Day 212-215, 8-11 Feb 2009: From a mission to a pick-up, elephants & cyclists

8 February 2009: Pacific Grove (Monterey) – Gorda. 45 + 60km…

After saying goodbye to Diego, we headed back down the ‘17 Mile Drive’ and ended up in Carmel by the Sea, a nice small town, with much better looking houses than the ‘Drive’. We spent some time exploring the old Mission, one of many that were placed here along the coast.

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We had some lunch in the windy Point Lobos reserve. We had been told that this was one of most beautiful points along the coast, but for us it was ‘average’. I guess we have been spoilt rotten the past months 😉

Further South it was more interesting as we entered the Big Sur area. Unfortunately with the rougher coastline, came also more hills.. At least the coves and canyons were bridged here (as opposed to Northern California, where you just go all the way down and then back up again, my knee says thanks..).

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Just after crossing a large bridge the road steepened up and did not stop for as far as we could see, so we started to push at least 100m up. Just when I reached the top of the hill, I approached a parked car, where a young man had been enjoying the views from the top.

‘Hi there. I am Eric. Do you need a ride?’

Hmm. We just pushed up this hill, so there should be a nice downhill ahead. Still, Ivana was on her way up, it would be dark in 20 minutes and Big Sur village was still 9km away, so we would probably be cycling in the dark. Also my knee had enough of the climbing.

As the road had barely any shoulder, but plenty of steep drop-offs, we accepted Eric’s proposal and put ourselves and our bikes in the back of his truck.

We told him to stop in Big Sur, but while we were expecting a larger village where we could ask for a place to camp, we passed some motels and before we realized it, we had passed Big Sur. Eric said he would continue South and asked if we wanted to join further. I checked the altitude profiles of the next section and saw 4 hills of 300m (1000ft) each with more in between. Ouch.

I was afraid that my knee would not survive. So far we had taken only one ride and that had been for going back on a stretch we had already cycled. We had skipped the major ferries, but now it felt unavoidable. I could be stubborn and cycle but maybe that would mean the end of the trip, just 50km ahead…

We stayed on the truck…

We ended up in a small village –just a roadhouse- called Gorda (‘fat’ in Spanish!) Eric was taking a room in the motel and after asking around we found a place to camp opposite the road on a nice grassy patch in a small forest. Eric, who is a musician on his way from the East coast to LA,  came over for dinner and played and sang some songs for us while we were making pasta in the dark. It was great & ‘gezellig’, but suddenly the rain washed our party away and we went back into our tent while the skies opened up all valves.

9 February 2009: South of Gorda – San Luis Obispo, 100km

Still we managed to stay dry and the next morning we joined Eric for another small ride over the last hill and then said goodbye. Fortunately the rain decided to stop, while we were organising our bikes.

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We stopped at a roadhouse for our peanut butter sandwiches and talked with Victor Antonio, who was walking around the US to promote peace through marijuana.

Not only the sun came out, but it brought its good friend the wind as well which pushed nicely in our back on our way South.

We passed more and more beaches filled with hundreds of elephant seals, some relaxing on the grass and sand, far from the ocean.

We also passed Hearst Castle, made famous in the movie ‘Citizen Kane’.

Though some of the rocks where interestingly white, we actually saw some fresh snow in the hills as well, a rarity in this area.

Thanks to the wind, we were making good speed and we decided to go all the way to San Luis Obispo. We arrived just before sunset after 100km of cycling and were welcomed by WarmShowers Hosts and fellow biketravellers Matt & Rita, who cooked up a great vegetarian Chilli.

10/11 February 2009: SL Obispo – Buellton via Santa Maria, 67km + 69km

After Ivana has tested the recumbent tandem bike, we headed off. Matt & Rita joined us all the way to took us through some nice back roads to Pismo Beach, where we had lunch together before they headed back.

We continued through nice country roads before we entered the large busy city of Santa Maria. It took us a long time to pas the dozens of traffic lights, while dodging thousands of huge trucks…

It was dark before we made it to Bill Korn’s house, another welcoming host that was a rider himself. he cooked up an Argentinean asado and Ivana felt right at home.

The next morning Bill joined us and showed us some more back roads. It is so nice to stay with local cyclists as they always know the best routes to take and this was no exception. Following some steep hills we ended up the ‘Foxen Canyon Road’.

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Halfway up Bill said goodbye and turned back using another nice route, while continued our ascent. It was actually longer and higher than the route in our guidebook, but we still felt guilty about our ride with Eric the other day, so it was no problem doing the 30 extra km.

Besides, the slope was much more gentle, we hardly noticed that we went up to 400m altitude until the last steep climb. Then after a nice downhill and another steep climb, it was all the way down to the quaint town of Solvang, passing friendly Los Olivos on our way.

Solvang was the base of a Danish community and their Danish and Dutch ancestry is clearly visible in the buildings and local shops. We even found good cheese, dropjes & pepermunt!

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The latter we took as a gift to our hosts for the night: Joe and Carol had invited their best friends and cycling partners and together with their housemate we had a really nice dinner. Carol, who is a painter, had cooked for al 7 people and we had a great time.

It is such a pleasure to meet all the nice US citizens on this trip. Most people are very different in background, but they are all very friendly and hospitable.

