Big Sur Tour
hsmitham
My Brother Bruce and I have been planning a cyclotour from San Francisco to Paso Robles for months and all the planning paid off. On June 14th Bruce picked me up in LA loaded up the bikes and headed for Paso Robles where we were planning to catch the Amtrak coast starlight to Oakland.
The Coast Star Light was 20 minutes late and when it arrived the chief conductor said we could not bring our bikes aboard as we had not made reservations for boxes. If we had all we’d have needed to do was remove the pedals and loosen the handlebars and roll it into the box provided. Needless to say we were in a bind, what to do? It was Friday on graduation weekend and 5:30pm most of the rental car establishments were closing and the ones that were open had no cars to rent especially one way. We rented a Camry in SLO for $100 a day drove back to Paso and dropped off our car stuffed the tour bikes in the Camry and make it to the Clarion Hotel in Oakland at midnight my front fender took a hit and was bent awkwardly.
The following day we jumped on BART and headed to RivHQ. How can you be so close to the epicenter of relaxed common sense cycling and not stop in? It was mandatory. We made some repairs and final purchases met with Will, Sean, Scott, Harry & the man behind it all Grant who was busy on a photo shoot preparing for a B&W catalogue. Harry & Scott helped us Google map a route over to Pigeon Point Lighthouse and Grant humored me with a pose with the loaded Hilsen and said “the Hilsen’s not really a loaded tour bike”. But he felt it would handle just fine. We finally made our way back to the BART albeit late and headed for San Bruno. From there we promptly got confused as the Beta bicycle map feature lead us along a bikeway of enumerable (Lesson carry a map) turns and eventually lead us up to a closed bridge near Crystal Springs Reservoir. Fortunately we met a local cyclist who got us straightened out and we were on our way to Half Moon Bay via the 92 (note to self never take this route again) which had little to no shoulder lots of traffic and was windy.
We stopped in Half Moon Bay refueled with sandwiches and continued to our Light house destination for the evening.
The next day was our big mileage day 70 miles to the Marina area just north of Monterey via the farm lands of Castroville and Watsonville. The Ramada provided us with warm showers great beds and a breakfast in the morning where we loaded up with instant oatmeal and peanut butter for our two days in the Sur. We both agreed that night’s pizza “The Luau” was the best ever!
Our third day of riding took us through Monterey and Caramels 17 mile drive which if by car there was a fee and if by bicycle well we just rolled through the gate another benefit of being on a bicycle. I’ve got to say that this stretch is amazing as there are no large cliffs and reminds me of La Jolla in San Diego. We made a pit stop at the grocery store at the south end of Carmel to load up on supplies, Dutch Crunch bread, fresh fruit and other essentials. One of my fender nuts had fallen off and there was an Ace Hardware store where I conveniently got a replacement. We continued on for another 26 miles to the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park hike & bike camp located a bit away from the water but none the less beautiful as it was in a Redwood grove and $5 per person, warm showers and Velo-culture abounded, it was like riding into a cyclo city just awesome! We met so many great people.
Next morning we made our way toward Kirk Creek Camp which was situated near the water and a bit exposed. The thing was that the hike and bike area had been overtaken by car campers as they liked the location and we were relegated to a typical car camp spot, that didn’t dampen our mood as how can you be upset while in the Sur? The camp host felt bad and gave us a wheel barrel of wood and Jacob from Colorado built a great fire. We camped with a couple of teachers from Colorado Jacob ( Can’t remember his wife’s name will update this later), a couple from Belgium Davie & Rose who have been on tour around the world for 9 months and two fellows from Toulouse France Marc and Sebastian.
On our second to last day of riding we rolled refreshed South towards our next destination Cambria by the sea. We stopped off at Ragged Point for a rest and saw all our fellow cyclotourist friends and wished them well on their next overnight at San Simeon Creek campsite I really wanted to camp another night as the wide open feeling was magnificent, but we had reservations and well that was that! The Bridge Street Inn was in my humble opinion the best I have ever experienced, the proprietor Jan was gracious and her intern Lauralie from France kept a clean house and provided a great atmosphere with great conversation. The next morning we awoke to have breakfast provided by the Inn to get us on our way in style.
So we headed out of Cambria and climbed up to the Cabrillo Hwy 1 South to the 46 to Paso Robles it was a vigorous climb and a bit exposed but the view was worth it as we could see Morro Rock to the Southwest and the descent was exhilarating! On our descent we saw an unusual site so we crossed over to the West bound side of the 46 to meet Tony Adams of Portland Oregon who apparently has been on the road for 13 years and visited 35 states. He was riding a three wheel recumbent and towing a homemade 14 foot trailer weighing 620 lbs, complete with solar panels a digital receiver and small color T.V. we gave him some food and he shared his various write up’s from Newspapers and T.V. studios. Tony was raised in a Navy family which moved often and he later went to work for 15 years with a carnival which he said moved around a lot hence the wandering bug. He chose a bike because when his Father was in the hospital he asked to see his eldest Son who he was estranged from, so Tony took it upon himself to jump on a bike and travel a great distance to find his Brother which he accomplished and the bike was it for him since.
Our final destination was the Paso Robles Inn which had a pool and hot tub. Pretty nice after 272 miles of California’s finest.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedalpusher61/sets/72157634279860662/show/ Pictures prove it happened.
