Days 23 to 25: Around Monterey Bay

When Chris and I first met, more than 40 years ago, we were both salespeople for Kodak. I lived in Menlo Park, CA and worked on the San Francisco Peninsula. Chris lived in San Ramon and worked in the East Bay. We worked in different divisions, but fate brought us together. Monterey and Carmel were special places to us. It was about a two-hour drive from my place to here, and we came down a few times for dates. And on one fateful date, I proposed to Chris here in Carmel. We later took our honeymoon in Big Sur, where I will ride tomorrow. This place holds a special significance for us.

Consequently, I made sure we had a rest day (Day 25 of our adventure) here in Carmel. Unfortunately, I have fallen behind in my textbook work, and most of my "rest day" has been spent getting caught up. Yesterday I cleaned up the bike. Last night I had to watch the Packers play the Cowboys and have a second straight disappointing game. Today, I worked, and in the afternoon, Chris and I hung out at the beach.

Rest day!

I have been busy, and we have friends in from Fort Collins, so this blog post will be short. Worse yet for you, readers, it will not feature what Chris has been doing. I will make up for that in the next post as Chris did have fun exploring Half Moon Bay and Carmel.

How did we get here on this trip?

Riding

Day 23: 49 miles, 2533 elevation

This ride started out of Half Moon Bay with some sun, but it was mostly a grey, misty ride to Santa Cruz. It was a Saturday, and there were lots of cyclists out on the coast. I bet I saw 75 of them riding along the Cabrillo Highway (Hwy 1). I also saw at least that many people surfing. And the weather sucked.

Day 24: 49 miles, 2461 elevation

Interesting ride that took me through a lot of farmland. This is where many of California's fruits and vegetables are grown. I also got my second flat tire of the trip. The staple I ran over was pretty large; you can see a picture of it in the Relive video below. The route mostly took me off the Cabrillo Highway and that was appreciated. Most of the last 20 or so miles were on bike trails.

What's next?

I think my friend from Fort Collins is going to ride with me some tomorrow and possibly the day after. Tomorrow I ride to Big Sur and beyond to the landslide that has closed the Cabrillo Highway. At that point, Chris will pick me up and take me to the other side--a THREE AND A HALF HOUR DETOUR. Not sure I will make it to the exact other side, as I will likely just go to our next stop Ragged Point Inn. The following day I ride through San Luis Obispo and on to Pismo Beach. Those are going to be two long days, so I might not write another post for a few days. Wish me luck!