The first thing I had to do was decide if this was a rest day or if I had it in me to ride further. I got up slowly, figuring that I'd be completely used up and sore. However, I didn't feel any more tired than I'd felt any other day. In addition, I had no desire to hang around San Simeon Village for any longer than I needed to. In reality, if I'd wanted to, I could have spend the day and night at the nearby (5 miles) San Simeon State Beach.
However, I wanted to get a move on. Nonetheless, it took a while to actually get moving and packed. One problem was that the biking clothes I'd "washed" the night before were still wet. I worked with the hair dryer for about 20 minutes and then simply shoved the stuff into a ziplok bag and was out the door.
Unlike on the Big Sur coast, I took very few pictures this day. In fact, I only took four! This isn't to say that there weren't nice views or that the ride is boring. It is more a combination of being a bit tired, visual overload from the previous two days and pleasant but unspectacular views.
The route was a continuation of the low rolling hills of the day before. There were green hills on one side and coast line on the other. It was sunny and windless.
After a few miles, I passed San Simeon State Beach, which is on the east (non-ocean) side of the Highway. It appears to have lots of trees and RVs. I had to wonder how bad the wind blew last night, as gusts were so strong the previous night that my gait was altered as I walked to dinner.
Just past San Simeon State Beach, the highway moves away from the coast a bit and becomes a black ribbon separating wide green fields. I was listening to the book on tape that I had brought and it was early on this day that I decided that it was simply too boring to listen to. Instead of making the miles fly, it was making them drag. I tried not to think about the 2 pounds of cassette tapes I was pedeling 400 miles and not listening to.
I had decided to wait until Cambria, about 5 miles down the road, to eat breakfast. By the time I got the northern outskirts, I was hungry and looking for a place to eat. Cambria is a quaint town that has two parts separated by a small hill. A biker I met a stop light suggested a place in the lower part of town.
I got to the end of town before I realized that I hadn't found the recommended place. I turned around, went back up the street, and eventually found the place, that was closed. However, there was another place in the same parking lot that had outdoor tables so I could eat in the sun and watch my bike at the same time.
I noticed a bike with a trailer laying in the shrubbery and quickly was invited to sit at my fellow-biker's table. This is one benefit of wearing biking gear: it is easy to spot other bikers!
My breakfast partner was in the middle of his meal when I ordered mine. I had a large omlette, potatoes, toast, and coffee. He had also ordered some sandwiches for consumption later.
He was from LA (the Valley, actually) and was riding up to Monterey for a mountain bike race at Laguna Seca raceway. In addition to racing, he was also camping there. He had left a few days earlier, had had some problems with headwinds, and was prepared for the hills upcoming. He had done this ride several times before and didn't really need any information from me about it.
I was aware that by most objective standards, I had done a lot of riding in the past three days. However, I was riding with the wind! This guy was going to do the Big Sur coast against the wind pulling a trailer. I was impressed!
I had been told there was a bike store in Cambria very near the place I was eating breakfast. I found it on the next street over. I didn't actually need anything as my bike was managing wonderfully. However, I hadn't checked my tire pressure lately and only had a small hand pump. I went in the store and, after about 10 minutes, discovered that they had neither a pressure guage nor a hand pump with a guage. The air hose only went to 60 PSI. I left wondering how a bike store could be so ill-equiped (and this store had been recommended to me)!
The road out of Cambria wound through the outskirts of town where I saw this pleasant view.
A bit further up the road, I met Highway 1 at the southern entrance to town. This is not the usual scenic view but it does provide an idea of the surrounding area and the fact that Highway 1 at this part of the route is, essentially, a four-lane freeway.
The route continued along a green valley full of pastures. Cars zoomed by. Occasionally, a some bike riders would jet by doing some training. It took a bit to get used to riding next to cars going 65+ MPH on a wide road. It was clear that I was making the transition from Central to Southern California.
About 10 miles south of Cambria, I came to the northern end of Estero Bay. The main town in Estero Bay is Morro Bay. While the highway scooted along the coast, the headlands are low and views hazy.
After I snapped this picture and was taking a short break, up rode Dave and Toni, the couple I'd met two days earlier in Big Sur. We recognized one another, had a brief exchange, and we began riding as a threesome. We talked a bit as we rode Cayucos and on the way to Morro Bay. Dave was a high school physics teacher in San Francisco who was his spring vacation. He was from the mid-west and this was his first trip down the California coast. These two were on their way to Santa Barbara, where they had friends. Riding as a group made the miles go more quickly but also meant no stopping for pictures This is another reason for so few photos on this day.
