A bit later than planned but pictures prove we were there:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33786397@N03/albums/72157659369351876
We needed some kind of bike tour & the Rivendell gathering provided the
ideal motivation. From a friend's house in Monterey, we shuttled the
trusty pair of Atlantis' to San Francisco, and wandered around the
Embarcadero / Ferry Building / Fisherman's Wharf / marina area on our way
to our lodging. After enjoying the city for a couple of days we met up
with David, Will et al who were doing a Marin Headlands area ramble. Not
really able to keep up with those guys, we opted for photo ops and bit of
wandering around GGNRA (?) before arriving at the picnic. We both won
visors in the "fishing for lugs".
Monday we left via Golden Gate Park & the Great Highway in absolutely
perfect weather. Even the Devil's Slide Climb cooperated and we opted for
the "old road" which appears to have been completely re-built, with
overlooks, smooth pavement and extensive work to keep rockslides at bay.
Arriving in Half Moon Bay, we found our lodging by "looking for the fire
truck parked in front". Quite the character & a wonderful host. Tuesday
took us to Capitola via Hwy 1 as civilization thinned out & the scenery was
spectacular. Sorry about the lack of photos; I tend to get lost in riding
& forget to take them. Stocking up on goodies at Gayle's in Capitola, we
rolled south on Wednesday, finding what appeared to be a sculptor's
workshop in Half Moon Bay (but no one home?). To reach our goal in
Monterey (area) we angled inland thru Marina / Seaside & across old Fort
Ord property. Our last challenge was Laureles Grade ("10%; trucks use low
gears") but we had a tip on a roundabout way to climb, off the main hwy,
that proved well worth doing. One teensy little bit of trail (an abandoned
local road) was much more pleasant than the alternative. Roughly 150
miles, 3 days + the San Francisco portion. Loads of fun.
In the car, we headed south thru Big Sur. Still plenty of touring cyclists
out there. We stopped in Lucia for the view and met an Aussie on an
expedition loaded Thorn. His response to the obvious "where ya' headed?"
was a casual "...tip of South America...". And where did you start?
Equally casually, "...Alaska." But there's more! He'd already ridden to
the US / Mexico border, then hiked back up to Canada, before riding down
the Pacific Coast again. "Really pretty country, worth a second look." No
timetable, he expects to be at it years, not months. Said 50 miles a day
was fine, no sense in getting worn out. Those Aussies.
dougP
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW
Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
