Vague Direction

The last fortnight has been a section of the journey where a lot of things have been happening off the bike. It’s been great and it’s been hectic in all the right ways. Hence the delay in posting! There’s also been loads of time spent filming with a whole bunch of different people, and many of those are being shaped to put online. Oh, and a bit of cycling too!

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Day 142: Monterey to Capitola (45 miles)

At this point, the bike isn’t in a great way. It’s basically restricted to the smallest ring at the front, which means all pedalling is slow, and there’s still a spoke missing since Big Sur. Ignoring this it was a simple ride really. Nothing too strenuous or any hills of note – such a relief since Big Sur. Pulled in to Capitola, where some friends from the UK, Karen and Jonathan, are now living. They very kindly offered their outhouse as accommodation and an amazing home-cooked meal. It was awesome to hear some homely accents after so much time on the road and the meal goes right to the top of the list. Thanks!

Day 143 – 144: Capitola to Santa Cruz (3 miles)

It was only a very quick ride to get to the next stop. A good pal Shannon lives in Santa Cruz, right by ’38th’ – one of the surfing hotspots. Her apartment is literally a stones throw away (if you have a really long throw) and her other half Ryan is big into his wave riding – so it was a couple of days of yet more amazing home-cooked food, hanging out, getting worked by some Pacific swell and catching up after a couple of years. Time flies when you play guitar!

Day 145 – 146: San Francisco

Had some filming to do and meetings to go to over in San Francisco, and coincidentally Karen was driving her daughter and friend to San Francisco Zoo, so kindly offered a lift. Back in a car again – whoah what is this? We’re going more than 10mph! SF was ace. Always enjoyable being immersed in city life after time away – there’s nothing quite like getting lost on the public transport and slowly plodding up the crazily steep streets.

Day 147: Santa Cruz

See 144 except add the part about getting the 3am bus to Santa Cruz from San Francisco – wondering round San Francisco at 2am on a Saturday is a bit intimidating. There’s definitely a lot of interesting characters out and about!

Santa Cruz surfing is really fun. Below is a group shot courtesy of Shannon. From L-R: Ryan ‘The Shredder’, a Brit who’s crap at surfing, and Nick ‘The Barrel’. They don’t actually have those nicknames but probably should.

Day 148: Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay (53 miles)

Windy. Super windy but keen to get a move on so music on and keep pedalling. There was a woman in the distance who had parked in a lay-by. She got out and was waving from the distance. It had all the signs of a breakdown (car, not mental). But no, it was a local called Amelia who was a touring cyclist and had just driven past. She had a lot of great stories about her various trips – and was in the process of planning a new trip. Super fun chatting with people who have been on rad bicycle-powered adventures. Back to the ride and a good few miles ticked off. But of course things never go that smoothly for very long. Ping. Another snapped spoke. Good-o.

Day 149: Half Moon Bay to San Francisco (27 miles)

Took the bike to get fixed at a shop in HMB, and got a few spare spokes (the ones in the toolkit were the wrong size after the breakage in Alabama), so now wheel problems shouldn’t be as much of an issue. Hilly but problem-free ride into the city. There was a huge climb, which sucked, but the reward was a crazy-fast drop into the city at sunset. Not a bad way to end the day.

Day 150 – 152: SF / Silicon Valley

Another section of time concentrating on other stuff. Had a great time once again though and getting deeper than the tourist layer in San Francisco and surrounding areas totally brings out the best in the Bay. Checked in with the folks from Magellan to catch up, and then went to Redwood City, home of the ever-rad Evernote (new catchphrase?) to do some filming, nosey around HQ, and deliver a keynote.

Day 153: San Francisco – Stinson Beach (30 miles)

Nothing but good memories from SF. Back on the road and with one goal in mind – make up some ground. I’m on a bit of a deadline now when it comes to crossing into Canada, so basically most days now need to be movement days. And the bike is working again so there’s no longer a single gear restriction – get in. What a day. Awesome is the most overused word on this blog – but it was awesome. Cycling through downtown San Francisco involved the standard bus and car dodging which is always exhilarating. Leaving the city was topped off by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Holy smokes that’s one of the highlights of the riding so far. Absolutely epic. And then the scenery gets just ridiculous. It’s absolutely amazing. Dense green forest and jaw-dropping coastline. Unfortunately it gets really hilly too, but it’s all worth it really. Ended up stealth camping at Stinson Beach.

