Finally, we are getting to the most anticipated parted of our trip. Today we hit the Pacific Coast Highway to make our way down to LA. After our bikes are packed and ready to go we bid farewell to Mark and thank him for his hospitality. I tell him these days In San Francisco with him have been our best and where we have had the best laughs so far. A quick stop at a gas station to fill up and we are on our way.
Greg had told us to take 101 South from Belmont to 84 West because it’s a nice road to ride with the bikes and we take his advice and head that way. We are not let down, it really is a great ride for bikes with plenty of bends and shade from some redwoods. We take 84 all the way to 1 and we celebrate when we get there. We make a left to head south on 1 and continue this adventure.
It was a cloudy morning but it was still a nice ride and we stop a few times to snaps some shots before we pull into Whale City Bakery, a roadside restaurant, for some food. While eating the clouds clear up and the sun comes out. We get back on the road with a goal of riding at least 250 miles for the day. That would leave us at roughly another 250 of LA.
We ride through Santa Cruz, which reminds us of a Hawaiian town, and through Monterey as well.
Fruit vendors on the side of the highway started popping up and after riding past a few we decide to actually stop and buy some fresh fruit. We each choose our piece and are satisfied by our selections. A brief stop to rest and eat our fruit did us good.
We had been riding for some time already when I see a sign that says curves ahead for the next 75 miles so I think it a wise choice to stop for gas and that’s what we do. During this gas stop Marco runs into a little electrical problem but nothing we can’t fix our selves so after about 20 minutes we head for the bends.
As we enter the Big Sur area we begin to see these beautiful landscapes and stop again for some more pictures. We take a few and begin our ride through our second set of bends today. I must say, what a beautiful ride. California is reminding me more and more of Portugal. Everyday we ride, there is a part in the day where we feel like we’re riding through that beautiful country. A little taste of the motherland for us; for me especially since this was the first summer in my life I didn’t go. We stop a few times to enjoy the view and take pictures and we even stop at one point to see some whales and dolphins swimming close to shore.
We wanted to check out Hearst Castle and after leaving Big Sur we arrive but get the unfortunate news that the last tour had gone up for the day. It had left at 4:30pm. It was about 6:00pm. We were sad and bummed out. This was quickly becoming something we were all too familiar with. We were missing out on things because we had no time. We had used it all up on the way west dealing with motorcycle problems. After letting it sink in that we wouldn’t be checking out the castle we decide to push on to San Luis Obispo. That would leave us at about 200 miles from LA.
The sun was setting as we were riding past Moonstone Beach in Cambria and we stop to watch the sun go down.
We ride through, into the night a bit, to reach our destination. We settle in and walk across the street to a sushi spot to get some dinner. There was a lot of tension when we left Hearst Castle because we were missing out on good content and just not really being able to enjoy ourselves as much so we used the time at dinner to talk it out and clear the air. We leave feeling better or at least I do. We just have to make the best of it at this point and do what we can.