1990 California CoastVacation Pictures
This was a cycling trip of the California coast between the SF Bay area and northern LA in February. Yes, California has a rainy season and this was it. It did rain several times and I saw some fog that was very thick - but generally the weather was cool and nice.
One of the worst parts of this trip was how bad the maps were. My (fairly thick) map book said that two streets intersectioned - and they didn't. It was a chore finding my way from the airport to the coast. A day of cold rain didn't help when I didn't have any rain gear. After that I was unable to find the coast, and campgrounds. Various campgrounds were also closed. In a way it was very nice not having so many people in the campgrounds. The campgrounds that are in the redwood forests were also fairly cold - one night I had frost and another night I had water frozen on the tent.
Unfortunately the light meter in my camera malfunctioned and then there was a misunderstanding about the replacement camera. As a result; all pictures were taken with the aperature fully closed! Most of my pictures (Monteray aquarium, Hurst mansion, etc) did not turn out at all.
I met several other cyclists including one guy who didn't really have a tent, just a hammock and a plastic sheet to use in case of rain. When I was just north of the Hurst mansion I was caught with a long, hard, downpour. I was literally watching a stream of water flow under my tent.
Trip Diary
My bicycle + all camping gear and food is aprox. 86 lb. It's a 1990's vintage low-end Specialized MTB.
Background: This trip was my first vacation. I'd never done
a long cycling trip and figured I'd just cycle the coast from San Franciso
to LA. My camping gear left a lot to be desired (no ground mattress) and
I was totally unprepared for the wet and cold.
In the end it was a nice experience and I'm really thankful that I was able
to spend some time with Henning in LA.
Friday Feb 2nd, 1990 - San Franciso
It took 4:20 to go 73 km (ODO at 181.5 km) to get to Paul's house. Most of
the weight of the bike is over the rear wheel as I only use rear paniers.
The seat broke when I tried to life the bike by it. The sun is up at 8am
and it's dusk at 5:30pm.
Saturday Feb 3rd - Saratoga Gap Area
It's a windy day and cool with lots of rain. I had all sorts of problems
finding my way to the coast and stayed at an expensive motel ($75). I
was not prepared for wet weather - or very cold weather. The hottub warmed
me up quickly. This day I cycled 61.7 km in aprox. 4:30. My hands are
tingling and I finally got a good map to get me from Fremont to #9.
Sunday Feb 4th - Menlo Park
36.6km in aprox 3 hours done as 2 hours of on-road cycling and then 1 hour
off road with some MTBer's I met while going up the foothills to the coast.
I met an ex-pat Canadian doctor who is now working down here and spent the
night with him (Alex in Menlo Park)) and enjoyed an excellent supper.
Monday Feb 5th - Saratoga Gap Area
12:30pm and I'm leaving Half Moon Bay and feeling great. There is a fast wind
in from the coast.
3:30pm - 76km and I'm in Santa Cruz. It's windy and 14C. My front tire got a
flat after only 3 hours.
Total 115.8km, 5:15 hours, 25.5 km/h avg, 70.5 km/h max (nice hills) and I'm at
a hotel again.
Tuesday Feb 6th - Salinis
I had all sorts of problems with the map. Streets that were supposed to cross
never did. I was unable to get to the coast and find campgrounds. Today it's
pouring rain hard as can be and that's the forcast. I'm pretty depressed
about how badly this has been going.
I decide to take a taxi to Salinis ($35) and then take the train to a friend
of my father in LA. I'm on the train at 11:30 and at 7pm I'm in LA. The
Taxi has a hell of a time and I'm sort of cash and after $53 I get let off
somewhere in the area where Henning is. LA is huge - just so amazingly huge
it's unreal. Henning wasn't in and so I get to wait a while. I surprised
him as I had talked about visiting but didn't say when!
Wednesday Feb 7th - LA
Henning has an amazing place - lime, tangerine and plum trees on the front yard.
I slept in and start to rethink what I'm going to do.
