42 miles in 5.25 hours
I was the first one awake from our campsite the night before, and quickly got packed and ready before the wind started. By the time I was ready to go most of the other people were up, so I talked with them a little bit. It was hard to leave everyone, but I wanted to cover the over 60 miles to Pfiffer Big Sur, and get all the way through the mountains that day. Eventually, I managed to say goodbye, and rolled out at around 8:30.
Morning haze
Elephant Seals
Lighthouse
Ocean
Bluffs
For once the winds were pretty calm in the flatlands for my first few hours of riding. Then I reached the mountains and started the first of four large climbs through the range.
Uh oh. Entering the mountains.
Yup, definitely in the mountains.
At what I thought was the top of the first climb I stopped at a place called Rugged Point and grabbed lunch. I had literally the most buttery grilled cheese I have ever had there, and under any other circumstances I probably would have thought it was pretty gross. But when you are biking, any calories taste delicious, so I thought it was pretty damn good.
Grilled Cheese and evil bird of despair.
I left, only to discover that I was not at the top of the first climb, actually not even close. So I continued to slowly slog along, and eventually made it to the top.
Looking back at happier (flatter) days.
Yup, the ocean is definitely big.
I spy with my little eye... a being in some plants right next to me.
I was told last night and this morning by my southbound friends in the campsite that there would be no wind today in the mountains. Well, they were wrong. I had a pretty hairy decent down the first hill, and then started to climb the second hill in a vicious headwind. Once I got to the top, I started another decent. On this decent I was getting blown around like I weighed nothing, even though I am probably 275 pounds with gear and bike. I got blown so hard that I thought my front tires were going to go out from under me, and almost got blown into a car on a flat.
This rattled me pretty badly, and I was making pretty bad time, so when I got to Kirk Creek Campground, which had been recommended, I decided to call it a day. I paid my $5 hiker/biker fee and set up.
View from a low elevation point in the mountains.
As I was laying around listening to some podcasts I had on my computer, I hear someone shout my name from outside my tent. I go out, and I see Tim, Tim, and Melissa from the night before. It turns out one of the Tim’s has a racing bike, so the back wheel isn’t really made for touring, and he has three broken spokes. This is not good, and the bike is almost unrideable. I tell them just to hitchhike to Monterey if he breaks one more spoke the next day. After that we end up hanging out and talking for a few hours, I take some pictures of another sunset, and they give me two hotdogs (thanks guys!) and then I go back and call it a night.
Sun setting.
Sunset.
Looking at something very interesting.