by Philip

Day’s mileage : 74

Running total : 1,642

And then there were two! We had set an early alarm this morning, waking at 6am as we have a 69 mile ride to do today to get to King City – the first half of the detour around Big Sur. Cathy had just landed at Heathrow when our alarm went off. The morning started grey, with mist swirling through the trees at the cottage. We were ready in record time, and after a breakfast of waffles and porridge we headed off at 8:20. There’s an initial climb of 200’ to the top of the forest, then 700’ descent to sea level in Monterey. We glimpsed the sea and then turned north along the coast, following a trail which will take us inland. We heard church bells tolling, and passed a food kitchen serving hot breakfast to the homeless next to the trail – it  looked delicious – with loud upbeat music playing as they ate. The day was still grey at this point with the sun’s disc occasionally visible – but at least we don’t have much headwind!

It turned out that the first 12 miles retraced the route which brought us into Monterey on Thursday. We stopped to bid the ocean farewell and laughed at a sign at the end of the road saying “end” just before the sea. This was Sand City, with warning signs of drifting sand. We passed a group of young men running up a steep dune, cheering each other on as they got to the top. Riding through the new town of Marina (lots of construction and new houses) we came to California State University Monterey Bay, known by the snappy moniker CSUMB. The road for the next 4 miles took us through unfamiliar territory – low trees, high grass, no view and lots of ground squirrels – but also few cars so it was very peaceful. At nearly 17 miles, with only 9% of battery used, we stopped for snack #1 and some blogging, sitting outside the community meeting room in the town of East Garrison. 

Emerging from the town down a nice hill the geography suddenly changed, and we were back in agricultural land, with a strong smell of rotting leaves after the first field had been harvested. We passed miles of strawberries and unidentified vegetables, with the fields on our left and the Big Sur range of mountains on our right – we will follow this range pretty much all the way to King City. It’s very pretty, and the sun has come out too. The road is wide and smooth and we have a decent tailwind – rolling along at 20mph without any motor assistance. 

We turned off after a bit onto a beautifully quiet road – maybe one car every 5 minutes – and rode past miles of vineyards, artichokes, acres of crops under poly tunnels and elaborate irrigation systems. There’s no harvesting today as it’s Sunday, but the berries look ripe. The wind continues to assist – at the halfway point with 35 miles on the clock I’ve only used 12% battery – something of a record! I’ll stop going in about it now – but on a long day like today range is key!

The only issue with a long straight road through fields is that there is little shade or sitting available. We eventually stopped at an elementary school and borrowed one of their lunch tables which was open to the road. There was shade and protection from the wind which was just what we needed. We had 25 miles to go, and I needed to sort out shipping Cathy’s bike back to Sam in McKinleyville – we left it at a shop in Monterey yesterday but I needed weight and dimensions of it when packaged and hadn’t heard anything so I called the shop, then spent a somewhat frustrating 45 minutes arranging a UPS pick up via an intermediary company recommended by Sam … end result is a 58% discount on UPS rates, and delivery to him on Wednesday which works very well for him. While I was ploughing through this process, Liz got cold and stiff so she headed off while I finished off, and she started to negotiate what became a challenging remainder of the day’s journey.

Komoot kept sending us on paths through the vineyards, often with “no trespassing” signs, so we had to replan on several occasions. This resulted in turning from the south (huge tailwind) to the east … and it turns out a strong crosswind is worse even than a headwind … even with lots of motor assist it was hard to keep straight. We wound our way through miles of vineyards – huge in area – some newly planted and some old vines. One individual area had 205 marked rows, with 8’ between them – and this was just one of countless individual planted areas. We passed many wine companies – some offering tasting (we didn’t stop!) and one with 20 enormous steel containers for grape juice and fermentation.

With a final throw of the Komoot dice we ended up doing 10 miles at high speed (tailwind!) on the 101 which was a dual carriageway with good shoulder, and got to King City at 5:30. After a little shopping we arrived, tired but happy, at our motel for the night. 

Oh – and the final battery usage … 35% used for 74 miles … I’m very chuffed!

Additional notes

Monterey to King City, Monterey county, CA

Left at 8.20am. Arrived at 6pm.

Weather: Overcast at first, mist in the trees. The sun came out while we were on the G19. A tail wind blew up mid-morning and got stronger as the day went on. It became hot but stayed windy. The wind grew stronger as we ate lunch.

Landscape: Retracing our steps into Monterey, the town sleepy on a Sunday morning. Following our route from Thursday in reverse, back through the eucalyptus grove and out to the dunes. A misty view of Monterey across the bay. Pretty along the coast, the sea pale jade. Under the 101, through a new town then past the campus for California State University Monterey Bay. First snack at 17 miles. Climbed a hill, turned left, and down the other side we found ourselves suddenly in farming territory again, fields of brassicas, strawberries, carrots, broccoli and globe artichokes. The big contrast was that no work was going on as it was Sunday, all the equipment was still and the pickers were gone. The G19 road, quite busy, which wasn’t a problem while there was a shoulder but it petered out at times. Mountains on our right. Mountains to our left a long way across the valley. Mountains further south. The longer we rode the more mountains there were. Poly tunnels, I think with fruit. Horses in fields along the route. Vineyards. The mountains on the right became ridges, at times green and forested, at times yellow with dark green trees. Turned off the busy road finally and there were hardly any cars for miles. We were still among crops with mountains to our right. Second snack at 35 miles in the shade of a tree. At this point we were for the most part in vineyards with occasional fields of lemon trees laden with fruit. Quite a few wine company premises, all quiet. The landscape changed and we rode at the foot of a mountain with no space for crops. After lunch we rode through crop lands with ferocious crosswinds. Up a small incline and looking back the landscape was beautiful even though it was feeling quite hostile by this time, with the wind a real challenge. Along the 101, mountains still to our left, the hanging valleys casting shadows in the late afternoon sun.

