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Well, I actually finished over a month ago but am just now getting around to writing about it. I had planned to write updates every evening during the ride, but honestly after working that hard each day I just didn’t feel like it. So I’ll just sum it all up in one long, belated post.

We finished! My brother-in-law and I rode (almost) every mile of California coastline South of the Golden Gate, camping seven of the eight nights, with my father-in-law providing support along the way.

The nutshell: It was a lot of fun, and worth every bit of the effort. But I have no desire to do it again.

Why is that? Mostly because even though I got this intimate up close view of my home state, I never really got to fully explore the nooks and crannies. I’m not bummed about that. It’s still there waiting. I’m just pointing out that I was usually too tired to venture out, or we were short on time getting through the next leg in time to set up camp before sundown. But when I consider all we accomplished, and all that we did see, it was pretty dang amazing.

Point is, after day one I realized that my notion of riding as a means to find adventure needed to change. The riding was the adventure.

So the next time I do something like this, it’s from a motorcycle or an RV, with 2-3 full weeks to stop and take in the cool little towns, the awesome wine tasting, the pristine beaches, the touristy castles, and the side trips to hike or mountain bike an unspoiled redwood trail. And most importantly, time and energy to surf a few breaks that don’t have the congestion found at most San Diego beaches.

The total ride was just shy of 600 miles. Here’s the daily breakdown:

Day 1: Golden Gate Bridge to Ano Nuevo (North Santa Cruz) KOA campground
61.3 miles
Avg speed: 13.5 mph

We had hoped to start off with a simple 35 mile jaunt to Half Moon Bay on our first leg, but by the time I booked a campsite there was nothing available. So we were starting pretty big. In hindsight, that was a bad move. Maybe I should’ve just booked a motel room near HMB because it’s hard to recover from a first ride like this. It was so foggy it was like riding in a cold rain the whole way. Soul sucking. We worked our butts off up Devil’s Slide. Got a little lost near Pacifica which added a few extra miles. Had a ketchup packet and some choice words thrown at us from a truck full of douches in San Mateo. Got yelled at by a dude who wanted the WHOLE road on Hwy 35. I had to keep tweaking my barrel adjusters to use all three of my front chainrings all day. And we ended up camping on what was possibly poison oak in a wet and windy field.

It might’ve been enough to make me consider turning this into a leisurely party drive along the coast, had I not already known going in that this was probably going to be the worst leg. Let’s face it, I love the San Francisco area, but sometimes when it’s all socked in, it’s best seen from a comfy chair in one of the many great restaurants.

Day 2: Ano Nuevo to Marina Dunes RV Park (Marina)
63.1 miles
Avg speed: 14.7 mph
124.4 total miles

More fog, but some sun in Santa Cruz, but also a lot more wind. Mostly flat though! And thankfully too, since this was the first time I would ride any significant mileage on back-to-back days.

We got a little lost again, adding a few extra miles in Santa Cruz, but it was worth it because we made a great purchase in town. Kickstands! Nerdy, but necessary.

As we rode into Santa Cruz we kept hearing that it’d be crazy to ride on Mission. Even though when you consider the “shortest distance between two points…” and that you will end up a few miles up the road crossing back over Mission, they urge you to take side streets and stay the heck off it. And that day, there was no chance we’d be stubborn about it. Earlier in the day a biker had already been hit riding along Mission. The dudes at the bike shop described it like this: “he pretty much disintegrated when the car hit him”. Ok then.

We passed through Santa Cruz, got a view of Capitola, and ended up finishing the leg riding through lettuce country while dodging vegetable delivery trucks by keeping far to the right; then pushing hard against a pretty steady headwind in to camp.

But it was worth it. I had booked a tent site at Marina Dunes RV park, also due to nothing else being available on short notice. Full amenities, and a fence to block the wind! We got in free showers, did some laundry, built a fire, and just relaxed and had a beer. I would camp there again any time. Plus, Marina is a town I would like to explore more someday.

Day 3: Marina Dunes to Kirk Creek Campground (Big Sur)
13.4 miles (bike trouble, backtracked to Monterey, got a ride to the campsite)
Avg speed: 14.5 mph
137.8 Total miles

The ride from Marina to Monterey is one of the best. It’s a bike trail that winds around over the dunes and bluffs, and approaches Monterey along the beach. And once we got to Monterey, the weather was perfect! If you’re going to have bike trouble anywhere, it’s a nice place to have it.

That being said, the rest of our ride that day got derailed by my derailleurs. And my chain. And my front chainring. The tune-up job done by San Diego Bike, that I had been fussing with since SF, finally came to a head. We were just leaving Monterey and starting the first climb of the day, and the drivetrain shits the bed. A friendly dude riding by, who also happened to be a bike mechanic, helped work on it, but during the first test, a link on the chain popped. Day over. The guys at Joselyn’s Bicycles in Monterey did their best to fix what they said was a “shitty job” done by the guys in San Diego (and at half the price!), but the damage had been done. I would end up fussing with the bike the rest of the trip. On top of it, I got “handlebar palsy” and could no longer upshift due to an increasingly numb left hand. I had to rig a rope from the right side bar to the left shifter, and do all my shifting righty. That too lasted the rest of the trip, and still is a problem as I type this a month later.

