Big Sur

We finally made it! Monterey to Big Sur was 34.78 miles at a brutally slow 7.9 mph due to the 3,438 ft of elevation we gained. With all our stuff. AND a terrible headwind, oof! By 5:00pm, when we hadn't even reached Big Sur proper (did you know there are awesome state parks like Garrapata along the way that are so so so beautiful as well?), well, we were in low spirits. Particularly Laura who had to do 100% of the steering and at least 50% of the pedaling in that crazy headwind. I mean, we were going downhill at barely 10 mph instead of 17, it was so bad. When I kept hearing constant "UGHS!" from my captain- I knew it was all downhill (no, not literally, if only!). I even started biking with my thumb out, hoping one of these giant trucks, SUVs or RVs would pick us up. Nope!

It was truly our hardest day, we really felt the extra elevation on our tandem. And quite frankly, we were mentally tired too. There were just so many cars on a Sunday, it seemed we never got a moment of peace. But the coastline is so beautiful, even if it's never flat. It winds up and down, in and out, blue seas and steep cliffs, ice plants and native vegetation.

When we finally got to camp, after the last seemingly endless 900 ft of climbing, we set up camp, ate, and just conked out. The next morning we woke to the sounds of rain! The closeness of the tent ceiling makes the rain drop sounds even more pronounced and I kept my earplugs out listening to it for a while at 3:30am. I also rescued our jet boil stove which we had foolishly left outside since we finally had a camping spot of our own to strew about our possessions.

There's nothing like rain when you are on a biking tour to make you question your decisions and Laura quickly found a bus that would take us all the way back to San Jose Caltrain with just one transfer in Monterey. After yesterday's endurance ride, this escape hatch really lifted our spirits. But we still spent the day reading and lounging in our camp chairs (we have chair kits that convert our sleeping mats into chairs- sitting with a back rest was so luxurious!). I even sat outside with hat, gloves, and sleeping bag to enjoy our beautiful campsite, surrounded by redwoods.

That night, fire! Our own fire!! Whenever we arrive at a campground we always look at other campsites to see if anybody has left wood and people did! That saved us $11/bundle (omg, private campgrounds are ridiculous) and Laura was even able to stretch the wood out for TWO nights, cleverly using only a couple pieces to create warmth, not necessarily a lot of light. This was perfect for our uses of cooking, warmth, and enjoying being outside in the night.

The next day we set out for Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park. Whether we should head back or go was a subject of long deliberation and checking the bus schedule and weather report dozens of times. Alas, we discovered that our savior bus didn't come down to Big Sur on the weekdays but the Monterey to SJ Caltrain leg still ran. So we decided to bike the 20 miles round trip to Julia Pfieffer Tuesday, then from Big Sur to Monterey Wednesday, and take the bus and Caltrain back to avoid the rain coming Thursday.

This was the best decision ever. Julia Pfieffer is only 4 square miles but it boasts 2 waterfalls (one pouring directly into the beach/ocean), redwoods and an amazing view of the coastline. We were thrilled to get to enjoy the iconic bits of Big Sur in easily hikable distances and the sun came out for us too! Taking in the view, we ate the surprisingly good sandwiches we had bought at the market the day before and it might have been one of the best lunches of my life (for just $7.95 too!). 

Our final day we rode from Big Sur back to Monterey, an initial decision forced by an elusive bus route but one that we were so glad to have made as well. On a Wednesday Big Sur is a pleasure to ride with far fewer cars and we even got to see a half dozen cyclists headed the other direction too! They were as happy to see us as were happy to not be on that side climbing 3400 ft. The last hill into Monterey was intense. We were dreaded the elevation but it was the cars flying past that actually made it miserable. We ended up beating the google maps estimate by a solid 40 minutes which was good because we had to break the tandem in half. Despite always thinking we know what we are doing, we actually don't so we used the extra time to take our time and eventually visit a bike store too. By the way, Bay Bikes, locations in Carmel and Monterey, saved our butts twice! Visit them, they are smart and didn't charge me either times!!

Okay, commercial plug over. So here I am, sitting in the comfort of a giant home with wifi, electricity, a laptop, a bed with a real pillow, and shorts on even though it's raining outside. After 214.89 miles and 14097 ft of elevation, it's nice to be home.