads down and cycled.

At Davenport, only 33 kms into the ride, and 3 hours later we stopped for lunch. Ralf had a second breakfast, Barton told him to eat the two remaining pancakes but he said he was full. However, he managed to eat a veggie omelet with home fries and toast, he had been working hard against the wind. I think he deserved the second breakfast.

A young French Canadian cyclist joined us. He, of course, was cycling north to south. He had started in San Francisco and was heading to LA. He had been planning the trip for a couple of years, and had been training. His itinerary was very good – taking a couple of days off in the main places – Monterey, Big Sur (to do some hiking) and Santa Barbara, we warned him how expensive Santa Barbara was.  Fortunately, he has someone to stay with in Santa Barbara.

After lunch we headed out to the campsite, only another 20 kms to go, but that wind, what hard work. We arrived at the KOA and noticed the “tent bungalows”. A tent pitch was going to be $37.00, the “tent bungalows”, which had a queen size bed and linen and towels was going to be $109 incl tax. Too expensive for us, but it was so windy and cold and looked like rain. Could we convince ourselves to pay $109 for a plastic garden shed. I asked if there were any discounts for being carbon neutral. Surprisingly she said there was an Eco-Discount! That reduced the rate to $93 including tax, somehow that convinced us to shell out the extra money!

The “garden shed” had a queen sized bed and two chairs. It also had electric blankets. I personally don’t like electric blankets, but Ralf turned on the electric blanket on his side and I must admit I may migrate over to his side of the bed if I need to.

The showers and toilets are in a heated shower block, luxury. There is also a sauna and outside showers.

We had a wander around the property, looking in the store, the restaurant (way too expensive) and the lodge. It is very nice.

We got the computer and accessed the internet in the lobby. Then we went back to the “garden shed” and ate our pasta we decided not to buy any beer, it was too expensive, we had hot lemon tea instead.

We were in bed by 9:00, snuggled under the blankets, listening to the roar of the surf and the wind flapping the plastic against the wooden structure.

As a point of interest it was warmer in Barrie today than it was in California – 17 degrees C in Barrie, 14 degrees C in California.

Sunday May 10, 2015

An interesting breakfast at the HI this morning. We watched all the young people trying to work out how to make pancakes on the griddle. There was one young Australian who really had them made to perfection. The young German girls however, thought you had to fill the complete griddle with batter about half an inch thick. I am not sure their pancakes were not cooked all the way through, but they were big about 12 inches long by 8 inches wide.

We were on the road by 9:15 am. Only another 1407 kms to  Vancouver!

It was another cool, overcast morning.

We followed the bike path out of Monterey this morning. It was very quiet on Cannery Row. There were a few joggers and cyclists out on the bike path, but Monterey was still sleeping. We stopped to take photos of the old store and cars and as usual we were asked where we were going by a very nice couple.

We passed Fisherman’s Wharf again and spotted this Harbour Seal with his big sad eyes, lying on the rock.

We carried on along the bike path it took us out towards Sand Castle and Marina – 24 kms of off-road bike path, how good is that. We were going to stop at REI, but decided we didn’t really need anything and we did have a long day ahead of us so we carried on.

As we cycled along we noticed a Mom with her two daughters on their own bikes behind her. If they came to a road crossing she was giving them instructions on proper road procedures. It was great to see her training her girls how to ride a bike and how to ride a bike when encountering traffic situations.

The route today changed from coastal (dunes) to farming.

We passed acres of artichokes and even more strawberry farms. How many strawberries can California produce. Apparently California produces about 75% to 80% of the strawberries for the US market. At one point seeing those red berries hanging from those plants I wanted to just nip into the field and eat a few. However, I was a little concerned about the chemicals so decided not to eat straight from the bush.  However, we did spot a field of lillies, very pretty in the sun.

At about 12:00 the sun started to come out, we switched jackets from heavy wind breakers to our lighter jackets. We stopped at a little café just outside of Aptos for lunch, a nice veggie sandwich for me and a veggie burger for Ralf.

By the time we got to our warmshowers hosts house the sun was out and it was quite warm.

We have mentioned throughout this blog how nice people are, around the world. As we were heading up one hill towards the end of our ride, three roadies came alongside and started chatting to us. They asked us where we were going, etc and as usual were stunned at our answers of cycling around the world, or at least part of it. We could hear them commenting to each other as they rode away. Then two of them turned around and came back to us. \”Where are you staying tonight\”? We told them we had a warmshowers host in Aptos. “So you have everything covered because we both have spare rooms you could stay with us if you need to”. Random acts of kindness make our day and have made our trip.