So we got a ride in to the campsite in Big Sur, not only skipping a couple hills, but also skipping a LOT of blind turns with no shoulder and 500+ ft. drops along the edge.

We read that Devil’s Slide in San Mateo would be the scariest section of the trip, but it was absolutely nothing compared to what we were seeing. Good section to skip! Although, we’d be riding the 2nd half of it the next day…

Day 4: Kirk Creek to San Simeon State Park
43.3 miles
Avg speed: 13.3 mph (very hilly leaving Big Sur)
181.1 total miles

Nucking futs! If you read the previous day’s recap you’ll know what we were in for. My adrenaline was pumping the whole day, not only from the massive hills, but the lack of a shoulder in many places, particularly around blind turns. We decided to ride right in the car lane so they would see us more easily, and at a minimum not try and squeeze by and accidentally bump us over the edge.

We met a couple of other guys touring out of Big Sur that day too, but one had actually started in Vancouver – the Canadian Vancouver! His buddy joined him in SF and they were staying in hotels the whole way. A “credit card tour”. I was jealous, because by this time, I was pretty much over camping. Apparently even though we never saw them again, we had the same pace, because they rolled into San Diego just hours before us. The guard at the Camp Pendleton gate told us they had come through. If you ever read this, great job Dick and Pete!

After a quick peak at the sea lions, we rolled into San Simeon State Park and what was a very warm campsite in the hills. A very, very, welcomed warm campsite! We played some catch with the softball, grilled up some sausages, and cracked a couple of beers.

Day 5: San Simeon to North Beach Campground in Pismo Beach
57.5 miles
Avg speed: 13.5 mph
239.5 total miles

We left Pismo and road through Cayucos and Morro Bay along little roads and some nice bike trails. One being “The Cloisters”. But shortly after leaving Morro Bay, my legs were pretty gassed. My brother-in-law still had plenty of energy, and was trying to meet up with some old friends for lunch in SLO. I tried to keep up, and he nicely kept waiting for me, but what I don’t think he realized is that by him pedaling ahead, waiting, and then pedaling ahead again once I caught up, is that he was the only one resting! So as he took off ahead one last time, I stayed back, had a snack, called my wife to say hi to her and my newborn son Kyan, and then made my own pace the rest of the day.

I took some pictures, spent a few hours in downtown SLO, considered upgrading to the iPhone 4 at the Apple Store in town, but didn’t to stay out of trouble , had a leisurely lunch, and then slowly trucked my way into Pismo. I also bought some fireworks just outside of Cayucos with the intention of introducing Kyan to them, but forgot all about them by the time the 4th came. Maybe next year, when they’re nice and unstable!

I got into Pismo an hour or so after my brother-in-law, and having had enough of trying to use a yoga mat as a mattress every night, we drove into town and I bought a blow-up bed. So nice. Wtf was I thinking with a yoga mat!? I’ll be 40 in a couple months, and my body is only getting less tolerant of stuff like that.

I got in a good shower and plenty of sleep. Our biggest day of this whole trip was ahead…

Day 6: Pismo Beach to El Capitan State Beach (N. of Santa Barbara)
86.0 miles
Avg speed: 15.0 mph
325.5 total miles

So we have these maps from the ACA (Adventure Cycling Association), and they have the elevations on the back. If you use these, please note: Mileage is nowhere near to scale. We knew we had two significant climbs back-to-back, but the elevation chart had been misleading before. There have been times where we anticipate a steep climb and get a long one, or don’t anticipate one and get surprised.

Leaving Guadalupe and heading for Lompoc, we were to climb 1000 feet. We headed up a long hill just out of town, but it didn’t seem like 1000 feet up. But when we looked at the mileage chart, it said we should have just past it. We thought we were out of the woods and kind of celebrated a bit – and then we hit the first one…

It was grueling! This wasn’t going to be our longest leg of the ride, but it was going to be the toughest. There were two hills alright. The first one was steep and was a muscle tester. Then we went through Lompoc, had a rest and some lunch, and headed towards hill two. It was a long endurance tester. At the end, I really felt like the trip was in the bag. Having completed both, nothing could stop me now. And it didn’t. That was the worst of it.

We cruised into camp at El Capitan, taking some pictures of old bridges along the way, and keeping from getting knocked over by the Sundowner winds in Gaviota. Then my drivetrain fell apart. Again.