Thursday Feb 8th - LA
I bought a new camera to replace my failed one (light meter went). But I'd
bought an automatic capable lens - but a camera body that was fully manual
and I'd left the lens on automatic f-stop and as a result all vacation
pictures were severely underexposed. Camera (Chinon) + 28-210mm lens was
$350 US + $60 for polarizer (72mm).
Friday Feb 9th - LA
I'm staying in Woodland hills area - northern LA. In the mornings you can
watch the smog roll across the city - blech. All of the women I've met off
firm handshakes - unusual!
Saturday Feb 10th .. 14th - LA
Oh what torture - I get to drive a 1959 Mercedies 190SL. It's a cherry red
5 speed with a 4 cylinder and it drives quite nicely on the twisting roads.
One of the days we went down to downtown LA and went to Paramount. I'd never
actually thought of that when I planned the trip. LA was just this smoggy
place at the southern end of my trip.
People around here like their "bug-eye Sprints". They restore the old cars
and then sometimes drop in a mustang 5L engine! It's kind of like putting
a motorcycle engine on a skateboard.
Thursday Feb 15th - LA
I went on a bike ride down Toponga Canyon Road. 30.4km at 23.1 km/h avg
in 1:27 at 61 km/h max. It was a nice ride. Some people mention the
Centenial Bikeway - a bike tour of the coast. I'm trying to figure out
how to get north from here as it's mostly divided highways that bicycles are
not allowed on and I've had lots of problems with the maps I have.
I later find out that the bikeway is rundown and many bridges have been
blown up after being dammaged in a recent earthquake.
Friday Feb 16th - Pismo Beach
2pm and I'm at Pismo Beach Motel 6. It's windy and raining lightly. I"m getting food
and gear for cycling. 3pm and it's still raining. A bike shop told me that
I'll get a headwind all the way up the coast. 5pm and still raining.
6pm and raining hard. The bike ODO is at 317.0 and rain is prediced for
three more days. At least the hotel has a warm pool to swim in!
Saturday Feb 17th - San Simeon
6pm and it's raining heavily. 8:30 - it's sunny and the roads are drying.
My goal is to push to Morrow Bay or San Simeon.
9:30 - I'm cycling, 10:30 and I'm back on #1 with a wind from the south.
It's 14C and gusty. I feel good and am 40 mi from San Simeon.
12:41 - 3 hours 20 min cycling 80.3km, 14C, windy, some rain sprinkles.
2:30 pm camp is setup at San Simeon ($2). Motels were expensive at $80.
I was caught in two downpours but am drying quickly. You can walk
easily to the ocean.
4:30pm, 93.5km at 26.0 km/h avg ODO is 410.7 km with 57.5 km/h max.
It's getting a bit wet under the tend where a small river is flowing. It's
been pouring rain.
Sunday Feb 18th - San Simeon
I'm still waking thru the night. I'm sleeping without a mattress - only
a sleeping bag and that's the problem. There is some ice on the tent
and lots of dew.
9:30am I left for the Hurst "Castle" and I arrived by 10:10. It's getting
sunny and warmer - putting my feet in plastic bags inside the cycling
shoes helps.
The tour of the Hurst Mansion
was pretty amazing. There are several tours.
4:30pm - 12C, 455.0km, 44.3 km today, we had rain and hail and a bad wind
from the north-west.
6pm - sundown. The Bike Centenial paths are no long maintained. They
deadend.
Monday Feb 19th - Pfeiffer Spur
I woke at 4am - I can take this much darkness!! At 6:30am I, and another
cyclist headed out. Its 2C!
9:00am - 25km, the wind is not bad, it's sunny and it should get hilly soon.
10:00am - 40km , Las Padras - some good hills - 50+ km/h going down the
back of them.
10:45 - 50km, nice picture of coast and road
11:30 - vista point - green rocks, nice climbing, 21C - great day.
12:30 - 68km, Kirk Crk vista is closed and I have to push on.
3pm - 114.5 km, 21.2 km/h avg max 63.5 km/h (ODO stoped working).
