As we sneakily packed up and left Colin’s place in the morning, we managed to remember everything from his apartment except for the car keys. We felt terrible waking him up after all that effort of sliding out extra quickly early this morning, but at least we got to say a proper goodbye. Thanks for the great stay in SF, Colin!
Sammy got his back tire replaced this morning at REI (American equivalent to MEC) before we headed out of SF. By the time we left in the later part of the morning, we were practically ready for lunch, which was a bad sign for things to come in the day. We did however manage to grab a few pounds of sourdough bread, apparently Boudin Bakery was a good choice for fresh breads, before proceeding to scoot out of town towards Highway 1.
When we finally arrived at the highway, we saw a familiar prohibited cyclists sign, forcing us to change our route onto the Skyline Highway. It wasn’t long until we got mixed up with directions and decided to hop off the highway once we found a nearby trail. Unfortunately, by that time I already had gotten split up with Sammy and managed to build in an extra 5km and 165m of climbing into my day before finding the route. The trail brought us out to Half Moon Bay where we celebrated a challenging 60km with a delicious sandwich lunch and live background music. The owner was super sweet and sent us off with a delicious brownie just because we were cycling long distance.
The reminander of our route was right on Highway 1, with a wide shoulder and strong tailwinds guiding us throughout the afternoon. We saw no shortage of wind surfers, farmer fields, and of course the Pacific Ocean. The 80km flew by and we arrived in Santa Cruz by 6:30.
We are staying with Jim and Teresa tonight, who live right next to the Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park and Pacific Ocean. Jim is an ultra cyclist, and for those of you who don’t know, that means insane distances and climbs in one ride. We’re not talking 200km or 300km, but more like 300miles or 450miles. He’s in incredible shape and retired in his early 50s, now cycles about 200miles a week. Jim introduced us to a neat climbing site called Pjammcycling, which lists all of the toughest climbs in the world. Something to strive towards if we really want to test our strength (physically and mentally).
We ride to Monterrey tomorrow which is ‘only’ 85km. We can use a short day after our Yosemite hikes which are still forcing us to walk like penguins. From there on end, we will mostly be on Highway 1 until LA.
Count:
Bars devoured – 40
Bananas chomped – 44
Peanut butter wraps – 24
Arizona iced tea drained – 11.7 L
Warmshower hosts – 13
Total ascent – 18,800 m
Calories burned – 69,400
Total distance – 1875 km
Max speed – 82.6 km/hr (Jordan)
Pacific Coast Trail 
Wow wow and more wow!!! You guys are incredible. I look forward every morning to reading this blog and see where you are and view the most beautiful scenery. Keep strong. Have fun and look forward to hearing more when your back.
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