Day 7: El Capitan to Point Mugu State Park (S. of Oxnard)
77.0 miles
Avg speed: 15.3 mph
402.5 total miles

We left El Cap and I finessed my bike into Santa Barbara. I got a quick adjustment at the bike shop, but they couldn’t stop the chain hop. I knew my components were near the end, but we didn’t have time to get a full rework, and didn’t want to lose another day to the issues (again… brought on by the crappy work at San Diego Bike -stay away from there!). So after stopping for a killer Quesoritto (burrito rolled inside a quesadilla), I took a pit stop on the UCSB campus and did some micro-adjusting of my rear derailleur. Got it working enough to get me the rest of the way, with just a small handful of chain losses. However, I think it’s important to point out that even though my bike was being a pain, neither one of us had a single flat tire this entire trip. That rocks.

This was also our first full day in the sun, and it was nice. So Cal, you are awesome and I appreciate you. I have seen and been to almost the entirety of Santa Barbara and South, so from here on out it was mostly just about riding. The camera came out a few times, but mostly we just enjoyed the weather and the beaches.

We wound through Ventura and down through Oxnard, with a tail wind most of the way. For a good 10 miles stretch we probably averaged 20-25 mph. After waiting for a rock slide to finish about a mile out of camp, I rolled in to Point Mugu and we set up the tent for one last time. We had one night in a hotel, and then it would be a Century Ride home.

Day 8: Point Mugu to Long Beach (Renaissance Hotel)
52.6 miles (got a lift through Torrance to avoid high-risk area)
Avg speed: 14.2 mph
455.1 total miles

Malibu you are a workout! 22 miles of good sized rolling hills, skirting into traffic to get around cars on the shoulder, and realizing that Malibu-ians who drive Porches are kind of asses. They were the only cars on the road not wanting to share. One got so close I honestly felt the tailpipe heat up my ankle.

The reward to completing Malibu is 25 miles of bike path right on the beach from Santa Monica through Manhattan Beach (awesome houses), Hermosa Beach (quaint), and Redondo Beach (sweet pier). We met my pa-in-law at the Redondo Pier, and tossed our bikes on the back for the short jaunt to Long Beach. The surface streets through Torrance are not bike-friendly, and at this point, we had nothing left to prove.

At the hotel we had our laundry done, spent some time recovering in the hot tub, took a sauna, and grabbed some greasy food and beers for happy hour at Rock Bottom. A good night.

Day 9: Long Beach to my home near downtown San Diego
108.5 miles
Avg speed: 13.2 mph
563.6 total miles

I was worried that the greasy food and beers from the night before would catch up to me, but I was wrong. In the last 8 days my fitness level had really increased. I rode the whole trip with a heart rate monitor to make sure I didn’t go into anaerobic exercise mode and start chewing away at my deep energy stores. In SF on the climbs my heart rate easily tagged 165-170 and I would pull over and rest. Now, I couldn’t get it over 145 on the hills. I was still nowhere near in my brother-in-law’s shape, as he had just run a marathon a month earlier, but I had made some solid strides. At least enough to do 108 miles of riding on the day after a happy hour.

The 108 miles home were mostly flat, but Newport Beach was like a mini-Malibu. It had a lot of rolling climbs, just not as steep or as long. Huntington Beach was actually a little chilly, and we encountered a head wind that would stay with us the rest of the day. We didn’t actually get into the sunshine until we hit Dana Point.

San Clemente is a fun ride. Lots of little rollers, and some fast gear switching make it seem like the bicycle version of a grand prix. I had no idea San Onofre was so long, and how much room there was to camp there. Campsite after campsite until you hit Camp Pendleton, which I was excited to finally see after driving through it on I-5 for 12 years of San Diego living. Nothing to be excited about. Pretty boring really, and a little confusing to navigate too.

Once we hit Oceanside I was in familiar territory. My final training ride had been from my house near downtown up to O-Side and back. It was about 73 miles round trip, so I knew I had about 36.5 to go! With a head wind still on us, we cruised through Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, and Del Mar. Then I was curious to see how well I’d do on the Torrey Pines climb since it beat me up during training. With 85 miles behind me already that day, I began the climb. I made it to the top, stopping once. Better than I had done before. Not perfect, but I’ll take it.

We met my friends Jeff and Annie, who were expecting their first son just a couple weeks later. They brought us some water, and we invited them to the celebratory shot of tequila at Fort Stockton. See, the whole theme off the ride was “Fort to Fort”. We started at Fort Point, under the Golden Gate bridge, and finished at Fort Stockton, just above Old Town San Diego. We still had a couple miles to get home from there, but I did that with a beer in my water bottle, so it was like the “cool down”.

The final mile home, coasting down Goldfinch to my house was incredible. I had done it! My wife and son were waiting for me, and for the first time in over a week, I didn’t have to ride again the next day. I hugged Sarah, and said hello to Kyan, and we all kind of chatted outside a bit. But then my father-in-law held up my son and said “Look, there’s Daddy”, and I freakin’ lost it. Cried like a little girl. I really missed my family, and was glad to be home.