Our target for today was almost 90 miles to the Big Sur. With Tim's muscle issues, we decided to get an early start, aiming to see how he felt at Monterey. The route began with maybe 10 miles of decreasing levels of housing. After Aptos, we drew away from hwy 1 to cycle on largely flat terrain, through strawberry fields - Beetles' lyrics began to play as a soundtrack to my day. With the amazing sweetness of strawberries in our nostrils we turned a corner to see a uni-cyclist out for some morning exercise - up hill and into the wind - I had to pinch myself to check I was really seeing it.
For 5 miles we rejoined a newly surfaced hwy 1 through Moss Landing, until just past the State Beach with an oil refinery for its backdrop. Crossing hwy 1 we turned onto Monte Road through artichoke fields where Tim yelped as he was sprayed with water from sprinklers. I raised my eyebrows until the next three got me, and I discouragingly ended up covered in mud. At Del Monte Ave just before Marina we joined the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail - what a cyclists' heaven. OK, so we went up and down as the hwy soared alongside with it's forgiving gradient, but we had no traffic for 15 miles.
In Monterey we continued along the path which took us parallel with Cannery Row until we found a deli to stop for food. It was just midday and we had cycled 40 miles so figured we would carry on until Pfeiffer Big Sur.
Past Fishermens Wharf we came to John Steinbeck's muse - the Monterey Coastline. The waves were brilliant white, and the water crystal clear against volcanic rock. Shortly after the edge of town we cycled onto the 17 mile scenic drive, which wound along the coast through Pebble Beach golf course. I thought I had seen it all, having lived near to both Henley and Mayfair but this was something else. The coastline was stunning and for once we weren't 100s of feet above it. The golf course was the most manicured I have seen, and the houses that lined the road were enormous. As ever I was reminded that money did not buy you taste, but anything compared to this coastline would have looked ordinary - maybe even Johnny Depp.
Towards the end of the road, we cycled past the club house, where we were reminded of the types of people who lived in the area. At Carmel we pulled onto the beach and like a pair of kids stood in total and utter awe. I'm not sure even the photos can do justice to what was before us. Carmel was full of boutiques and it was at this point that we decided to look for camping gas. Round and round in circles we went, before we realised Carmel residents were clearly not the camping type. If we wanted dinner tonight, a camp fire it would have to be.
Given in to the reality of not finding any gas, our route continued onto hwy 1 for only the second time of the day, carrying us above the ocean through Carmel Highlands. With 10 miles to go Tim was beginning to tire, but the delights our eyes were experiencing kept us going. After Point Sur we moved in land along the Big Sur River until we finally reached Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and the most amazing state park showers with two shower heads in each.As we set up our tent we realised we had caught up with Jean from a few days earlier, and so spent the rest of the evening chatting over coffee.
1 comment:
wooo you're still alive...
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