Bike Touring

So this is new. Laura and I decided to really go for it and go bike touring. As in we decided this less than a week ago and now here we are on day 3 in a lovely city hike and bike campground in Monterey. I'm fancy writing this with a Bluetooth keyboard connected to my smartphone! Don't worry, there's outlets in the bathroom to charge so we don't get stuck without directions. 

It all started when Laura said she wanted to go to Big Sur a couple months ago. We thought we'd drive since we drove down Laura's stepdad's truck from Seattle, but then somebody was selling front rack Ortliebs on Craigslist for 50 percent off list price. Robert let us borrow his front rack and that was that.

Well not really, we did spend a couple days putting together the tandem and breaking a screw off in the tandem and trying to extract this screw (cleverly it was the screw for the rear rack). We also had long vacillating debates about the merits of going north or south but finally, FINALLY we just decided to go for it and go for it we did.

I thought the first day would be easy because we took Caltrain down from SF to SJ so and I thought that meant we were going to have a short riding day. Reminder to everybody, check the route of where you are going before you get on your bike! Alas, Laura had done almost all the route planning and campground reserving so I didn't know our first day was actually our longest- 56 miles, 2100 ft of elevation gain. It really came all at once in a 5 miles stretch climbing over 152 into Watsonville. Brutal.

But hey, we made it! And before that, oh my, so amazing finding Coyote Creek trail. That's right, almost half our ride on a dedicated pedestrian and cycling trail with almost nobody in our way. Then we rode through Morgan Hill which was filled with bike lanes. Then that brutal part I mentioned earlier, then a rather pleasant ride to DINNER at a taqueria in downtown Watsonville. Note to reader: tons of taquerias in Watsonville- I don't think you can go wrong. And then a final climb to our campsite under the glow of the sunset. As usual the last few miles were the hardest, at least mentally, we were done at dinner.

Let me tell you a little bit about hiker biker campsites. First, they are usually shared (look at me, the expert after staying at two sites). They are usually very cheap ($10/site, $6/person at another). This one, at Pine Hallow Campground at Sunset State Beach even had two bike racks. I mean, whhhaaaatt??!! So cool. And nothing really beats the coolness factor of biking into a campsite of course. But we were beat. So we set up camp and then went to bed. I think it was 8:30pm.

The next day we woke up to another perfectly blue sky day and only a 3.5 hour ride (35 miles)! We fixed our bike (and spoiler alert, the belt has not come off again even though we've ridden said 35 miles and MORE). We charged our phones in the glory of the sun (yes, Laura insisted we borrow my Uncle Jeffrey's solar panel) and off we went. The ride through Watsonville covers farmlands and we discovered what Brussel sprouts look like with leaves on the stalks! Man, this vegetable keeps surprising me aesthetically. Best part was smelling all the strawberries growing next to the road as we winding through basically abandoned roads. But we did meet OTHER CYCLISTS! GASP!!! HOOORAAAYY!! This guy was going at it for a month and it's just so nice getting to talk to other cyclists being crazy like you. We were also passed by a couple of road cyclists who did not have packs but were very friendly. We also road some of highway 1 which was not friendly, but at least it had a shoulder, unlike the BRUTAL highway 152 climb. Obviously, I am not over this climb.

Okay, so then what happened? Then we passed through Moss Landing which I remembered kayaking at and seeing roughly 10,000 otters (j/k, there are only 3000 otters who live there, up from their low of 100). So we stop at the bridge overlooking Elkhorn Slough and what do we see?? SEA OTTERS!!!!!! YESSSSSSSS, FANTASTIC, 1000 STARS, 200 THUMBS UP! We had already decided against kayaking, as this is a biking trip and we were already feeling under-athletically prepared, but watching from the bridge we saw a sea otter chowing down so that was definitely the right decision. Then we stopped by a farmer stand which was so awesome because everything was so cheap, but so bad because everything was so cheap. Luckily, Laura talked some sense into me and I just got 3 PERSIMONS and 2 GIANT avocados. Yes, that's me being reasonable. A couple miles later, that persimmon was devoured. We are still working on the avocados. They are seriously giant.

Then we stopped for LUNCH, finaaaalllyyyy, finalllyyyy finallyyy (that's roughly how it felt). It was not so good, but it was time off the bike and I did get soda (Laura got Thai Iced Tea with boba), and I suppose wings were okay. Then I noticed there was a grocery outlet so I went THERE as well and we were ready to our next stop- Trader Joe's! A very food focused 35 miles if I may  say so myself! Anyhow, we needed meat and this was the last place before our campsite up a GIANT hill so we got 2 pork chops, 2 yams and hopped on for the last climb of the day- We were not super happy with it of course, being the last thing before  we could eat (again), but we muscled (as in took many breaks) through.

Google maps was wrong and the campsite was .4 miles closer and 200 ft less feet of climbing than it said so although I can't express our feelings upon realizing this in words, just imagine a lot of exclamation marks. Something like this: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, but more tired.

At the campsite, we rolled in and discovered OTHER BIKE CAMPERS!! As in, we are all sharing this enormous site with an enormous picnic table and 2 raccoon lockers for food. BUT NO FIRE RING. That's right, at Pine Hallow we get not one, but TWO fire rings to ourselves when we don't need it and here we had 2 pork chops but no fire ring. Or wood, for that matter (hey, you can usually buy wood at a campsite okay?!).

But have no fear, because your hero, Have-No-Fear-Woman is here and I went and befriended a lovely older couple who not only let us use their fire, but gave us the rest of their firewood and regaled us with awesome stories/tips during dinner too!

And I think that is by far, the best part of this trip so far. On the drive down from Seattle to SF we camped twice and talked to nobody. Like, literally nobody- the first night we slept in the National Forest where you can camp for free anywhere 100 ft away from water sources/hiking trails/parking lots so we didn't see a soul. But here, we are surrounded by people all the time who are way buffer than us (most people are either going further or came further or came further AND are going further than us) and so friendly. And buff, seriously. We've managed to cook pork chops, sausages, yams, and banana boats (pro tip: stuff a banana full of marshmallows and chocolate, put in reused tin foil and surround with coals and you will be delighted, I promise) without ever having our own fire. We've lent wifi to others, we've borrowed cords from others. It's been truly amazing.