~Hugh
Deacon Patrick
Mike
cyclotourist
David
Fantastic! Glad everything worked out with the departure and getting to visit RBWHQ.--mike
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Anne Paulson
months is always a bike party.
Another lesson: Check with local cyclists if possible. Locals would
probably not have routed you on Highway 92. King's Mountain or Old La
Honda would have been recommended; it's possible to ride 92, as you
discovered, but better alternatives exist. In Northern California,
highways are not called THE <N>. They are just called N, so for
example Highway 92 is called Highway 92.
About the train: Cyclists need reservations for the bike on the Coast
Starlight now? When I have ridden it with my bike, I have arrived
early, boxed my bike and paid for it, and then given it to the baggage
people with no trouble. I've never made a reservation beforehand, just
arrived at the station by bike and boxed the bike (in a box supplied
by Amtrak). Is it a new policy that bikes need reservations?
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-- Anne Paulson
My hovercraft is full of eels
Brian Hanson
cyclotourist
They are just called N, so for example Highway 92 is called Highway 92."
David
Andy Smitty Schmidt
bobish
Perry
Hugh Smitham
Well done! Love the photos, especially. And the beard. Mustn't forget. Kudos to the beard! :)
Perry
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Hugh Smitham
Looks like you and the sib had a groovy trip. Thanks for the write up.--Smitty
Hugh Smitham
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Hugh Smitham
probably not have routed you on Highway 92. King's Mountain or Old La
Honda would have been recommended; it's possible to ride 92, as you
discovered, but better alternatives exist. In Northern California,
highways are not called THE <N>. They are just called N, so for
example Highway 92 is called Highway 92.
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dougP
Starlight now? When I have ridden it with my bike, I have arrived
early, boxed my bike and paid for it, and then given it to the baggage
people with no trouble. I've never made a reservation beforehand, just
arrived at the station by bike and boxed the bike (in a box supplied
by Amtrak). Is it a new policy that bikes need reservations?"
Amtrak SURFLINER: service San Diego to San Luis Obispo requires a bike reservation (no charge). This started June 1. When you buy your ticket on-line there is a box to click "add a bike". There is a maximum of 6 bikes PER TRAIN (not per car, per the entire train). The bike area has wheel holders for 7 bikes, and is in the same car as the handicapped area. On on of our legs a person in a wheelchair was already on board, in the designated space, and there was no way to get our bikes past to the bike area. The conductor was cool and let us stand there for a few stops until the wheelchair person exited. On that leg they wound up with 7-8 bikes stacked up in there. So the "reservation required" isn't strictly enforced (yet). On our other 2 legs the bike demand was light & we had no problems. The conductors did not seem to check that we had bike reservations (it's printed on your ticket) as we were on, bikes stashed & up in the seating area before our tickets were checked.
COAST STARLIGHT travels between San Diego and Seattle, and the one Hugh tried to catch in Paso Robles. The Starlight has always required bikes to be boxed and checked as luggage. As Anne noted, It's a simple process given some lead time. Big box (sometimes used ones available for free) for something like $5; remove pedals, turn bars, wheel the bike & tape it up. I think on their website Amtrak wants an hour or 2 before departure for this process. Another wrinkle in the process is that this can only happen at a station that is designated for "baggage service" which means the train stops long enough to load & unload stuff.
We had to make a change to our reservation & stopped in at the SLO station to confirm it. While waiting, a conductor approached us and asked if we were going on today's train. The Starlight was due in shortly. He let us know that we'd have to box our bikes unless the conductor was willing to allow "roll ons". He was talking about the Starlight so apparently there is some leniency but it's the discretion of the conductor. When we told him that our reservation was on the Surfliner, he said no problem, that's different. Whew! Moment of panic averted.
dougP
Anne Paulson
baggage people before the train arrives. They may say an hour or two,
and I usually allow plenty of time, but really it doesn't take long
and the longest time is taken by taping up the box.
Since I almost always ride to the train station, I loosen up the
pedals beforehand and then tighten them just finger-tight so they'll
be easy to take off.
> COAST STARLIGHT travels between San Diego and Seattle, and the one Hugh
> tried to catch in Paso Robles. The Starlight has always required bikes to
> be boxed and checked as luggage. As Anne noted, It's a simple process given
> some lead time. Big box (sometimes used ones available for free) for
> something like $5; remove pedals, turn bars, wheel the bike & tape it up. I
> think on their website Amtrak wants an hour or 2 before departure for this
> process. Another wrinkle in the process is that this can only happen at a
> station that is designated for "baggage service" which means the train stops
> long enough to load & unload stuff.
dougP
You really are the man with the camera. Great photos. I can guess which bikes belong to the Belgian couple. Trekking bars & a full complement of Ortleibs (in red or black, rarely yellow) are the giveaway.
For "...not really a loaded touring bike" I'll guess the Hilsen did just fine. It sure looks the part with those beautiful Tubus racks. Don't you love the variety of bikes & camping gear people use? A couple of friends have Novarra Sarfaris and one guy was musing on doing the Xtracycle thing. Now I can point him to a photo. Of course, no one is set up like that guy with the giant trailer! People like that make the world a much more interesting place.
dougP
dougP
dougP
Hugh Smitham
Hugh Smitham
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