Mini-Vacation ramblings

It has been a fast few days of “coastin’ along” the Central Coast region of California. We did a lot, but did not think of going on-line to read e-mail, blog, etc. Just relaxing on our own for the first three days, then mixing it up with The Wife’s family for the last two.

Wednesday we started with a quick trip to Carmel, some lunch in the sun, then a quick bike ride north to Pacific Grove on the coast side section of the 17-mile drive and then back along the same route. I had been off the bike for two days at that point and it was good to stretch the legs a bit. The weather was gorgeous and clear, with temps running in the high 60’s low 70’s F along the coast. After dinner that night we walked down to the beach in Carmel where there was a large crowd enjoying the nice weather and clear view of the stars and a full or near full moon off to the east.

Thursday we woke up to clear skies but could see the fog bank lingering off-shore. By the time we ate breakfast the coast was engulfed in the gray mass. We drove down the Big Sur coast, in the fog the entire way except for the brief section along the Big Sur river, to the Kirk Creek campground. From there we took the bikes and started up Nacimiento-Ferguson Road into the Santa Lucia range. The road is a great climbing road, with some nice pitches and one long slack section on the middle (from mile 3.66 to 5.75 according to The Wife). The net elevation gain is almost 2600′ in 7.3 miles or about a 6.7% average grade, a nice warmup for the rest of the day. We broke above the fog at about the 1000′ elevation only to find a layer of high clouds. So much for views of the coast!

Just over the crest of the hill we stopped at a USFS fire station to refill water bottles then started the 20 mile trek to Mission San Antonio de Padua. A contrast in climates, the interior was warm with temps in the mid to upper 80’s under clear skies. The first part of the descent is along a (dry) creek through a forest providing some nice shade, but then it was out into open oak savannah with nothing to block the sun and provide relief. About 9 miles past the summit we entered the Hunter-Liggett Military Reservation and had to stop and provide identification to the guard in order to enter. Bet that was not possible for a period 6 years ago! There had been a couple of large grass fires in the area making the landscape look rather stark and bleak. Probably a better place to visit during the spring when everything should be green.

The mission sits near the main part of the Hunter-Liggett army base which has been built for the most part in mission style. It was rather quiet around the mission itself, with only a couple of workers and three cats around while we ate lunch then strolled around looking at the grounds before saddling up for the trip back to the coast. The ride out was a bit of a challenge; The Wife was tired, sore, and dehydrated and I was nauseous, presumably from something I ate for lunch (I suspect oats in the ostensibly whole wheat roll, and since I am allergic to oats …). To make matters worse The Wife got a flat just as we re-entered Forest Service lands from the military base. We persevered, stopping briefly at the summit to put on jackets for the descent into the foggy mist. Total riding for the day was 55.4 miles and the GPS listed it as 5950′ of elevation gain. A lot more rolling in the interior than we anticipated.

Friday was a transition day. We left the Big Sur coast and entered San Luis Obispo County, stopping just south of the Piedras Blanca lighthouse to watch the female and juvenile Elephant seals that had hauled out onto the beach before trekking over to the Hearst Castle visitor center. The visitor center was a stop recommended by The Wife’s parents. I had not visited the Hearst Castle facility since sometime in the early 90’s and the changes are not for the better in my opinion. Much of the space formerly filled with information packed exhibits is now filled with concessions. Sigh! Disappointed with that stop we meandered south to Arroyo Grande to spend time with The Wife’s family.

The main task for the weekend was to help shepherd, coax, coerce, and coach The Wife’s mother on her first metric century, in fact her first ride of over 44 miles. The ride chosen, the Lighthouse Century metric route, is a nice jaunt north from San Luis Obispo to Cambria on California Hwy 1 and then a return using the same route. The weather was excellent; clear skies, temperatures in the mid to high 60’s, and only moderate winds. The Wife and I had planned to do the 100 mile variant but altered our plans to help her mother achieve her goal. So we had a nice, gentle ride with a couple thousand of our closest friends while soaking in some beautiful scenery. What more can you ask? And in the end it was mission accomplished, pretty much on the time schedule we set out in advance.

The drive home to the Bay Area on Sunday was made interesting as we had to play ‘dodge cars’ on US 101 just south of Salinas as too many drivers were paying attention to the Blue Angels performing for the Salinas Air Show instead of the road. Fortunately I was able to avoid all the swerves and instant stops. Perhaps they should consider shutting down 101 as they did when the air shows were at Moffett Field. Now we are home and trying to avoid the thought of tomorrow, when the real world of work once again imposes itself on our lifes. Sigh!