by Liz

Day’s mileage : 12 + 6 walked

Running total : 1,568

Ascent : 1,032ft

Saturday.

Today Pelican no 3 flew east to fresh hunting grounds. It was a wrench. There were tears all the way back to Del Monte Forest. She’s been a star pelican and now it’s time to regroup and adjust to being a line up of two again.

Before she left there was a small amount of pillaging and a good deal of offloading that took place, as much as 2kg from my kit, including 1kg of Dorset cereal I’ve been carrying for five weeks now. To begin with I was saving it but then we kept forgetting to eat it. What is the matter with us?! Anyway maybe now I’ll sail up the hills on tomorrow’s long ride. 

It seemed like all the nature of Monterey and the Del Monte Forest came out to say farewell. Two hummingbirds before we left, a chorus of birds as we rode down to Monterey and about 200 sea lions in Monterey Harbour, such a racket you’ve never heard.

We arranged the shipping of the rented bike back to Sam then at the marina we were delighted to find Stephen the rower, who we met at Pigeon Point. We looked in awe at the five boats that will be rowing to Hawaii as the teams participate in the World’s Toughest Row race, and were amazed by the sheer logistics of food and kit required for the trip, all laid out beside each boat. After wishing the UK team luck, we went for breakfast at a creperie and enjoyed reminiscing about our favourite epic days of the past two weeks – dramatic coastline, majestic redwoods and big mountains. Afterwards we walked Cathy and her panniers to the bus stop.

As a thank you, Cathy sweetly gifted us entry to the renowned Monterey Aquarium, where we saw many wonders of the sea, and feeding time involves a diver with a bucket. My favourite things were the small colourful fish and the slow, ethereal jellyfish.

This afternoon we’re doing the laundry and preparing for two long days’ riding, heading inland for 130 miles to circumvent the route closure along the Big Sur coast. On this stretch repeated landslides have been hampering repairs for the past two years. We’re anticipating two 70 mile days and some hills and headwinds, so we’ll need early starts and a good shot of determination. We’ve got this!

Additional notes

Rest day in Monterey, CA

Left at 9.15am. Arrived back around 3.30pm.

Weather: Beautiful, sunny day. Warm. 

Things we did: C showed me what she does with Komoot to find better routes. She gave me her teeny tiny dental floss and her bike mirror as a spare. I gave her the kg of Dorset cereal, all the receipts, my completed journal, an unread book and many other things, a pleasingly weighty load. We rode down through the Del Monte Forest and along the Monterey harbour and marina area, very attractive. We left the bikes at Epicenter Cycling. Monterey Aquarium. Walked through Monterey with its fish cannery heritage. Cleaned the bikes. 

Breakfast: A waffle at home then breakfast out at Crepes of Brittany. 

Lunch spot: No lunch, breakfast was big enough.

Dinner (P): Baked potatoes with cheese and tomatoes. Mango and yogurt and one-sixth of a chocolate fudge cake slice. 

Wildlife: Two hummingbirds from the house. Birdsong filled the forest as we rode through. Hundreds of sea lions on Monterey Beach – an invasion we later found out. 

Plants: The bottle brush shrubs in the garden, which the hummingbirds love.

Things we saw: A Five & Dime Store! (but no Piggly Wiggly).

People we spoke to or saw: Two men on unicycles and a family on bikes one of which had a side car for the dog. Staff at Epicenter Cycling who are packing up C’s bike to return. Stephen from Pigeon Point and the five teams preparing their impressive boats and kit for the World’s Toughest Row race. An English lad working as an explainer at the Aquarium who was satisfyingly amazed at our trip. 

Incidents: It was a bit warm and sunny to be carrying C’s laden panniers through Monterey. Saying goodbye to her and losing her was a wrench. Farewell Pelican no 3, you’ve been a star. Yesterday and today were by far the most emotional days of the ride for me. Instead of laundry soap here they have a bag of laundry nuts from Nepal, pods from a tree by the look of them.

Shopping: None for a change.

Accommodation: Our little house in the forest. 

Today’s sound: Bird song as we rode down through Del Monte Forest,

Today’s smell: Sea lions on Monterey beach (smelly!).

Special moments: Called Granny and she said we’re amazing. Setting out for the last time on this ride as a three, our last three-pelican line-up, perfectly synced as we rode. C said at breakfast how much she’s loved these two weeks. She’s found the roads scary but she’s loved it, it’s surpassed her expectations. The Aquarium. Tea and sharing the last cookie with P. C messaged from the airport to say she wanted to know exactly what we were doing at every moment!

Positive experience from my journal: C’s farewell couldn’t have gone better. I’m so glad she enjoyed being here. 

Appreciation from my journal: Having all my emotions and feelings about C leaving.

Blog comments from Taffa, and Crystal and Sam in McKinleyville. 

Video: C’s bike at home (15s). Sea lions (10s + 21s + 53s + 20s + 12s). C’s bike in the shop (18s). C’s aeroplane seat (4s).

Audio: Sea lions (27s).

Mementos: Monterey Aquarium floor plan and seafood watch card. Epicenter Cycling receipt. World’s Toughest Row card.