There’s something very satisfying about sitting in the sun, listening to the waves banging against the beach, punctuated by bird song, and looking out to the horizon realizing there’s no land for many, many miles. That, and procrastinating the next leg of the trip.
I’m perched on a picnic table looking out to the ocean from the Half Moon Bay State Park where I spent my first night since arriving to San Francisco on Friday. Yesterday, Andrew and I left his house on our bicycles about 12:30, just before Kathy left for SFO to return to Seattle. The plan was for Lauren to pick up Andrew when we got here. It was an uneventful ride, except for the amazing views afforded to us at the top of the Daly City neighborhood memorialized by the Pete Seeger song “Little Boxes”. Once we dropped down into Pacifica, a sense of calm prevailed and Highway 1 converged into a two-way highway. The climb out of Pacifica was harrowing, but the rest of the ride was great. It was very special to be able to ride with Andrew and I hope we can ride together more often in the future.
I timed my arrival to SF perfectly since it rained all of Saturday morning. Kathy showed up shortly after me on Friday, so we enjoyed a nice meal at Lauren and Andrew’s. Saturday afternoon, we did some quick shopping in their local hood, Hayes Valley, a veritable cornucopia of places to spend money including an upscale bicycle store (socks), game store (jigsaw puzzle), massage (ahhh), coffee (of course!), and eyeglass stores (repair!). The vibe is comfortable and community-oriented. By Sunday, laundry had been done, plans for the rest of the trip made, and a jigsaw puzzle waited to be completed. I was ready to start Part II.
Before I got to SF, Tom stopped in and stayed with Andrew and Lauren for a few days (remember Tom?). He’s still a couple of days ahead of me. Tonight I’m headed to Jake’s house in Santa Cruz, another of the three amigos who has been home for quite some time due to his cycling prowess. The three of us met along the Oregon coast. I’m looking forward to seeing him as we track Tom’s progress up ahead.
Speaking of tracking, many of you know that there are some road problems on Highway 1 south of Monterey, that is, it’s closed to just north of San Simeon. My plan is to head to Salinas tomorrow, catch the Amtrak thru-bus to Paso Robles, and stay at Franklin Hot Springs. After that, I’ll head to San Simeon, missing one of the better sections of the trip. It is what it is. I’ll just have to return to do it in the future!
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3 responses to “Day 23, 24 & 25”
I think that part of the 1 might have washed out last year when we were in Paso and the rains were epic. It shut the road then, and I’m wondering if it’s still under repair! This was in The Washington Post today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/05/07/california-highway1-climate-change-landslide/?utm_campaign=wp_the7&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_the7&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3da2732%2F663a077f23cf2e1c92ae2477%2F62585d3099423173ac3e21f0%2F61%2F89%2F663a077f23cf2e1c92ae2477
And that’s just the section between Monterey and San Simeon. From what I saw all the way north to the redwoods where 1 connects to 101, there is so much work currently being done to keep that highway from sloughing off into the ocean! And that doesn’t include the sections I rode across where there are tears in the road that get repaired with a few shovelfuls of asphalt. Not very sustainable. If you’re a contractor, it’s job security!
Kurt, I’m staring at the photo of the two of you with your bikes in San Francisco and I’m in complete disbelief. I was staying with a friend on that same block of Fell Street! He lives in the apartment building that would be right behind the person taking the photo. I recognized the pattern/iconography (that looks like an ice cream cone?) on the building behind you, so I checked Google Street View to make sure I wasn’t crazy, and sure enough, it’s the same street, same block. There is a decent chance I was within 50 yards of you when that photo was taken, since I also got to San Francisco on Friday, May 3rd, and was there on Saturday and Sunday. You must have gone to Half Moon Bay on Sunday, so I missed you by a day, as I left SF on Monday. I wonder if we ever crossed paths without knowing. Wow.