There were two big ones, a drop in between with very short reprieve before the second climb began. I handled the first well, but was sweating and pleading for the end halfway up the second. But at last that end came, I got to come soaring down the other side to Ragged Point, and could relax in the knowledge I had the worst of the climbing for the day behind me, nay, for the whole trip in fact. I bought myself an overpriced Its-It to celebrate. An aside, but anyone else hate how out of the way mini marts have no listed prices and they punch in the value rather than scanning? So it seems like they could very well just be summing you up and charging you whatever they so choose at that moment? ...Either way, the icecream cookie was good and well deserved.
It was smooth sailing from there, just as expected, flat ground that I was racing across with the wind at my back. And much of the ride was gorgeous too, idyllic rolling pastures rising into steeper hills on one side, and on the other rocky coastline with formations full of new character for all the rocky coasts I've seen. And there were elephant seals! I came upon a beach completely full of them, and was dismayed that I would get in trouble for stopping at the no parking signs. But then just a couple miles ahead was a parking lot and viewing area, complete with boardwalk, officials with info tables, and way too many people, next to a beach filled with lounging elephant seals, basking lazily in the warm sun.
After that I made few stops, as I was enjoying my newfound speed and ease, and it seemed little could compare to that sight. Hearst Castle sounded cool, and I'd been seeing signs for it for 80 miles I think, but not worth the $25 or the time, and unlikely to stand up to the natural beauty around me for free. ...Things were going perfectly, until somewhere along the way, as I was pulling away from the coast, I needed to urinate. And I could find no bathrooms anywhere. This may sound like a silly problem to cause so much trouble, and it is, oh it is. I should just be able to park on the shoulder and piss in the damn bushes and have no one care. In Nebraska I would have, but in Southern California I had the perhaps irrational fear of an inopportune cop and some ridiculous fine along the heavily trafficked, but empty stretch of highway. It seemed like forever to Cayucos and I dared few pictures for much of the stretch as my need grew desperate. I came into a "supermarket" there, no public restrooms. I stopped at a park, thinking a building there was one, but it was locked. I finally came into a park, found a bathroom, rushed in and finally relieved myself. ...In the high wind and my hurry, my bike ended up falling over on its stand. This caused unnecessary strain and the formation of a larger tear in my poor garden hose. I was cursing up a storm at the ridiculousness of the stressful situation.
From there it was a fairly short 12 miles on to Los Osos. With just a little trouble finding the place thanks to Google Maps being off ever so slightly, I arrived and met my host for the night. He's another really nice, interesting fellow. He treated me to a glass of local beer while we chatted and got to know each other. Then I got a shower and then some laundry started while he cooked. He studied food science, so as you may imagine, it was a marvelous vegetarian meal, a salad with all sorts of good things, even avocado (which I haven't had in far too long), lentils, fried celery roots, rice. We talked with ease about politics, peace, drugs, religion, all kinds of things often off the table, in a manner that was very refreshing. And we of course talked about bike touring, my own trips, and the series of bike trips he's done with his friends to do the Pacific Coast in segments, an idea I'd never before considered, for those with perhaps more money but less time. After dinner he even took me to the local alehouse and got me a beer and we sat and chatted some more. It was a warm, wonderful end to the day.
After returning from the Alehouse, then having a bowl of icecream over a discussion of the Colbert Report and how it will be missed, filled with food and alcohol, I soon hit the pillow and was fast asleep. If only I wasn't worried about my trailer and whether it will hold, everything would have been and would be just about perfect.
No comments:
Post a Comment