Today I’m expecting a more relaxed ride with only 50 miles and a moderate 2000 feet of climbing. I was pleased to find that it was even slightly easier as the midsection to the end, had a slight tailwind.
The morning started by backtracking a little bit from where I camped to get to the Monterey Bay aquarium and Cannery Row. I didn’t want to miss the photo opportunities and to see what was down there. It was worth the extra few miles.
It was clear skies in Monterey and great photo taking light. You could see the cloud bank to the north across the bay. In 15 miles of the ride, I progressed into the cloud bank.
I went off the standard Pacific Coast route to explore the agriculture backroads. It’s amazing the amount and variety of crops that are grown here in California. Strawberries, lettuce, cabbage and artichoke hearts are a few that I recognized. The roads around the field were busy with trucks and maintenance vehicles The fields busy with hard-working pickers.
I made such a good time that I arrived at new Brighton State Park early at 3 o’clock. I was able to check in but I couldn’t get my pass or set up until after 4 PM. So I went to the nearby town of Capitola and had dinner and watched the beach which had some of the best surfing and surfing waves I’ve seen here in California.
After returning to camp and setting up my tent, two southbound tours arrived. One of them warned of a southbound storm coming in and bringing rain. I haven’t checked myself but it sounds like rain might be in my short term forecast.
Ride summary: 4/10 difficulty, 52.5 miles with 2197 feet climbing. Start clear transitioned to fog, then partly cloudy. Calm first half, then mostly medium tail and crosswinds. Today’s ride detailed GPS. Tour totals: 888 miles (47 / day). 50,265 climbing feet.
4 responses to “Day 19 – Bicycle Touring Veteran memorial Monterey to New Brighton. Cannery row, Agriculture and tailwind”
I remember the drive on I5 between San Fransisco and LA as a straight hot smelly boring brown drive. Your route and the account with pictures is so much more interesting and pretty.
That tree look like a Cthulhu Lovecraftian creation.
Although I5 is faster it’s a lot more inland then the coastal route. I hadn’t realized that until looking at the map the other day. But thanks, I definitely went off the beaten path. I had to look up Cthulhu, but yes it does look like that. Get ready for more tree pictures when I get to the redwoods up north. 😊
I don’t know how you get any riding done as I would be stopping at everything. It’s so beautiful. I would expect nothing less in the Red Woods, but lots of pictures.
Redwoods coming soon!