Santa Cruzin
Day 30: Half Moon Bay State Beach to New Brighton State Beach
Woke up in the sun this morning for the first time and it felt great! My clothes, tent, and bike were all dry, which is rare...really appreciating those little things at this point. I brushed my teeth on the beach and enjoyed the sand between my toes. After breaking down camp and went for some coffee and breakfast and ended up sticking around a little too long. Now i'm in a hole if I want to make it to Santa Cruz before dark. Normally a 6 hour ride for me, I needed to do it in 5 hours. I like the challenge, so I peddled hard and didn't spend any time dilly dallying.
Lots of farms with acres of growing veggies and ocean. Both ear buds in. Great shoulder. I'm cruising. It's hillier than I expected, but isn't that always the case? Let me just preface this next story with: I've never fainted in my life. With that said, I was climbing a hill and couldn't really see the other side. At the top of that hill, seemingly out of nowhere, a dead deer appears and is looking me dead in the eyes(pun intended). Everything got blurry, my heart skipped a beat, and although I didn't actually faint, that was probably the closest i've ever come to it.
Other than unnerving roadkill, everything else is beautiful. I may have had a tailwind, i'm not sure, it still may just be a myth. Saw some kite surfers at Walden Beach, ate a Clif bar for lunch so I didn't have to get off my bike, and met Shawn from Seattle. He was one of the cyclists staying at the campsite last night and is currently doing somewhat of a "Big West" tour with his wife. I'm not exactly sure of the order, but I think they started in Washington, up into Canada, down into Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and from there to San Francisco. As of right now, their plan is to ride all the way down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and then figure it out from there. His wife never ended up catching up with us, so I didn't get to meet her, but their story is that they both were sick of their office jobs and one day decided to quit and just go adventure for a while. I fully support that. I've done that. It takes courage, confidence in yourself, an adventurous spirit, and maybe a little bit of recklessness. But I know they won't regret it. In the short time I was riding with Shawn, I learned a key skill that is helping me handle these hills like a boss. He doesn't know that he taught me, I just picked it up from watching. We hit Santa Cruz County and then went our separate ways, so his wife could catch up.
Riding through Santa Cruz, felt like being back in San Diego. I passed by the UC, watched some surfers, and took my time. Eventually I caught up with a couple more cyclists from camp last night, Autumn & Kate from Bellingham, WA. They were looking to grab a drink somewhere and I just wanted to get all settled at the new campsite I was staying at, so I took off. On the way I saw an L&L Hawaiian BBQ, so obviously chicken katsu was dinner for the night. Once I got to New Brighton State Beach, I set up camp, washed my clothes, and caught the sunset overlooking the beach. Instead of the 6 hours that today would've normally taken me, I finished in 4 hours! Today was a good day!
Today's Distance: 60 miles
Total Distance: 1,441 miles
Riding through Santa Cruz, felt like being back in San Diego. I passed by the UC, watched some surfers, and took my time. Eventually I caught up with a couple more cyclists from camp last night, Autumn & Kate from Bellingham, WA. They were looking to grab a drink somewhere and I just wanted to get all settled at the new campsite I was staying at, so I took off. On the way I saw an L&L Hawaiian BBQ, so obviously chicken katsu was dinner for the night. Once I got to New Brighton State Beach, I set up camp, washed my clothes, and caught the sunset overlooking the beach. Instead of the 6 hours that today would've normally taken me, I finished in 4 hours! Today was a good day!
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