The northern approach to Morro Bay is a bit of an urban sprawl. There are cheap hotels and other flotsam of a cheap tourist district. Dave and Toni were trying to keep costs down by buying food at markets and eating by the side of the road. I was looking for a Chinese restaurant. I found one and wished good bye to Dave and Toni. Lunch, the usual of broccoli, tofu and cashew nuts, was satisfactory.
After lunch, I pedalled on alone, with my view of Morro rock spoiled by the two huge exhaust towers of the power plant in front of it. After riding through modern day Morro Bay, I found myself in "historic" Morro Bay. This is a more upscale vacation area that is right next to the Rock's beach. The buildings were older and better maintained but it was still quite touristy.
The road went through this area and into Morro Bay State park. This is were Dave and Toni were stopping for lunch and I looked for them but didn't see them. A large portion of this part was a golf course that I rode through (waiting to get nailed by an errant drive that never came).
The road then went by a camping area that was closed due to construction that had torn up a good portion of the area. The road out of the park was rutted and difficult to ride on. However, the view was stunning.
The road continues along the edge of Morro Bay (a small estuary-like body of water separated from Estero Bay by a long spit of land that is also part of the State Park. This part of the ride was several miles of desolate road. This was likely due to the sensitive nature of the bay's habitat. Notetheless, it made for lonely riding.
About half way around Morro Bay, the route turns left (east) along a creek (name unknown). The traffic dropped to nil and the wind was behind me, for the most part. The road meandered along the creek, slowing gaining altitude. The creek gave way to pasture lands backed by hills crowned with rocky outcroppings. I should have taken a picture, but didn't!
I could see by one of my guides that this was the steep part of the trip. I followed the road around and in a moment was struggling to push the bike. Not only was the wind suddenly in my face but I was on a steep upgrade. As always, I eventually got to the top and sailed down, the road to myself.
Soon thereafter, the road ended at Los Osos Valley Road. This is a four-lane highway that is a commute corridor between Morro Bay and its suburbs and San Luis Obispo (SLO). However, the shoulder was wide and I didn't notice the car traffic much. This was some nice riding. The wind was directly behind me and road seemed to be downhill. It was the first time during the trip that I got into my lowest gear. I was flying along.
After three or four miles of this, the outskirts of San Luis Obispo starting showing up. Traffic increased, there were traffic lights, fast food places, strip malls, and housing subdivisions. The route skirts south of San Luis Obispo, crossing Highway 101 at the southernmost exit to SLO. As I went over the freeway, I got confused as to my next turn. While I was puzzling over my map, Dave and Toni rode up. We conferred and agreed that we were on the right road.
We again rode as a threesome. They rode faster than I did and I had a hard time keeping up. Whether this was because they were much younger than me or carrying less weight is unclear.
We rode along foothills for several miles, at one point, passing a private campground with kids splashing in a large pool. There was plenty of up and down and I struggled to keep up with Dave and Toni. Eventually, we got to the coast and met Highway 1 at Pismo Beach. We coasted down the hill into the main part of town. Dave and Toni wanted to see the town. I wanted to get to camp and relax.
The day's goal was Oceano State Campground, which is south of Pismo Beach. Past the Pismo Beach pier, where the main tourist area is, there are lots of private campgrounds full of RVs. These eventually gave way to an undeveloped area, again probably land that can't be developed due to land or natural restrictions of some sort. However, this doesn't mean it was particularly attractive! Over a few more bridges and I made the right turn into Oceano Campground.
The hiker-biker site was at the end of the campground, which was usually the case. Within 5 minutes of my arrival, the empty site was full of bike campers. I set-up my tent and quickly discovered that the place was swarming with mosquitos. I hadn't packed any repellant (but made a mental note to do so next time) so I had to sit in my tent in order to stop from being sucked dry. As it was, I had at least a dozen bites above the neck!
I waited for about an hour in the tent, dozing and eating snacks. I made a few phone calls to alert people that I would be arriving a day early as I had been able to maintain my most agressive schedule. After taking a shower, I unloaded my bike and road up the street to the nearby Mexican Restaurant.
I was quite a challenge to ride the bike unloaded. At first, I had a hard time controlling it as it was way to light and I was pedalling too hard! The food was passible and I ate everything they brought.
By this time it was dusk (about 8:30 pm) and I rode back to the camp. I again dodged the mosquitos by crawling in the tent. I went to sleep some time after that.