Los Padres Mountains and Big Sur Rollercoasters

5/15 - San Simeon State Park (40 miles)
5/16 - Kirk Creek Campground (40 miles)















Nothing too exciting happened on our way out of San Luis and up the coast. Well Rachel regained about a 200 pt. lead in our trip-long gin rummy game. The riding was pretty easy and very scenic. We stopped often to enjoy the view and we especially enjoyed the loud and stinky elephant seals. The ones in the pictures were the girls and it seemed as they were in a constant flux of pushing, burping, and snuggling w/ each other. It seemed like they used burping as a defense tactic w/ one another. When one was getting pushed around by another and finally getting tired of it, it would open up its mouth a burp something fierce. The wind was blowing straight towards us, thus we quickly became overwhelmed by the stench of seal burps. Anywho, we saw Hearst Castle from the road and thought that was good enough (we were too cheap to pay the 20+ dollars/person for admission). We were also quickly amazed at how small the towns were which dotted our map and how expensive everything was. I think gas was 5$ a gallon, we had two 2$ candy bars and decided to eat through our emergency rations (power bars and peanut butter). The second campground (Kirk Creek) was by far the most spectacular of the trip. There were tons of friendly campers and one nice man hooked us up w/ 2 cans of chicken-noodle soup and BabyRuths. Life is good. We are going to have much to "pay forward" when this trip is over.

Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park (29 miles)





























The rollercoaster ride continued up the coast... up and down, up and down... we saw many bikers riding the opposite direction but so far no one traveling north. There were several more BOB buddies, but unfortunately we were traveling too fast down a hill to stop (Rachel has hit 37 mph and Scott was pulling away from her). We're being careful though, don't worry! It's fun to evaluate other people's bike touring setups as you pass. We seem to be on the lighter side and definitely are the only ones w/ racing wheels and frames (don't worry this will all be remedied down the road... a little foreshadowing). We talked to a cop during one of the road slide hwy delays and he stated that there have only been 7 bicycle accidents in the past 10 yrs along the coast. Most of them are bikers going too fast down the hills and hitting parked cars or flying off the road; one scary accident involved an RV who forgot to raise its steps and broadsided the unsuspecting biker. We had no problems w/ motorists what-so-ever. They all just kind of give you queer looks as if thinking "that doesn't look like fun, that looks like a lot work, i wonder why people would choose to do that".

5/18 - Carmel (28 miles)
First sign of trouble w/ our racing bikes. Scott broke a rear spoke while grinding up a steep hill in his smallest possible gear. A woman, Vicki Tackett, across the street recognized the seriousness of our situation and started flapping her angelic wings. We spent the night on her patio and got a guided car-ride tour of Carmel. Apparently this little town is right up there w/ the fanciest of the fancy (starter homes are in the millions). Vicki then dropped us off at the local "Rad Dog" Carmel bicycle shop where we repaired Scott's wheel (w/ a lot of spoke improvisation).














5/19 - Monterey (18 miles)
We got to hangout w/ the loonies in the park. One man, Donald Dean Carlson, Social Scientist (thestadiumcommunities.com), promised us employment when we're done traveling. He builds cities, has designed his own State Reserve Bank, and wants Google to buy 51% of his company because he likes google a lot. We didn't see much of Monterey, but they do have a fantastic bike path which leads out of town.

5/20 - Wilder Ranch State Park/just outside of Santa Cruz (62 miles)
The ride to Santa Cruz was pretty flat but we had our first encounter w/ a monster head wind. Someone asked us once if we would rather climb a hill or fight a headwind early in our trip. We naively replied... "headwind". I think we both see the light now... the wind is unrelenting. The highlight of Santa Cruz was riding along the coastal city bike path. There was an amusement park, tons of interesting people to observe, and many bobbing surfers which didn't seem to be doing much but waiting and freezing their wet-suited butts off. I don't get surfing on the Pacific Coast... It sure looks like a lot of work and waiting for the chance to fall on your ass and hurt yourself. That night, we camped "illegally", pray for our souls, along a state park mtn. bike path. We practiced our very best Leave-No-Trace camping techniques and left early in the morning. As I recall, the only trace we may have left was the removal of several dozen ticks. We developed a paranoia over the next few days that every tingle or itch was one of the little buggers looking for a new home. Rachel didn't sleep so good. Scott was busy rationalizing that they were better than leaches.