Towns: Marina. East Garrison. Soledad. Greenfield.

Trails: An unofficial bumpy track alongside the 101 some miles from King City. A network of offroad tracks leading into King City.

State roads: Six miles along the dual carriageway of the 101 approaching King City, the shoulder wide but the road busy and fast.

Breakfast: Porridge and leftover waffles.

Lunch spot: At kiddies’ picnic tables under shelter from the sun at the Mission Union School, Soledad, after 45 miles.

Dinner, made by Liz: Leftover macaroni cheese and roasted vegetables from the last two nights. Strawberries, banana and yogurt. Tea and key lime pie.

Wildlife: Bird song in the Del Monte Forest. A hummingbird flew past as we rode. Ground squirrels scurrying across our path, some with their tails raised high in the air. Near the coast, a bird that sounded like the pedestrian crossings here, a single note alternating between loud and soft. A hummingbird at the school.

Plants: A lot of crops and flowers planted with the crops.

Things we saw: An adobe house built by Señor Jose Abrego in 1834. A road headed down to the beach and where it met the sea we could see a sign that read ‘END’. Erosion that looked like termite mounds. ‘No hunting’ signs – they were everywhere in Washington but we haven’t seen them for a while. A field of globe artichokes with their globes against the sky. Crops planted in stripes, shades of red lollo rosso lettuce alternating with dark green varieties. Flowering plants were planted around the crop and sometimes inside it, in regular patterns eg in squares placed diagonally. A vineyard called Sleepy Hollow Vineyard. I took a picture of a sign to Gonzales and sent it to Charlie. A fine derelict house on the horizon. Messages in chalk on the ground at the school thanking their amazing teachers.

People we spoke to or saw: A gentleman on the path in Monterey smiled and waved at us and a lady runner said good morning. People walking and running along the dunes path. A group of young men climbing a high, steep sand dune and a big group of them standing on top against the sky. A friendly farmer waved on the remote road later on. A man on horseback near Greenfield, the leather of the saddle and reins intricately tooled.

Incidents: I missed the brake harmony with Cathy, riding down the slope from the house for the last time. We passed a food gathering for homeless people in Monterey and a chap in a tartan dress clearly wasn’t doing well and looked so vulnerable. I found myself getting emotional again and wondered if I was feeling the mental challenge referred to by Stephen in Astoria, after five weeks on the road. Seeing the bunkers where we had lunch on Thursday and feeling sad Cathy was gone. I went ahead on my own after lunch and things didn’t go so well – unusually Komoot started directing us on tracks through crops that said no trespassing (fine, I found other roads) but then as I took a left the crosswind was crazy, I had to lean right into it to stay upright, pieces of earth were stinging my skin as they smacked into me, and the wind was trying to tear my helmet off. It was such a contrast to the sedate, beautiful morning. Eventually the wind was behind me and blew me (literally) along Los Coches Road – I didn’t need to pedal. After Philip caught up with me we stuck together, facing the crosswinds together whenever we turned into them. My second pen ran out while I was writing my journal, a pretty drastic occurrence for me. I only brought two.

Shopping: Safeway, King City.

Accommodation: A room at a motel, the Keefer’s Inn, big enough we could bring the bikes inside. Just a microwave and fridge.

Today’s sound: The ferocious wind woo-wooing eerily through the cables that supported the vines.

Today’s smell: Recently harvested brassicas.

Special moments: Messaging with Cathy over the course of the day, from the moment we woke up, by which time she was at Heathrow. The wind was mostly behind us. Feeling free-er to stop for photos now it’s just the two of us. The mountains on our right were (kind of) the far side of the Big Sur mountain range we rode beside on Friday, and it was special to see them from the opposite side. What cyclist would normally do that if it wasn’t for a landslide closing the road? The school was a nice, sheltered place for lunch. Seeing Philip coming up behind me after the crazy crosswind section, such a relief. The strange routes all turned out ok. Checking Philip was ok, had sun cream, water etc. Realising the grassy, yellow-brown rounded mountains are the colour and texture of teddy bears which explains why they look so huggable.

Positive experience from my journal: Riding through the beautiful mountains.

Appreciation from my journal: Cracking through many miles in between breaks today and being determined with the crazy crosswind roads.

Blog comments from Taffa, my mother and Marshall Johnson. Cathy: ‘Yay! So glad you and your batteries made it to King City. Sad I can’t still be there to fight the Komoot battle’.

Video: Alongside crops on the quiet road (4m).

Mementos: Two Safeway receipts, King City.