Days 26-28: Visitors from Fort Collins and Two Spectacular Riding Days

It has been a few days since our last post. We had a great few days with our friends Rob and Mary from Fort Collins. They went out to the Lake Tahoe area and then met us in Carmel, staying until I rode out of Pismo Beach on Day 28. Rob rode with me for two days, and Mary joined Chris in tracking us and in doing various activities. It was great to have Rob join me for two of the most spectacular days of the ride--and then he was fortunate to have left before my first disappointing day of the ride. Let's talk about all of them here.

A wonderful breakfast at Ragged Point Inn. Mary, Rob, Joe and Chris.

Riding

Day 26: 42 miles, 3707 elevation (1 wheeee, no ughs)

This was one spectacular day of riding. It was really great to have Rob along. The ride was not as long as many others, but it had plenty of ups and downs. And Big Sur's rugged coastline is genuinely amazing.

As you see in the Relive video, just after Big Sur, a section of Highway 1 is closed to car, bike, and pedestrian traffic. This is due to the Regent's Slide, which occurred in February 2024. For now, a 1.5-mile stretch of the highway is unpassable. This is a real issue for Pacific Coast bike riders, because there is no good detour. You have to go back to Carmel and go all the way around the mountain. It is almost a four-hour detour (by car) to get to the other side of the landslide, just a couple of miles down the road. See the map below.

For us, we could put our bikes on the back of the car and get a ride around. For many riders, who are bikepacking, this is more like a 3-4 day detour, or they simply miss some or all of the Big Sur Coast. Neither one a great option. We also missed part of the coast; by the time we got back around, we ended up at our hotel which was 25 miles down from the landslide. My original plan was to do that the same day as the ride above, but a few (good) things delayed us and there was no time. The ladies found a really neat nature reserve outside of Carmel and we stopped there for a couple of hours on the detour. With the itinerary set, we followed the original plan for Day 27.

Day 27: 72 miles, 2667 elevation (1 wheee, no ughs)

This was a really nice day of riding. Shortly after leaving fate seems to have intervened. Rob had a mechanical issue, and my bike light fell off. While stopped, we saw an elephant seal playing in the water. Then, on closer inspection, we saw maybe 100 elephant seals lying on the beach. It turned out that these are still kids who only weigh 800 pounds. Their parents are still in Alaska fattening up for the winter (they weigh up to 5000 pounds). The parents will not return until December. But the younger ones (1-2 years old) are too tired to get all the way to Alaska and return early. When we saw them, they were resting from the trip back. There is a wealth of additional information available at elephantseal.org, including a live camera feed (check it out in December to see the males fighting for their "girlfriends"). They return to this same location twice a year, and it is apparently the only mainland spot where elephant seals exhibit this behavior, with other places on islands.

The rest of the ride was delightful as we rode through some interesting towns.

Day 28: 37 miles, 1516 elevation (0 wheees, no ughs)

This entire ride, I would say that no day, no hour, has been unpleasant. Maybe a few unpleasant minutes here and there, but I have genuinely enjoyed everything. Until today. It started out beautiful out of Shell Beach and Pismo Beach. Then, the roads got ugly. A lot of debris in the shoulders (dirt, gravel, bumps). And there were a lot of trucks even though these were side roads. It was hot. And then, the road was closed due to a jackknifed truck. I was forced to figure out a detour when none was obvious. When Chris passed me about 12 miles before my destination, I took her up on the offer of a ride and knocked off early.

The Relive video is short and has fewer photos as there was less of interest. What was interesting was the agricultural fields and workers.

What did Chris and Mary do?

I owe you an overview of the neat stuff Chris has been seeing and doing--even from my last post. Here are some of the high points from the last 4-5 days organized by trips.

Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz

Chris spent some extra time in Half Moon Bay. This town has grown immensely in the last forty years. You may recall I lived not too far away 40 years ago. From my apartment in Belmont, it was about an hour drive to Half Moon Bay and I would drive over and hang out on the bluff looking at the ocean (a great way for me to get perspective). Back then, Half Moon Bay was a tiny place. About 25 years ago, a Ritz Carlton Hotel went up; this town is now a tourist mecca and maybe even bedroom community for San Francisco.

Chris enjoyed some of its old and new. She found the town to be cute, seeing lots of great coffee shops and an old jail.

Santa Cruz to Carmel

We are definitely in agricultural lands. The price of avocados rise by the time they reach the produce section in our grocery stores.

Carmel Area

I previously mentioned that I spent much of the day we arrived and the following day working on my bike and my textbook. Chris did find time to explore Carmel. One interesting discovery were the "Fairy Tale Cottages of Carmel."

She also attended Mass at the Carmel Mission Basilica.

When Chris and Mary left Carmel, they drove by the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. They saw a lot of beautiful coastline and hundreds of otters swimming out there, while Rob and I were riding to Big Sur. On the way back (recall the long detour) we all stopped to see this wonderful place.

There are dozens of otters down there, if you look really close you can see their heads.

Ragged Point Inn to Pismo Beach

While Joe and Rob made their way by bike, Chris and Mary swung by the Hearst Castle museum.They also enjoyed the Elephant Seal "Rookery" (see above) They visited a few other stops along the sea.

Pismo Beach to Lompoc

We had breakfast with Rob and Mary and then said goodbye. From there, I had my unpleasant ride. Chris did a little housekeeping with a car wash and laundromat tour before finding me along the highway.