Day 154: Stinson Beach to Nr Tomales (32 miles)

Today may, or may not, have begun with a friendly conversation with a ranger. Ultra early start it is, then. But sometimes things fall into place and this was one of those mornings. I met Brad, who may or may not have had a similar friendly conversation with said ranger. Brad is from Boston, and wound up being arrested as a teenager. He got 2 years, and then for various reasons his sentence was increased to 10 years. He decided to change his life upon release, and started walking. He’s been walking for 13 years, all across the country. We spent the morning working on a short film which will be on the blog at some point. He has an incredible story, one of the most unique I’ve ever heard, and it was a really great experience working with someone who was so open about a potentially sensitive topic. More on this soon.

So back to the ride. It was the first day of the trip so far, that the wind has been so strong it’s affected riding. To the point of leaning into the wind to keep balance. But of course there’s a downside to that. When the wind stops you swerve into the road. It was super sketchy on a couple of occasions so I called it a day – only to hear from a local that “this is the windiest it’s been for years!”. Stealth camped by a water tank in an attempt to reduce getting pounded by the wind. Didn’t work. As seen in the video below.

Day 155: Nr Tamales to Bodega Bay (17 miles)

Urghh. The wind didn’t stop. Another horrendously slow day. Also very aware that it’s been ages since an update, and the landscape from here becomes very sparse. So it was a morning of wind-avoidance and then working up to embracing the wind for a couple of hours. Found a spot with wifi at Bodega Bay – that’ll do. Apparently the gusty nature is due to get weaker in the coming days – fingers crossed. Here’s a video showing the gusts:

(If you’re reading this in your email browser – click here to view the video)

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Quick map:

Hills. Up and down, up and down. Short and steep, long and still steep. Been following Highway 1 for a while, through places like Big Sur. Brutal on the legs and spectacular on the eyes.

Day 136: Santa Maria to Morro Bay (46 miles)

Nice ride on backroads adjacent to the highway, and through a bunch of vineyards. Not much to report on the actual ride, but going through San Luis Obispo (or SLO as the ‘regs call it) was pretty ace. It’s a college town, and was like a small version of Austin, TX. Super laid-back and colourful. Left SLO after a few hours and did a bit of sunset riding to get to Morro Bay. Let the mini-epic commence.

Did a bit of searching for a spot to camp, and wasn’t too successful, but ended up at Tidelands Park. It’s, well, a park. It was practically deserted, and getting late, so I settled for the tried and tested age-old concept of; put up tent late, leave early. It wasn’t a particularly discreet spot but was better than some of the really obvious ones.

So up goes the tent, on this really green, well-kept grass (the reason it’s so nice becomes quite obvious shortly). The park was next to the harbour, and there were benches at the waterside which were accompanied by BBQ stations, a perfect place for a stove. Pasta. That’s what was on the menu. With a tin of tuna in it – Nigella look out. There’s a seal playing in the harbour. It’s pretty idyllic at this point.

PSSSSST. That’s the sound of the sprinkler spraying me in the face, soaking everything in sight and drenching the food with cold water. No wonder the grass is so green. I’d rocked up into this nice park and there were sprinklers on a timer. They were set all over the park, dug into the ground in the most camouflaged way. So yeah, cold water pasta. And of course getting back to the tent there was a sprinkler blasting that too.

Day 137: Morro Bay to near Ragged Point (42 miles)

This section of coastline is amazing. It’s very easy to stop, sit down and look out at the ocean, and then find that an hour’s passed. The majority of the ride went well, hills and all. There was an Elephant Seal viewing area which was really incredible. Hundreds of them.

Rocked up late, and camped in a remote field just south of Ragged Point. Those seals are a right time-consumer.

Day 138: Nr Ragged Point to Big Sur (50 miles)

Pitching up in total darkness sometimes works out for the best, and it did today thankfully, although it would be hard not to on this section of coastline.