Barton, our warmshowers host, had everything ready for us when we arrived. Snacks, beer and a good shower. We did our laundry and chatted for a while. Barton was very happy to let us plan our route, update the blog and generally have a relaxing afternoon. As we were looking at our route and the weather for tomorrow Barton commented on the wind in this area. With a smile he told me to check the wind direction further up the coast as there may be head winds.

We talked about the Californian Redwoods that we had seen, and he showed us how they start their life.  The cone is small, from tiny seeds, might redwoods grow.

We had a wonderful dinner, roast beef, jacket (baked) potatoes and veges mmmm lovely. A couple of glasses of red wine for Ralf and a beer for me. People are so kind.  Sometimes you meet people and immediately feel comfortable with them – Barton is one of those people.

Saturday May 9, 2015

Another hilly ride today we had two, three kilometre climbs. Over the last three days we have climbed, 866 metres, 922 metres and today was 766 metres.  The Big Sur section of this coastal route is bumpy!

The weather has been cool, and today we had a slight headwind.

However, the scenery along this coast line is beautiful.

We crossed the historic Bixby Bridge, where people were lined up to get the \”best shot\”.  Which apparently is behind the sign that states \”Danger Steep Cliff\”.  Ralf got his shot at a different spot.

The roads were pretty good and for a long section of the route the road had a shoulder. California drivers do not give us much room, they are in a hurry and will overtake in the craziest of places.

As we were cycling through the Carmel Highlands area we spotted this lovely cafe, with lovely flowers.

We found the bike path and followed it into the Fisherman\’s Wharf area.

We arrived in Monterey at about 2:30 and decided to stay in the hostel, it had been a cold ride. I had checked online a couple of days ago and the rate was $29 per person. When we got to the hostel it was $35 pp. The price changes depending on availability!! Work that one out. The hotels in this area the prices go up on the week-end!! Same service, same bed, increased price by $50 +.

After we had showered and settled in to the hostel, we went for a walk downtown Monterey. Cannery Row made famous by Steinbeck, is now a modern shopping, bar and restaurant area.

There are a few of the old buildings still around, where the various \’communities\’ lived.

The information signs were very interesting.

We headed about three streets north of Cannery Row and found a pub selling fish and chips for about $3.00 cheaper than on Cannery Row. For some reason we both fancied fish and chips and Guinness!

Tomorrow we will investigate the rest of Monterey as we cycle out of the City on the bike path.

Friday May 8, 2015

What a great days riding. We started the day with sunshine, but the clouds rolled in and it was a little cool. I wore my merino wool jersey and my light windbreaker, Ralf had his leggings on.

The road didn’t have much of a shoulder however, the traffic wasn’t too bad.

The scenery was stunning.

Along the route, there were warnings of rock slides. Then we came across this structure, a rock shed. A serious structure to prevent rock slides.

We certainly worked the gears on the bike today. It was a hilly ride, 922 metres of elevation gain. Although the last 3 kilometres were downhill to the State Park. As we went up and down the hills the zip on the jacket was working hard as well. As we peddled up the hills the zip came down as we got warmer working hard up the hills, as we came down the other side the zip went back up, as it was cool going down the hills.

Before Pfeiffer State Park there was a very nice looking restaurant and studio.  We were going to warm up with a coffee, but decided to carry on.  There are not many places to stop for a wild wee.

We arrived at Pfeiffer State Park at about 1:30 pm. We were directed to the hiker/biker site by a very cheerful young forest ranger.

That is me in the photo above, working on Hank.

Pfeiffer State Park has some stunning redwoods, not the gigantic redwoods as in the north but they are still very big and beautiful, they grow to about 250 feet. Whereas the northern redwoods grow to about 350 feet.

Our hiker/biker camp site was surrounded by beautiful redwoods. It was so peaceful we spotted this Stellar Jay.

We set the tent up and went back to the lodge for some lunch. It is very expensive in this area, we had considered having dinner at the lodge but decided against it. We had sandwiches and coffee for lunch instead, it was the most expensive lunch to date – $23.00.

After lunch we headed out on a walk. There were two short walks that we followed. One was to a small waterfall, and the other was to a view of the valley.

It made a nice change to walk and see some lovely scenery.

After dinner of pasta (again) we chatted to another touring cyclist who is from Fresno and cycling down to San Diego. We had a good chat with Neil about touring and bikes. He rides a recumbent and used to work in a bike shop.

Two other touring cyclists showed up, they were from Germany. We had a brief chat to them as well. They started in San Francisco and are heading down to San Diego, then renting a car to drive up to Seattle and finishing of the Pacific Coast Route by cycling back to San Francisco.