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Day 19 – Bicycle Touring Veteran memorial Monterey to New Brighton. Cannery row, Agriculture and tailwind
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…
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Day 18 – Bicycle Touring Plaskett Creek SP to Veteran memorial Monterey. Big Sur, big climbs, more wind.
I woke up early and got packed then had breakfast of a chocolate muffin and half day old bologna. The muffin was really good and the bologna not so much. It was time to tackle the second half and finish off the Big Sur passage through the north. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to…
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Day 17 – Bicycle Touring Morro Bay SP to Plaskett Creek SP. Big Views, winds and climbs
Rising early and taking off to go for a big mileage day and big views. Boy this ride did not disappoint, it was amazing. There was a chilly bite in the air most of the day. The first part was calm winds and clear skies. Probably the clearest sky I’ve seen the whole tour. I…
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Day 16 – Bicycle Touring Pismo Beach to Morro Bay SP. Final wheel fix (?) and on the road again
Today’s goal once again is to find a final solution for my spoke problem on my rear wheel. Calling around revealed what I was worried about, none of the shops had in stock a wheel that I needed. Of course they could order it, but that would take a minimum of one day but probably…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 15 of 39 Guadalupe to Pismo Beach. Short ride and needed rest
Last night I was able to get a pretty restful sleep. The skunks and the screeching owl didn’t bother me. I ended up being the only one camping at the fire station that night. This was the first night camping where I had very heavy dew when I woke up. Not exactly what I needed…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 14 of 39 Gaviota SB to Guadalupe. Climbing, Heavy winds, Spokes
Overnight the winds came in as expected. Some extremely strong gusts made the tent shake and at times I thought it might fall apart. I’m so glad I put the extra tiedowns on the tent. With the tent flapping around hitting me in the head and making noise, there was little sleep to be had.…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 13 of 39 Carpinteria SP to Gaviota SB. Santa Barbra, UCSB, No breakage
Heading north today with best weather so far. Best news, no spokes breaking today! I looked for bicycle shop half heartedly in Santa Barbara without success. Those additional spokes will have to wait. Hopefully my wheel and I are on the same page now. Gaviota state park where I’m staying is full along with all…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 12 of 39 Leo Carrillo SP to Carpinteria SP. Agriculture, Wheel Saga and More beaches
The main objective for today is to make it to the next big city where there are some bike shops to address my wheel issue. The two cities with potential are Oxnard and Ventura. The area around Oxnard is a very agriculture based with various fields, harvesting and planting all over. I didn’t find any…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 11 of 39 Redondo Beach to Leo Carrillo SP. Great beaches, good weather and bad break
After a great rest in Redondo Beach, I wanted to make it through the rest of the Los Angeles area beaches and to the next campground. Today the weather finally cleared a little bit although the temperature remained comfortable and not too hot. This seems to bring out more people as well. Redondo Beach seamlessly…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 10 of 39 Doheny SP to Redondo Beach. May grey, long beaches, chaotic street ride
Waking early and finishing up the last of my hotdog buns with peanut butter and honey for breakfast. Even though they don’t look so appetizing they’ve actually grown on me. It doesn’t taste too bad and it’s a quick way to get a lot of calories and energy to start the day. One little bit…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 9 of 39 Carlsbad to Doheny SP at Dana Point. Rush, fix wheel, late afternoon ride
This morning was a rush to finish the blog post from yesterday‘s ride so that I don’t fall behind. I still had to fix my bike wheel and sort through my gear before we had to check out of the motel at 11 am. It was all hectic and certainly not a restful day. But…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 8 of 39 Mexico border to Carlsbad. Beautiful San Diego and mechanical issue
Today I start heading north from the border, up the coastline when possible and hopefully through Oregon to the Washington border. I will follow the popular bike touring “Pacific Coast Route” (PCR) for most of the rest of the tour, In places I will break from the official PCR and make my own way. The…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 7 of 39 Cuyamaca To Mexico border. To sea level, Otay, Skydivers and border wall
While packing up and eating breakfast at Pico Picacho campground, a campground official came over and warned me that I wasn’t supposed to be camping there. I explained that it was allowed and I had a permit. He was surprise but was okay when I showed him the paperwork. Apparently the hiker / biker option…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 6 of 39 PCT to Cuyamaca SP CA. Cool to warm, Wynola, Julian and Other Cyclists
I didn’t get much sleep last night and it was an interesting experience wild camping. It makes a difference being all alone and little critters bugging you all night snooping around the tent. It doesn’t make for a very sound sleep. I woke up at the break of day, glad night was over. There were…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 5 of 39 Idyllwild to near Warner Springs California. Fog and cold, Garner Valley and Wild Camp
A nice sleep and rest helped me to recuperate from the days before hot and steep climb. almost good as new, I got up early to see all but one of the hikers had already left, and it was before 7 AM. So I had the whole picnic table to myself to queue up all…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 4 of 39 Bike Touring Banning to Idyllwild CA. Low mileage but long hot climb
Looking over the next segment of the route last night, I realized I needed a low mileage day, and boy was I right. It seems like I’m writing a lot about climbing but this is the big challenge right now until I hit the coast. I took advantage of the first couple of miles downhill…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 3 of 39 Big Bear Lake to Banning CA – High Altitude and Big descent
I woke up surprisingly refreshed right before daylight. But it was too cold and I wasn’t that interested in getting that early of a start. So I went back to sleep and got a late start. Slowly packing and filtering water for the bike ride ahead. The day started with a nice trail ride around…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 2 of 39 Silverwood lake to Serrano Big Bear lake – Steep climbs and Smokey Views
I knew when I planned this segment that it was going to be hard. It lived up to my expectations and more. It was one of my hardest physical activities that I’ve completed. I have a personal scale of one (easy activity) to 10 being the hardest activity that I’ve ever completed. I would rate…
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PCR Bike Tour Day 1 of 39 Cajon to Silverwood Lake SR – First Day Short Climb
Today we drove down from Las Vegas to Cajun Junction California about 225 miles. from there my wife dropped me off and I went solo up the climb about 12 miles and about 1200 foot elevation climbing. It feels good to finally get on way and started. The weight in front was a little bit…
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PCR Bike Tour – The travel south through Nevada to bike tour starting point
These last few days my wife and I have taking our time working our way south by car to get the planned bike tour starting point in Southern California. Currently we are in Las Vegas and will continue south this morning to Cajon Junction, CA. From there, I will get a late afternoon start of…