The problem with there not being anything else in the surrounding area is customer-service often goes out of the window and the local monopoly means things like food are priced at Hunger Games prices. Ragged Point is this beautiful spot, just 2 miles or so north of the makeshift camp, but unfortunately was marred by rude staff. Shame.

Thankfully my memory of Ragged Point won’t dwell on that, and instead on inspiration. Bob and Joe. A pizza shop owner and a campsite owner, and pals from Maine who were cycling from Oregon to San Diego. Bob had prostate cancer a couple of years ago which put him out of action for a while, and only a few months ago came off radiation therapy, and now he’s cycling 60+ miles per day. Props! And Joe recently had a double hip replacement and is shredding the tour (regrettably there’s no photo).

The riding was hard. Perhaps the most challenging of the trip so far (but it all kind of blurs so is hard to tell). So steep. But the rewards are so fun. 10 minutes of slow-going leads to about 45 seconds of pure adrenalin-filled joy. Made it to Big Sur Lodge at 9pm, legs a bit sore, and looked for a place to camp which was a tough hassle. Woke up to this though – suddenly the hassle was worth it.

Day 139: Big Sur to Monterey (31 miles)

Spent the morning looking at frickin’ massive trees. Nothing more to it than that.

More crazy hills and awesome locations. Snapped a spoke unfortunately so spent a good while tuning a one-less-spoke wheel. Also the front derailleur has decided to stop working, so it was a day of cycling in the smallest front ring  (i.e. slow), and trying to ignore the worry about whether the wheel would fold.

Since then it’s been a couple of days in Monterey catching up on some work.

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San Francisco and the Bay Area’s coming up, which is super exciting and should be really fun, and then it starts to get really adventurous. But before that, anyone got any advice on not destroying wheels? And does anyone know / recommend a bike shop in Santa Cruz / San Francisco / The Bay Area? The bike’s not in the best of shape right now. If you do, holla’ in the comments below. Thanks for any help, enjoy your chocolate, and don’t be too sad about YouTube!

Day 130: Pasadena to Stoney Point (nr. Chatsworth) – 40 miles.

It’s bizarre how when you ride a bike everyday for a long period of time, it becomes almost like a part of your body. So getting back on the bike after a solid chunk of time off it, took an hour or so of getting used to. Rested legs spin a bit too fast, everything acts a bit more twitchy. Anyway, time to leave the city of angels, which provided so much fun, great and welcoming people, and totally unforgettable experiences. On the road again. It wasn’t too problematic leaving the city, which was good really because I was expecting leaving to be similar to arriving (i.e. frantic car-dodging).

There was one scary moment that only a city can provide, though. That was a drive-by shooting. Just kidding, it wasn’t a drive-by. In San Fernando, a car drove past and the exhaust backfired twice. Two big bangs that were bloody terrifying and sent me ducking for cover behind a lamppost, only to look and see a rickety old car shaking it’s way down the road. Ended up bivvying in a boulder field, and was excited to see there was chalk on the boulders, and well-worn landings. This hadn’t been a planned stop, it was purely by chance, and it took a sunrise and a new day to realise that this was the legendary rock climbing area, Stoney Point.

Day 131: Stoney Point to Ventura – 44 miles.

Well you can’t wake up in a place like this and not spend a couple of hours exploring and attempting to climb rocks. Attempt being an accurate word.  It got pretty busy quite quickly, and the daylight showed just how big this place is. There’s loads of rocks, and it was a place that seemed very beginner friendly and not too clique-intimidating. Fun couple of hours, and back to the road.

Today can be described as Citrus Day. I’ve never seen so many lemons. All growing in farms on the side of the road. One of the things America hasn’t latched on to is cordial (you should – it’s great). So it was a bit of a joy to have a supply of lemons to make the water bottle a bit less plain for once.

Thanks to the wonderful Crystal Lodge Motel in Ventura for providing a rad place to stay. Definitely recommend it if you’re passing through. Super friendly staff.

Day 132: Ventura to Carpinteria – 34 miles.

Woke up totally knackered and burned out. Didn’t eat enough yesterday and it’s caught up. And today there was a hint of cold / manflu. Not the best of starts ‘eh. Set off and made it about 3 miles before stopping in a park and sleeping for a bit longer. LA was awesome, but surprisingly I probably got less sleep there because it was such a busy few days, than the big days on the bike.

