by Liz

Day’s mileage : 64

Running total : 2,068

Yesterday evening my old friend Cathy, who I met in 1987 on a hiking trip to the US, treated us to an Indian dinner along with her son and his family. It was great fun to see each other again, but also poignant without Cathy’s late husband Bob. What a delightful, welcoming family they created.

I thought a great deal this morning about my friend Debbie in the UK, as we rode through the vicinity of Redondo Beach where she grew up. We had about 20 miles through the outskirts of LA, a good number on beach paths and quite a few on the Pacific Coast Highway. The many faces of highway 1 surprise us, from a remote winding hill road to a crazy superhighway with four lanes in each direction and anything in between.

There are keen gardeners living along the west coast. We stopped for a snack outside a tiny house in an LA suburb with so many plants in the front garden you had to look carefully to see there was a house at all. It wasn’t in a wealthy area, and was quite a contrast to some of the other homes we passed today, also evidently owned by plant lovers.

I had imagined Dana Point, where we are staying tonight, would be a promontory, like Pigeon Point, with a lighthouse, a couple of buildings and ten thousand pelicans on rocks out at sea. Cathy gave me a clue when she said it’s a fun town. In fact it’s a significant size town by the sea. Sadly it also has sharp things in the cycle ways, though two fewer now we’ve removed them and replaced my inner tube.

The last hundred miles of this trip will have the same focus as the first, second, fifteenth or any other hundred miles of the expedition. I’ll want to know what’s in front of my tyres, what’s behind me, how wide it is and where it is on the road, and what’s coming towards me. I’ll savour each one, no rushing, regretting or worrying, look out at the ocean for whales and enjoy turning my pedals and watching the lines of pelicans flying overhead.

Additional notes

Lawndale to Dana Point, Los Angeles and Orange counties, CA.

Left at 9.15am. Arrived at 6pm.

Weather: Overcast but not chilly so no down jacket today. Sunny and warm by lunchtime.

Landscape: Backtracked by a couple of miles to go through more of Redondo Beach where Debbie grew up. We soon left the hilly part of town and were on some fairly tedious stretches of busy, noisy roads with big businesses on both sides, lots of traffic lights to stop at. Good shoulder though. We eventually turned off Highway 1 into residential roads, quite a poor area (later discovered to be Little Cambodia). Took a short cut to Long Beach and we were back on beach paths, less crowded than at Venice Beach yesterday. Rejoined Highway 1 to cross a headland, a good shoulder, then a long quiet road that ran on the inland side of rows of beachfront houses. We were on a path along Huntington Beach for ages, heaps of yellow sand and on the far side of it, a strip of blue sea. After the beach path we were back on the 1 and higher up looking down on the ocean – we haven’t had that vantage point for a few days and I’d missed it. Looked for whales but didn’t see any. In Laguna Beach we turned onto an upper road for a couple of miles which was a nice break from the 1. We used the loo in Heisler Park. The 1 took us to Dana Point, not a promontory after all but a large town by the sea.

Towns: Los Angeles. Long Beach. Corona del Mar. Laguna Beach. Dana Point.

Trails: Beach paths.

State roads: We were on the PCH, Highway 1, for quite a while today. I marvelled at its variations, from a small, windy hill road when we first joined it at Leggett to a superhighway with four lanes in each direction at times today.

Breakfast: Fruit and yogurt. Scrambled eggs on toast.

Lunch spot: Under a pergola on the beach, just a few strips of wood but more shade than we could find anywhere else.

Dinner: Pizza. Fruit and Tillamook ice cream.

Wildlife: A mama rabbit and her babies were grazing nearby as we changed my inner tube.

Plants: Palm trees. Hibiscus.

Things we saw: A large group of trainee lifeguards undergoing military-style training. There was a mural along the quiet road, on the side a painting of flames and a plume of smoke and on the front an image of two people standing in a burnt-out ruin. We passed another mysterious road sign: ‘Loud exhaust will be enforced’. Apparently it means you have to have a muffler. On the beach front in Dana Point a woman was taking part in a photo shoot, wearing gold wings, very effective in the afternoon sunlight.

People we spoke to or saw: At the house hidden by all the plants in the garden, the owner had commandeered the verge too. I was photographing the hibiscus on the verge when he arrived in his car and asked us to move so he could get in. He asked in broken English if I liked them, so I told him how much I admired his garden and he looked proud. Many people walking, cycling and rollerblading on the beach paths and fishing, playing volleyball and sunbathing on the beach. An elderly man walked past our lunch spot and we had a friendly exchange.

Incidents: I wanted to take a photo of Debbie’s school but we didn’t pass it. I should have checked exactly where it was because we could have easily made a quick detour had we looked earlier. My mileometer reached 2,100. The final nine miles of today’s ride was the first nine miles of the last 100 miles of the whole trip. I was determined these last 100 miles would have the same focus as any other stretch of the expedition: concentrating on the road, no rushing, regretting or worrying, and savouring every mile. The trip isn’t going to end before it’s ended. In Dana Point I got a puncture and Philip efficiently changed the inner tube beside a state park rangers’ office.

Shopping: Ralph’s, Dana Point.

Accommodation: A room in a host’s house. It was ok, we were able to make ourselves at home but the hosts weren’t very forthcoming.

Today’s sound: Music carried by various cyclists and walkers on the beach paths.

Today’s smell: Scent of trees with cream-coloured fluffy flowers

Special moments: On the tedious stretch I started thinking of all the things to be grateful for – it wasn’t raining, there was no headwind, and I could use all the battery I wanted today. The man and his garden at the house of many plants. The old man at the beach. Beautiful pelican line-ups. At the house in Dana Point we had tea and half a brownie from Oxnard, sitting on the balcony.

Positive experience from my journal: Being high up looking down on the ocean again.

Appreciation from my journal: Not being pulled down by the low mood today.

Blog comments from Wendy, Cathy H, my mother and Annie. Wendy: ‘Can’t believe you’re nearly done – it feels like no time at all, but maybe your legs would disagree! I’ve loved waking up to a new post each morning. The blog feels almost as much of an achievement as the ride!’ Cathy Hingley: ‘What a treat to see you! I’m so glad I got to meet Philip, and for you to meet my family. You both look fantastic, not at all road-weary. The joy of adventure is very apparent. Is that the first flat tire you’ve had? If so, that’s rather remarkable. Enjoy the day. There’s a nice marine layer so riding will be comfortable’. Annie: ‘You have had an amazing trip and I have been delighted by descriptions of wildlife, forests and seas. Such an achievement and a repository of many wonderful memories for the future. Well done’.

Social media reply from Sharon: ‘You are both amazing’.

Mementos: Ralph’s receipt, Dana Point.