I'm dead tired. Coming down a hill into a shady forest felt like
walking into a freezer. I'm at Pfeiffer Spur.
Tuesday Feb 20th - Pfeiffer, Big Spur - Hiking
It's cold and dark in this forest. I did about 12 miles of hiking, 3 hours going uphill on a trail that was 4mi long! I passed shoe sized pinecones. There are tons of birds here. A fellow hiker managed to pick up two ticks (I'm covered head to toe while he was in shorts).
Wednesday Feb 21st - Monterey
7:45am - 6C, cold and dark. I had lots of trouble sleeping and figured
out that I really needed a mattress. My legs are still a bit sore from
hiking.
9am on the road for Monterey.
10am - 22 km, slightly wind, 15C, 10km/h going up hills, 50+ km/h going down.
12:40 - 59.4 km in 3:40, legs are very tired, it is sunny, 20C and I'm at the
Veterns Memorial Park in Monterey. This place is not listed as a campsite
and yet it even has showers! I met three other Canadians - one of which
remembers me (primarily my bicyle) from a race in Waterloo! I found out
about camping here at a bike shop. I walked around, toured the military
base - gawd - they're all kids there!
Thursday Feb 22nd - Monterey
6:30am, 10C and I've been up for 2 hours. I'm still not sleeping well.
I met an interesting guy from Germany - Ju"rgen Brodbeck.
Today I went to the Monterey Aquarium. It's a nice place.
I cycled the coast and took the 17 Mile Drive. Along the way I met an
Aussie who lost his bike and has to wait 40 days before the airline
considers it really lost and offers to replace it and his other gear - but
he's flying out of California in a week to his next destination (Europe)!
Friday Feb 23rd - Monterey
7am - Sunny, 15C and warming up. There is a lot of background noise here
from the highways. Unfortunately I have some "beer and party" campers
next to me.
Saturday Feb 24th - ??
7am - 10C, another night of hard sleeping. I woke up many times and gave
up sleeping at 4am.
12am - my tent is up - 49.5 km in 2:58 at 20.6 km/h avg at 56.5 km/h max.
A lot of the cycling was uphill and down into a cool redwood valley. The
trees are huge and there are lots of birds. The trees are huge, but not
very heigh (says 250') due to breakage in the crown.
Sunday Feb 25th - ??
There are lots of deer walking around here. They're quite small and
apparently only live about 4 years! The pain in my right knee is
getting worse again and I somehow pulled muscles in my back. To quote
a local "knarly headrush man - look no flesh wounds yet". You're not
allowed to cycle on the trails here.
4pm - I spent the day hiking except for a nap after lunch. These solo
vacations leave a bit to be desired. It's nice to meet people to talk
with during supper - but it's a pretty quite time of year and some
camping spots are even closed. This place is nearly empty of campers.
After a 30 min. walk I found some showers.
6pm and it's quite dark. This is my last night.
Monday Feb 26th - San Francisco
8:15am I'm up and cycling. It's 4C, damp and too cold for my liking.
First I cycled up a hill into sunlight, then descended into pea-soup fog
that froze on me. 9:38am and it's up another hill.
10am - Sunny at the top of Saratoga Gap. It took 15 min. to come down
from the top at 40 to 64 km/h.
2:50pm - 6:40 and aprox 84km at 22.6 km/h?? The cycling computer was
wonky - not registering anything at times.
Tuesday Feb 27th - San Francisco
8:15am cycling to the airport from Paul's place. 9am at Dunbarton and it's
a cloudy day - not good for pictures.
10:30am, I'm bumbing around the pier waiting for fog to clear. A seal
researcher said it clears around 11am.
2:30am - Back at Alex's (Canadian doctor I met and cycled with at the start
of the trip). I shoped for some bike parts and camping gear like a thermarest
mattress!!
Wednesday Feb 28th - San Francisco
8:10am I'm off, 10am I'm at the airport. 34.3 km at 23.5 km/h avg. I'm reading
a book and waiting for my plane.
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