- Day 5 66 km (41 miles)
- Lucia (Big Sur) to San Simeon
- Total 413 km (257 miles)
Day 5, hump day. The good thing news is, we are halfway through rockslide prone Big Sur and didn’t need to evacuate last night. The bad news is we are only halfway through the rockslide region, and my front brake broke last night. We packed up and made breakfast under the refuge of the bathrooms while trying to avoid the thought of cycling through the rain for the entire day.
The views were a bit different today. Not exactly what you would find on a postcard, but still special in its own way. However, this is probably the worst place for any maintenance issue as we are far from any town, let alone a bike shop. My back brakes held me through, but I would need to anticipate any stops 15 seconds in advance and brake continuously during that time. Thankfully the traffic was lighter, and I didn’t have to brake that often.
We came across the first touring cyclists who were also crazy enough to do this adventure. Amanda and Joe were cycling to San Luis Obispo and then taking the train back to Seattle. We exchanged stories of our trip so far while resting at Gorda by the Sea. They told us of Jean, who was cycling from the Mexico Border up to Monterey carrying a post mates backpack. Now that they pointed it out, I did recall a shirtless kid who waved at me yesterday that fit that description. Gorda set the gas price record for the entire trip: $7.60 for regular and $8.50 for unleaded.
The rest of the trip was a matter of just plowing through. I’m glad we made it through the Big Sur region safety, but also a bit bummed out the photo ops were more scare due to the rain. You quickly realize that no clothes are waterproof. My gloves and shoe covers were only effective for an hour and a half before they got soaked through. I would have been freezing if I wasn’t moving all the time. We stopped by the Elephant seals and then called it quits when we arrived at the first town of San Simeon. Dripping wet and hungry, we sat down to eat a late lunch at the first restaurant we came across. A big burger and clam chowder never tasted so good. The Hearst San Simeon State Park was just 2 miles down the road, but there was no way we were going to camp tonight with cheap vacant hotels on the same street. We checked in the Quality Inn (free hot breakfast yessss) and proceeded to unwind and dry out. I mean dry everything out. They had an old school heater near the floor which we laid out all of stuff and cranked up to full power. We also hung our tents in the bathroom, which consequently contributed to the sauna like feeling of the room
That evening we revisited the San Simeon Beach Bar & Grill for dinner and to play some rounds of billiards. I thought about whether Amanda and Joe made it to Cambria, as they stayed behind to eat at the Gorda restaurant.
Hike a day in my boots 