The next morning we had a great incentive to leave early and arrive in Santa Barbara. Our hotel was waiting. ‘Hotel? How about that budget?’ I hear you say… the next report will clear all mysteries 🙂

Kowalski! Status report!

The knee works quite well. On the bike it feels good, off the bike it is painful. Guess I just have to keep on cycling!

Our bikes are indestructible as ever. Still we are stuck at a few flat tires for Ivana (I think 3) and only one for me, after a total of 7656km so far!

1000 Americans: Matt & Rita, San Luis Obispo

Matt & Rita are avid cycle tourists, having toured by bicycle in Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Australia and the US. They actively promote cycling and are members of the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club and the San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition.

Matt & Rita were perfect hosts. Even though we arrived last minute, they put us up and cooked a great meal to top it. Ivana tested out their tandem-recumbent and it was fun to talk about all our trips together.

The next day they cycled out with us, which was great as they were showing us much better routes and a great fish-tacos bar 🙂

Thanks Matt & Rita!

1000 Americans: Bill Korn, Santa Maria

Bill is a great guy. He cooked us a wonderful meal (made Ivana feel at home immediately).
His wife and kids are very friendly though one of the Dachshunds is a bit psychotic, the other makes up for it 🙂

He cycles a lot, first out of necessity (as he did not have a car), then out of pleasure (because it is so great).

He helped us with our bikes and cycled a few hours with us, showing us a much better route through the Foxen canyon Road, which we would have missed otherwise.
Thanks Bill, hope to see you on our trip again, else in Argentina or Amsterdam!

1000 Americans: Joe & Carol, Buellton

Joe & Carol are wonderful people and great hosts. Carol is an artists and has made countless paintings, including the one behind them.

They have cycled everywhere themselves and showed us Californian hospitality by welcoming us with a good glass of wine and a huge tasty dinner, giving us the chance to meet some of their friends, which was a pleasure as well.

Thanks for taking care of us, hopefully we will see you sometime during our trip south, else in Argentina or The Netherlands!

1000 Americans: Eric Meulman, musician

Eric had been travelling in 3 days from the East coast all the way to California, where he noticed the most beautiful landscapes he had seen in the US. He gave us a ride and sang a few songs for us while we prepared some pasta.

He is a great musician, see and hear more about him on http://www.ericmeulman.com/

1000 Americans: Victor Antonio, peacemaker

Victor, originally from Puerto Rico, though he grew up in San Antonia, Texas, has been on the road for a while, walking to promote peace through Marijuana.

This is how he describes his mission, taken from his website  http://HaveThisBook.com

I am a self employed long-distance walker/journalist.

With the Internet I have discovered a way to fight the world’s greatest problem. What would you say that is? Of all time. Where it all starts. Well, more like humanity’s greatest problem.   The world can shake us off.

I say it’s ignorance. Ignorance is the root of all problems, if you ask me. Nobody listens. We’re not learning. We are stuck. The technology is here, the facts have been staring us in the face for decades . . . but we still insist on killing the world and ourselves because death makes money.

Why doesn’t anybody care?

Well, here is my idea.

With the Internet(and you’re going to think I’m crazy, just like I want you to) I plan to eliminate money, make everything free, prove that it’s human-nature to be generous and bring world peace.

I’m going to get rid of cars in big cities and make everybody healthy(and height/weight proportionate).

AND, not only will I get marijuana totally legalized and chill everybody out…I will get it recommended.  It will be growing everywhere.

That’s the key.

I’ve got it all figured out.

I will tell you exactly how I plan to do all this . . . if you are willing to listen, and only then.  I wouldn’t want to waste your time.  I’ve got a website if you would rather read it.  There is a lot to be said for the presentation, though.

Click on ASK ME HOW, on the left column at the top on http://HaveThisBook.com (if you want to).

“There are two ways of spreading light: To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton

1000 Americans: Rose, Diego & Ximena, Pacific Grove

Rose, Diego & Ximena are housemates in Pacific Grove, adjacent to Monterey, California. All are active environmentalists, preferring the bike over a car and helping clean the beautiful coast of Monterey bay.

Diego has cycled across Europe and Asia, see his website http://superpedaletos.blogspot.com/ & Ximena has just succeeded in getting styrofoam containers banned in Monterey. It is small initiatives like these that slowly make the world greener, from the bottom up…

1000 Americans: Deborah & Tom, Santa Cruz

Deb & Tom show that you can combine a very busy business life with an active life as they love to run and bike outside office hours. Their new dog Maisy will definitely help 🙂

1000 Americans: Kourtney & Brian, San Francisco

Kourtney & Brian (and the cuddly cat) work from their home office in the nice Fillmore area, renting out offices to companies worldwide. The time they save on commuting is spent on more work, but they also like to travel and see the world.

KP had contacted us through our the contact form and it was a pleasure to stay with them for a few days. They are a positive and generous couple and we enjoyed their first CouchSurfing with them 🙂

1000 Americans: Fiona & Jeremy, Kiva, San Francisco

Fiona is Kiva’s Public Relations Director, responsible for Kiva’s exposure & communication. She lives with Kiva’s Technology Director Jeremy and together they have sacrificed much time, money and effort to get Kiva up and running, being two of the first employees.

They both love to travel the world when possible and have seen the need for and success of microcredit with their own eyes.

Read more about Kiva and how you can support them, here on our blog.

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