It was a beautiful ride though, despite all that. The route broke off from the coast and headed up to Ojai and around Lake Casitas. It was breathtaking. Like Tuscany or something. Loads of deer out to play and so green. It was so hilly though, with crazy gradients, and definitely was a shock to the system what with the last few days being pretty flat. Found this tree to hide under which provided some welcomed respite from the sun (it’s warming up and get’s quite hot during the day now).

Day 133: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara – 12 miles.

Urghh. Here comes the manflu. It’s been a while so it was bound to happen sooner of later. Woke up in a stealth bivy, only to find it wasn’t stealth at all and there was a town Sports Day happening about 20 metres away from my head. Oops. Here come the funny looks. Hit the road really late, not feeling it at all, but made a bit of progress to Santa Barbara. And then a puncture. Can’t complain really because it’s been a while.

And then an unusual scenario began. I went into a coffee shop. Got a drink. Half an hour later, Joel from Massachusetts arrived at the same coffee shop. Got a drink. Shortly after that, Katie arrived at the coffee shop, in the middle of her drive back home to Anaheim. Got a drink. Then finally, Sophie arrived at the coffee shop, a local. Got a drink. So we have this scene where no-one knows anyone. We got chatting in an attempt to solve the question “What’s that film with the blue aliens in it?”. And then half an hour later we’re eating pizza and sat round a fire with a Ukulele providing tunes. ‘Nout like spontaneity with new pals you’ve just met. It was Avatar, btw.

Day 134: Santa Barbara to El Capitan Camp Ground – 23 miles.

Still got a flat tyre, still a bit ill, and still really lethargic. Went down to Cranky’s in downtown after sleeping up in North SB, and got supplies – new pump (bit of advice for anyone doing something similar: get a good pump, cheap ones break) and a couple of tubes. Cheers Cranky’s for a good deal. Really simple ride out of SB, through Goleta and eventually to Ocean Mesa Campground at El Capitan Beach. Hands down the nicest campsite I’ve ever been to.

Day 135: El Capitan Camp Ground to Santa Maria – 58 miles.

Pretty late start, exploring some of the El Capitan trails (so many lizards). Met with Heidi who works in post-production in LA, and was at the campground for a three day break with her children. Super cool woman and we had a lot to talk about and nerd-out on. She  amusingly admitted that she’s tried to disconnect but had been on her Blackberry doing work all morning – with ‘ya there, Heidi! The connected world can be ace as well as a drag.

A truly awesome ride, up the 101 and then splitting to the 135. Rocky, steep and vivid green landscapes made for easy zoning-out and enjoying the moment. For a while at least – before a bit of a battle with the night. Misplaced the charger for the bike light (writing this blog then searching the bags) so it was a lowest-setting and headtorch-lit end to today’s ride. Quiet roads lit by the full moon though, so not a bad night for it.

Finished the second leg a few days ago, what a ride. Here’s a quick update, videos to come in upcoming posts:

Day 106: Tempe – Surprise, AZ (41 miles)

Super quiet roads leaving the Phoenix area. Sunday syndrome I guess. Through downtown Phoenix which was eerily quiet, all going well. Then a fast puncture (caused by a big chunk of glass) close to Avondale. Only this morning I threw away another bike pump (#2 of the trip) because it stopped working. So with no pump, I walked for a few minutes to a gas station and the air machine.

BANG. Too much air. In exploding inner tube is REALLY loud. Funny looks. Continue the walk to Walmart to get a couple of new tubes. After some very unsubtle in-store use of a Walmart foot pump, eventually the bike had two working wheels and the ride went smoothly from then on. Stealth bivvy on some grass near another Walmart in Surprise.

Day 107: Surprise – Wickenburg, AZ (36 miles)

Pretty simple riding today, flat mostly, through more desert, and with no mechanical issues which seems to be a rare pleasure at the moment. Highlight of the day was stopping for lunch, and talking risk with the staff. “What if you get chased by a pack of coyotes?” It’s a valid question, not so much because of coyotes, but because I haven’t really thought about animals at all, and probably should start doing. Bears will be more common and something to be potentially wary of heading North.

