SoulCal

Hello Everyone



Sorry for the lack of updates in the last week and a bit, we've put in some long days and have put some pavement miles behind us.



When we left you last we had arived in Halfmoon Bay - known for its famous surfing wave called Maverics.That night we were fortunate enough to meet a man called Jim Lucas, an old local that we ran into on our way out of the grocery store. After a brief conversation we invited him to join us later for some beers.  Jim turnd out to be quite the caracter...  Being a biker by heart, Jim befriends all the cyclists he sees passing through the small town and offers what he can.  For us, he provided firewood and entertainment for the evening.  After pouring his third tall boy of Steel Reserve (8% alc) into an old McDonald's cup, the story of his life began to be told with grand gestures and an exuberance that no doubt kept our nearby neighbours from sleeping.  At the end of the night, with the fire dead and the bottels empty, Jim collected all the recycling to buy his coffe in the morning.

 

The next few days are beginning to blend together at this point in time, however, were marked with spectacular views of the Central California Coast, as Hwy 1 winds it's way south.  At the next Hiker/Biker site, we met some other bike tourists who have also been riding the Pacific Coast, and in an effort to ditch some weight, gave us a Pacific Coast Guidebook - complete with route information from Vancouver to the California/Mexico border.  Biking through Washington, Oregon, and California thus far had been a relatively easy process simply by following the state maps, however, as we found out as we biked through Santa Cruz - Southern California cities are concrete jungles of urban sprawl.  We were kicked off of Hwy 1 as it becomes a freeway in numerous sections, resorting to backroads that took us through the heart of California agriculture where you can buy 5 avacados for $1.00, 10 oranges for $3.00, and the artichokes are a dime a dozen.  The ripest and sweetest strawberries can be found here at little roadside stands, or you can simply pull off the road and grab a couple handfuls from the massive Dole-owned strawberry fields.  

 

From the fresh scent of strawberry fields to the smell of sardine fisheries that filled the air as we approached Monterey, CA - Cannery Row was a tourist mecca... one can imagine that is slightly different from how it was portrayed in Steinbeck's novel. 

 

CANADA DAY was celebrated in a jam packed hiker/biker site in a stunning state park in Big Sur.  The evening consisted of dinner with the the musical stylings of Neil Young and the Tragically Hip to show our heritage - no Canadian beer was anywhere to be found. 

 

The road south of Big Sur provided the most excellent views we have seen of the coast yet and the last excellent views we can recall seeing as we began the transition into Southern California, a unique area with a traffic problem.  As we traveled inland through San Luis Obispo we realized that we had been taking the cool oceanside breezes and climate for granted as we out enough water to fill a small swimming pool.  Realizing it was really only about 95F and we will likely see triple digits in the Baja, it was good training. 

 

INDEPENDENCE DAY was spent just north of Santa Barbara where we were looking forward to seeing some July 4th festivities being celebrated American Style.  The palm tree lined state beech we booked into did not, unfortunately, put on a display of pyrotechnics.  As we biked through Santa Barbara the next day we found out there was a large firework show put on for the crowds on the beach. 

 

Coming into our campground just north of Malibu the next day, we ran into a guy just leaving the park who owns property on the southern end of the Baja and invited us to stay there when we get there... he also provided us with our first essential Spanish lesson of the trip.  The evening was spent preparing a route through LA and the multiple suburbs of LA as well as hydrating for the big day that would take us 95miles to Dana Point, just south of Laguna Beach and the biggest day of the trip so far.  Out of the campsite by 7am, we struck Malibu just in time to join the daily commute into LA.  The bike route took us along sandy beach after sandy beach where surfers and sunbathers enjoyed the hot California Sun and clear skies.  No muscle builders were to be seen around Venice Beach, but there were some familiar scenes from some classic Hollywood flicks.  The day ended at Doheny State Beach earlier than expected, given the mileage, where there was still time for a beer and a feast.

 

Waking up to stiff legs, it was a short 40mile ride to the next site in a small town on the beach... Cardiff by the Sea.  The day was entirely uneventful until we decided it would be well worth our time to try and get some laundry done before entering Mexico.  As we pulled into our campsite, a laundromat was spotted just across the highway.  We ditched our gear at the site, filled the pannier with dirty clothes, and cruised over right away in hopes of getting the task done fast.  Much to our dismay, when we got there, the place was all borded up and had clearly gone out of buisness. --- Our next move was one that resulted in a full night of cavorting around Cardiff with an old guy named Pauly --- So not knowing where to go, we asked a local-looking guy in the parking lot where we could find the nearest laundromat that wasn't out of buisness.  He gave us some directions to another place and then hesitated as he saw that we were on bikes... "OK, this is what we're gonna do" he says.  Not even knowing the guy's name at this point, he gave us directions to his house where he gave us free range over the washer/dryer, and invited us to a dinner party at his buddies house.  The most unexpected night of the trip ensued as we ate, drank, and did laundry.  Pauly toured us down to the local bars for some post-laundry beer and sent us on our way with clean clothes and a headache.  

 

We have now made it to San Diego where the population of cyclists has exploded and the bike routes through the city are in better condition than the roads.  We are staying with a host from Warm Showers (a hospitality exchange for touring cyclists) and leaving early for Tecate, Mexico tomorrow morning.  

 

As Ron Burgundy would say, "You stay classy, San Diego!"