Pacific Coast Highway - Half time analysis

As the Thrills so rightly sang, 'Santa Cruz is not that far'.  And so I arrived at Lisa and Richard's on Monday night, 8 days after leaving LA.  Low batteries (mine and my phone's) and piss poor reception meant that I couldn't write any more blog entries whilst on the road, so here's the first of 2 retrospectives... 

Sit rep

After 4 days on the road I arrived at San Simeon State Park, the start of a really beautiful stretch of coastline, famous for the Santa Lucia mountain backdrop. (It's also famous for its rock slides, more on that next time).  Here's a breakdown of how I got there and a map for orientation...

Day 1 - 95 miles from Palos Verdes (LA) to Faria County Park Campground (A to B)

Day 2 - 88 miles to Lompoc River Campground (B to C)

Day 3 - 44 miles to Oceano Campground at Pismo State Beach (C to D)

Day 4 - 68 miles to San Simeon State Park Campground (D to E)

View Larger Map

A few random pictures, videos, observations and anecdotes follow....

Overnight stop at Faria County Park

There's nothing quite like dipping your toes in the ocean.  Especially after a day in hot shoes, and with badly sunburnt calf muscles.  End of Day 1.

Highway 101

Day 2 started with some lovely riding into Santa Barbara where I sampled my first (and sadly my only) triple egg omelette, and endless coffee refill.  SB had some great beaches, a good feel to it, and some amazing cycling paths through the city and out to the University.  I'd like to go back there one day.  

Heading north on Highway 101 (and Route 1) turned out to be less enjoyable however.  There's a section where you just cannot avoid a 2 lane highway for about 10 miles.  The hard shoulder is pretty wide and safe, but the weight of traffic makes it less than ideal touring.  However, with the headwind picking up again, I started to take solace in the passing of big double trailer trucks.  About 2 seconds after they pass you get the sensation of acceleration from the hole they create in the air, and you are pulled along by an invisible hand for a good distance, sadly for the block headwind to return moments later.

When the hard shoulder disappears, the passing of trucks, any vehicles in fact, is less enjoyable.  Particularly so through a narrow tunnel, climbing up a 1 in 10 hill.  Check this video footage I took. (Wait until the truck comes through, and sorry for the language).

First big climb
I spent a lot of time on my second day thinking about the physics of cycling - albeit a simplistic view. I hadn't quite reached a touring cycling nirvana by that point where the mind just wanders in a liberated fashion.  As I climbed the long hill out of the Highway 101 tunnel I seemed to be battling all of the forces at play in cycling:

• gravity acting on the huge mass I was carrying up the steep hill
• wind resistance from the strong headwind
• rolling resistance from the piss poor hard shoulder road surface
• the exhaustion of my energy reserves
• and, an ear worm caught in my mind - Madness, 'Night Boat to Cairo' (Why?)

No wonder I ended up doing about 4 mph up that hill for about an hour.  Still the view at the top was nice.

Handlebar palsy

By the time I arrived at Lompoc on the night of Day 2, the ring and little fingers in my right hand were tingling and almost numb.  Classic compression of the Ulnar nerve (I later diagnosed with help from Google) - handlebar palsy.  I planned a short day for Day 3 to allow rest and recuperation, and a little tweaking of my bike position.

Roadside fluids

Day 3 was only 44 miles to Pismo Beach.  I found myself in Guadalope, which I thought was in Mexico - it certainly felt like Mexico as I road through the town.  I enjoyed a lovely large breakfast burrito, large coke and large coffee.  Think I am turning all 'merican.

Pismo Beach creature

I had a lovely afternoon off the bike in Pismo Beach on Day 3 - it's endless.  I spent 2 hours walking towards the end of the beach where they allow dune buggies, and got nowhere near.  I did find an ancient creature of the sea though.  I also lifted my handlebars by 15mm, and moved my saddle forward by 10mm to relieve my Ulnar compression.

Whizzing along into San Luis Obispo

With half a day's rest in my legs, and no early morning headwind I managed to jump onto the back of Lance Armstrong (red Radioshack top in the lead) and his training gang for their morning ride, and got a tow into San Luis Obispo.  I picked up coffee, cake and comforting extra bar tape in this cool little town before continuing.

Road closed - hilly but beautiful

Coming out of San Luis Obispo I decided to follow a local cyclist past a 'road closed' sign on a cut through to Morro Bay.  2 miles of climbing later the road really was closed and we turned around and came back down.  It was worth it for the views.

Coastal mountains looming

Towards the end of Day 4, approaching San Simeon, the Santa Lucia mountains started looming up on the horizon.  Up to now I had been playing on slight inclines, these are the real deal.

San Simeon State Park - campsite heaven

Day 4 ended after 68 lovely miles.  I had finally got into the touring rhythm at last and was spending (almost) no time looking at the race stats on my GPS.  I had even moved on to Madness' 'Bed and Breakfast Man' as my ear worm.  The remote campsite at San Simeon State Park was a perfect match for my mood, even with it's enforced free-style outdoor showering.

All clear

Bizarrely, the campsite even had mobile phone reception. Via a phone call to Lisa in Santa Cruz, I diligently checked the California Highways website for information on the road ahead, a notorious section.  'All clear' was the reply.  By the time I rode 30 miles down the road the next day, it was anything but all clear....