February 9, 2009 by
Harry
The sign on the left brought some reality into vision.
Could we continue with the current state of my knees or was this really the end?
There was only one way to find out.
31st Jan 2008: SF – Half Moon Bay, about 50km
I kept the Rohloff in low gear all the time and promised Ivana that
I would get off the bike and push when it was getting steep. Ivana also
had taken more weight than before, so my load would be lighter.
There were only two real hills
but they were steep. First we slowly climbed 200 meters (650ft) from
the sunny shores into the windy and cold rolling fog on the top of Daly
City. Pushing the bike actually hurt my knee more, so I tried to cycle
with just one leg doing all the work and that worked out quite well.
The next hill was steep but also so narrow that pushing would be too
dangerous. We had arrived at the infamous ‘Devil’s Slide’, notorious
for cyclists for the shoulder-less road with its blind corners leading
from a dark forest to a scorching hot pass, 150m (500ft) higher.
The good thing was of course the downhill. As there was still not
much shoulder, there was no choice but to full speed in the middle of
the road…
We reached the state park campsite just before dark and could see
the sunset from Half Moon Bay. The regular campsite was full at $25 per
spot, but fortunately, almost every Californian State Park has a small
‘Hiker-Biker’ area, which has no hook-ups, but generally costs only
$3-5 per person. This was completely empty and for $6 we had more space
and were more secluded than all the RV’s. It was nice to be in our tent
and in the open air again after a month of CouchSurfing in the city.
1-2 Feb 2008: Half Moon Bay – Santa Cruz via Ano Nuevo
The knee was not too bad, so we decided to do two more days of about
40-50km each. The first was a nice sunny day and we cycled relaxed. I
had seen the recommendation to visit the Ano Nuevo State reserve in our
guidebook (”Bicycling The Pacific Coast: A Complete Route Guide, Canada To Mexico
“.
We had been using this book from Vancouver and though we varied a
our route many times, the times we were on the ‘official route’, it was
worth every cent. We used up one page at a time (in our see-through map
cover of the Ortlieb handlebar-bag), so the book got lighter every day 
Next time we need a Kindle version to save paper:
There was no official place to stay, so we went to ask the farmers;
for the first time in our trip, we were sent away from not 1 but 2
farms, each with loads of space. The caretakers were not the owners and
everybody seems to be terrified of getting sued for anything…
It is a shame, as all we needed was a few square meters of grass; we
could even have shared some great stories with them… Anyway, we ended
up camping secretly on some grass near the farms behind some old
buildings and made sure we were ready to go in the early morning.
Only
a mile down the road was the Ano Nuevo park, home of the biggest colony
of Elephant Seals. As it was breeding season, we could not go to the
seals without a guide, and as all tours were reserved, we had some time
for a relaxed breakfast in the sun, next to some deer.
The friendly people in the Visitor Centre not only found us a spot
in a group, but they also waived the fee for us, after hearing about
our trip and low daily budget! We ended up watching the Seals and their
young with a very nice group of elderly people from San Jose (see their
‘leader’ Don here). They were on their weekly hiking trip (!) and enjoyed the seals and the entertaining stories of the docent/guide.
After the tour we had lunch with them (thanks for the salmon
sandwich!) and when saying goodbye several members of the group
surprised us by giving us some cash donations! We were not quite sure
what to say, but it was appreciated, as we had to replace our
mattresses and their generosity covered that exactly.
We also met two other biketravellers, originally from Switzerland, living in Vancouver. Fanny & Didier
were on their way from Vancouver to Phoenix, from where they would
return home. They nearly had an accident on the Devil’s Slide when
Fanny hit a stick with her pannier. We gave them some Ortlieb repair
kit and continued our way, while they went to see the seals, but they
caught up with us a few hours later.
We had not had much internet the past days, so we only found out in Santa Cruz that we had offers from several ‘WarmShowers’. Ivana went out to find the cyclists again, so they could ‘use’ one of the address that had reacted later.
We stayed with Deb & Tom,
a very friendly couple with a nice house and enthusiastic young dog! We
had joked before that after 2 nights of camping, we were ready for a
soft bed again and our wish was granted 
3-4 Feb 2008: Santa Cruz – Monterey, via Sunset Beach, 35 + 60km
The next morning we first went to visit the gallery of one of my
nature and landscape favourite photographers who lives near Santa Cruz:
Frans Lanting, scroll the books below for some of his classics:
</p>
<p>Unfortunately Frans was not there himself, but it was great to see
the full-size prints of his classic shots, that are for sale in his
gallery..</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090203img-2086ivana-and-cactustree-in-monterey-bay.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" align="left" alt="Ivana and cactustree in Monterey Bay" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090203img-2086ivana-and-cactustree-in-monterey-bay-thumb.jpg" title="Ivana and cactustree in Monterey Bay" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 10px; display: inline;" /></a>We
continued our way through the maze of Santa Cruz, guided by the book
until we suddenly left the city for a more rural surrounding. Fields
and fields of strawberries were being planted by dozens of Mexican
labourers. We had had more small <a title="Posts tagged with Hills" rel="tag" class="st_tag internal_tag" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/hills/">hills</a>
than expected; my knee was hurting and we decided to call it a day at
the Hiker-Biker site of Sunset Beach eating around a campfire of
pinecones…</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2089seal-parking.jpg"><img width="240" height="127" border="0" align="right" alt="Seal parking" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2089seal-parking-thumb.jpg" title="Seal parking" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 5px 10px; display: inline; float: right;" /></a>The
next morning we started out ok, meandering through the fields, seeing
more strawberry fields and a huge parking garage for seals. But just
when the strawberries gave way to the artichokes a super strong wind
blew in our face and we had to fight our way into it.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2092artichokes-in-monterey-bay-2.jpg"><img width="169" height="240" border="0" align="left" alt="Artichokes in Monterey bay (2)" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2092artichokes-in-monterey-bay-2-thumb.jpg" title="Artichokes in Monterey bay (2)" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 10px; display: inline;" /></a>There
are some nice bike lanes closer to Monterey, though our positive
feelings were overshadowed by a posted warning sign that mentioned that
a jogger was attacked and that we should not cycle or run alone on this
trail…</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2090artichokes-grow-here.jpg"><img width="240" height="177" border="0" align="right" alt="Artichokes grow here" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2090artichokes-grow-here-thumb.jpg" title="Artichokes grow here" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 5px 0px; display: inline; float: right;" /></a>Monterey is quite a nice town, with beaches, a pier and a touristy centre. We had time to cycle and look around the famous <a type="amzn">Canary Wharf</a> before heading back to the pier for nearly unlimited samples of clam chowder <img class="wp-smiley" alt=":)" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" /> </p>
<p>We checked the famous aquarium, but the $30 per person entrance fee
was outside our budget, so we went to look for the free sea wildlife
instead.</p>
<p>We spotted an otter far away, but later we saw him again, close to
the shore, eating away his seafood dinner, while the seals were
sleeping on the rocks and the birds were waiting for leftovers. It is
great that the shores of Monterey bay are a protected reserve, else
these scenes would only be visible inside the aquarium…</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2100seaotter-with-seafood.jpg"><img width="240" height="204" border="0" alt="Seaotter with seafood" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2100seaotter-with-seafood-thumb.jpg" title="Seaotter with seafood" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2094seagull-in-monterey.jpg"><img width="240" height="219" border="0" alt="Seagull in Monterey" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2094seagull-in-monterey-thumb.jpg" title="Seagull in Monterey" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 5px; display: inline;" /></a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2112monterey-birds.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" alt="Monterey birds" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2112monterey-birds-thumb.jpg" title="Monterey birds" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2109sleeping-seal.jpg"><img width="240" height="181" border="0" alt="Sleeping Seal" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090204img-2109sleeping-seal-thumb.jpg" title="Sleeping Seal" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 5px; display: inline;" /></a></p>
<p>We stayed two nights with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/nathanjames/">Nathan</a>, a young outdoor sports lover. We were his first CouchSurfing guests, but I think he enjoyed it!</p>
<p>He was very nice, helped us with some errands (we bought new
mattresses from our donation money) and let us stay during the day, so
we could catch up with some work.</p>
<p>Ivana lost herself in a new miniseries we had not seen before: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018B7E8G?ie=UTF8&tag=biketravellers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0018B7E8G">Weeds</a>,
which was quite an interesting way to look at some aspects of US
culture.. It was fun to see as well, we had not been watching any TV
for several months.</p>
<p>In the evening we went to a bar in town and met up with our next hosts: <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/?p=1883">biketraveller Diego and his friends</a>. We moved to their house in Pacific Grove the next day through a terrible rain shower and arrived soaked.</p>
<p>We stayed a few days with them, and went for a 40km circular ride to
the monarch butterfly gardens, the coast and along the famous ‘17 Mile
Drive’. The latter was a bit overrated in our view as it is just a
collection of too big houses, (of which half were for sale) and the
rest of the area are endless golf courses filled with old, unhappy
looking guys with funny pants, and some deer… Still some of the views
were nice and it was relexed to cycle without luggage:</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090207img-2173goose-on-the-beach-monterey.jpg"><img width="240" height="136" border="0" alt="Goose on the beach, Monterey" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090207img-2173goose-on-the-beach-monterey-thumb.jpg" title="Goose on the beach, Monterey" style="border: 0px none ; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090207img-2178view-from-17-mile-drive.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" alt="View from 17 Mile drive" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090207img-2178view-from-17-mile-drive-thumb.jpg" title="View from 17 Mile drive" style="border: 0px none ; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090207img-2183view-from-17-mile-drive-2.jpg"><img width="240" height="144" border="0" alt="View from 17 Mile drive (2)" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090207img-2183view-from-17-mile-drive-2-thumb.jpg" title="View from 17 Mile drive (2)" style="border: 0px none ; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090208img-2195deer-on-the-17-mile-drive.jpg"><img width="240" height="153" border="0" alt="Deer on the 17 Mile Drive" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090208img-2195deer-on-the-17-mile-drive-thumb.jpg" title="Deer on the 17 Mile Drive" style="border: 0px none ; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a></p>
<h3>An afternoon in the aquarium</h3>
<p>When he heard that we did not visit is because of the high entrance
fee, Diego contacted a friend of his that works at the Aquarium. He
arranged that we could come in for a brief visit close to closing time,
for free!</p>
<h3><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2117monterey-aquarium-fishies.jpg"><img width="240" height="164" border="0" alt="Monterey Aquarium fishies" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2117monterey-aquarium-fishies-thumb.jpg" title="Monterey Aquarium fishies" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2122montery-seahorse.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" alt="Montery Seahorse" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2122montery-seahorse-thumb.jpg" title="Montery Seahorse" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-</span></h3>
<p>Though we do not enjoy captive <a title="Posts tagged with Animals" rel="tag" class="st_tag internal_tag" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/animals/">animals</a>,
the aquarium was quite impressive. The otters (both river- as sea
otters) were our favourites again, but we were completely mesmerized by
the hypnotic display of bright orange jellyfish in blue water:</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2133jellyfish.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" alt="Jellyfish" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2133jellyfish-thumb.jpg" title="Jellyfish" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2141jellyfish-3.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" alt="Jellyfish (3)" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2141jellyfish-3-thumb.jpg" title="Jellyfish (3)" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2145jellyfish-5.jpg"><img width="240" height="171" border="0" alt="Jellyfish (5)" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2145jellyfish-5-thumb.jpg" title="Jellyfish (5)" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2146jellyfish-6.jpg"><img width="240" height="165" border="0" alt="Jellyfish (6)" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2146jellyfish-6-thumb.jpg" title="Jellyfish (6)" style="border-width: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline;" /></a></p>
<h3>Kowalski! Status Report!</h3>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2148seaotter-in-aquarium.jpg"><img width="240" height="165" border="0" align="right" alt="Seaotter in aquarium" src="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2148seaotter-in-aquarium-thumb.jpg" title="Seaotter in aquarium" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 5px 0px; display: inline; float: right;" /></a></p>
<p>My knee was not getting better, but also not much worse. It was very
painful after resting and sitting, but not too bad during actual
cycling…</p>
<p>It was time to say goodbye to Diego, Rose and Ximena and continue
our way South to the famous names like Big Sur, Santa Barbara, Santa
Monica and of course: Los Angeles!</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/files/2009/04/20090206img-2148seaotter-in-aquarium.jpg"> </a></p>
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<br /><strong>Tags: <a rel="tag" title="Animals" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/animals/">Animals</a>, <a rel="tag" title="art" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/art/">art</a>, <a rel="tag" title="California" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/california/">California</a>, <a rel="tag" title="Hills" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/hills/">Hills</a>, <a rel="tag" title="Seals" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/seals/">Seals</a>, <a rel="tag" title="USA" href="http://harry.biketravellers.com/tag/usa/">USA</a></strong><br />
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