Big Sur

Great ride today, from Seaside to Big Sur. Most of the time I had panoramic ocean views, windswept hills looking out over the sea, long stretches of open road without a car in sight. I opted to take a route called "17 Mile Drive" from Monterey to Carmel; what a change from yesterday! I went from fields of crops and simple farm worker homes to immaculately trimmed golf courses (including Pebble Beach) and what seemed like a dozen mansions an acre, all right on the edge of their respective courses of course.

There were a fair number of cars between Monterey and Carmel, but they were mostly easygoing day trippers thankfully - the road was pretty narrow for some stretches, but I was never very nervous because everyone was relaxed and gave me a wide berth. The only trouble I had today was part of the road about ten miles north of Big Sur, apparently known as "Hurricane Gulch" by the locals. I was riding down a sharply steep hill at about 30 mph when I was buffeted by a fearsome wind blowing in from the ocean side to my right; I felt like it blew me over onto my left side at about a 45 degree tilt. I righted myself fairly quickly but for a second I thought I was going to get dumped onto the middle of the road. The fog in that stretch was coming in quickly as well, and I thought that I might get stuck in a white out and have to stop by the side of the road. But I pressed on and after a few miles the fog thinned out and the wind stopped blowing; by the time I got to Big Sur the was nothing but blue sky and sunshine.

I camped in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park last night, which was full to my amazement - I thought it was still a little early in the season (they have 200 tent sites and they were all full.) Luckily they have tent sites reserved exclusively for bikers, and since I was the only bike camper I had my pick of about a half dozen spots - for just $3. Nice campground too - showers, a restaurant and a camp store; if only they were all this nice! Bumped into a family from Santa Maria on the way in, they wanted to know how I liked my bike, a Lemond I bought about six years ago. The wife had apparently just bought one of the last production models - apparently Trek was actually making the bikes for the Lemond brand, but they've recently ceased their partnership. I hope the stoppage isn't permanent - I love this bike. It's comfortable, easy to shift, has a great frame, takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. Don't stop making Lemonds!

I'm wrapping this entry up because it's getting too hard to see; I'm writing this by the light of my campfire and what's left of twilight. It's almost eight o'clock and it's still light out - the days are getting longer, yay!