Big thanks to The Log Wagon Inn, in Wickenburg, for their generous hospitality.

Day 108: Wickenburg – nr. Quartzsite, AZ (80 miles)

Struggled with motivation to get going today, so checked out as late as possible. The ride was very stop start. Cycle to the next town, stop for a bit, next town, stop etc. More of the same in terms of landscape, really. The days highlight was being in a tiny little town called Aguila – and seeing the most traditional cowboy so far – full getup, all denim, cowboy hat, leather boots with metal things on the back, a ‘be careful you don’t fall backwards’ walk, chewing a toothpick. Probably had a good aim with a six-shooter, too.

Finished the ride at the junction of Hwy 60 / i10 near Quartzsite and slept in a lay-by just off the road. It was pretty rough.

Day 109: Nr. Quartzsite to Yuma, AZ (96 miles)

It’s weird how being constantly on the road offers such extreme changes in motivation. Some days you honestly feel like cycling is at the bottom of the motivation list. Those days become short days, filming days, or explore-the-place-you’re-in days. Today was unique in terms of it could easily have been one of those days in the morning. I didn’t drum up enough motivation to get going until really late. But a fast road does wonders to change your motivation. The road from Quartzsite to Yuma (Hwy 95) wasn’t downhill, but was strangely fast. As soon as you’re moving fast, you don’t want to stop. Next stop Yuma. Thanks to the wonderful El Rancho Motel for the room.

Day 110: Yuma to Calexico, CA (58 miles)

Quick ride out of Yuma to reach that flipping-wonderful sign of progress. California and a new time zone. The end of the second / west leg of the journey. So stoked to see that sign, and to know that having a few days to chill out was only a couple of days away.

“You’re in California now, what are you doing? You can’t ride on the Interstate!” Sorry officer. It didn’t take long to be stopped by the highway patrol and get booted off the interstate. Eventually pulled in to Calexico quite late after a run in with the border patrol, who clearly enjoy the power their blinding search lights must bring.

Day 111: Calexico to Jacumba, CA (50 miles)

Yesterday, numerous people asked “Are you going to be riding up the mountain?” Nothing like the reputation of the mountain to know there’s a big-ass climb coming up. Today was that day.

The ride went through the Yuha desert, surrounded by vast sand dunes for the first time. But other than that, there were no signs of anything out of the ordinary.

Until Ocotillo at about 7pm, the interstate, and the start of ‘the mountain’. Bloody hell it really is huge and steep. Even for cars, it clearly causes problems, as every mile are ‘Radiator Water Stops’ and there’s plenty of ‘Avoid Overheating. Turn off A/C for next 10 miles’ signs. It was definitely the hardest riding so far, and pretty cold. Lowest gear and seemingly never-ending. It took 4 hours to climb the hill and reach Jacumba, and it truly earned it’s notorious status.

There’s a park outside the library in Jacumba which is great for sleeping in, plenty of benches to sleep on, and grass for tents, even if there is an unusually loud sound of dogs barking.

Day 112: Jacumba to San Diego, CA (79 miles)

I haven’t been looking at maps for a while, with the thought that ‘the unknown’ might be a bit more exciting. So after yesterdays mammoth uphill, todays a downhill cruise into San Diego, right?

It didn’t take long before the inevitable. PSSSST. Fucking nail. Still without a pump, and now in the middle of nowhere, it was a huge slice of luck that Mike and Stefan, programmers from the San Diego area were out road biking for the day. Luckily Mike had a couple of CO2 canisters. Good job it was a couple, because whilst chatting to them and trying to replace a tube at the same time, I put the old innertube back, thinking it was a new one, and used a whole canister trying to put air in the same tube that minutes ago had a nail through it. Whoops.

The downhill just wouldn’t appear. It was a constant uphill for most of the day. Not sure how that can work geographically but still, a climb all the way to Alpine. And then the downhill, dropping down into San Diego. ‘Bout time.

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Spending a few days in San Diego staying with friends who I haven’t seen for a few years. And a bit of surfing hopefully. Normal scheduling to resume in a week. Currently looking for another sponsor too, so if anyone out there is interested, just shout!

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Quick map: