27 miles (43 km) – Total so far: 341 miles (549 km)
The day began early in Big Sur. The large crowd in the Hiker/Biker site are all up, and chatting, cooking breakfast and preparing for their day’s ride. I pack up early as well, but elect to take advantage of the camp lodge restaurant for breakfast. I sit in warm comfort, drinking hot tea and wolfing down blueberry pancakes and bacon. Out the window, I watch as, one by one, my fellow bike campers roll out the park exit and turn to the north or the south to continue their journeys. My breakfast finally complete, I pull out a few minutes before 9:00 AM, ready to begin the 13th day of my adventure.
Ahhhhh. The 13th day – I should have recognized this for the omen it was of the day to come…
It all began smoothly enough. I roll down the hill away from the Big Sur Park. The old redwood trees line the road. The sun is shining brightly. A warm day ahead. Only a few miles in and I stop to remove my warm clothing. For the first time since starting the tour, I am cycling in shorts and t-shirt…Nice!
Redwoods line the highway as I roll downhill out of the Big Sur Mountains
The hills begin to change within a few more short miles. Gone are the steep climbs and sharp, banked corners of Big Sur. Instead, gentle rolling hills and wide, round corners are the notable features.
Less hilly, less twisty, the road begins to level out
The road drops down close to sea level, and swings out along the coast. Riding away from the protection of the hills and trees I begin to feel the wind. I had been told, by everybody who has ever ridden this stretch of road, that the prevailing winds flow from the North. But this bit of advice is easy to ignore when planning a tour in the comfort of a home office. It is much harder to ignore when a cold wind blasts mercilessly in your face for many punishing miles. My speed quickly dropped from the 15 MPH I should be making on this nice flat ground. 12 MPH, 10 MPH, 7 MPH…..
Passing Point Sur, the winds blow so hard that when I attempt to stand up out of the trike to take photos, I am blown back into the seat! And it is a cold wind. I stop and put my warm weather clothing back on. I took this brief snippet of video when I spotted a flag being blown to shreds by the wind…
The scenery remains spectacular. I slowly fight my way through the wind, past Point Sur Lighthouse and on. There are a few more climbs to be made here. They are not steep and twisty, instead they are long and gentle.
Pretty views still abound, despite the punishing headwindClimbs were longer and slower but still carried me to gorgeous views. The tops of the highest passes were covered in fog and mist.
Near the top of the hills, with the wind still blasting away, I start to notice mist swirling around me. As I climb higher the mist turns into fog. The temperature drops some more. I have no real choice, so I climb on. The oncoming traffic has headlights on. The fog grows thicker still – and starts to ooze raindrops in my face.
Wow! What has happened? In Big Sur it was a warm and sunny morning. Here, only 10 miles later I am riding in a cold, wet, dense fog and a vicious howling headwind. It was kind of miserable. I stopped taking photos at this point, so I have little to share about this stretch of the ride beyond these words. Cold, wet, windy.
Fortunately, as I began to descend again, the fog and the rain diminished. As I crossed over the iconic Bixby Creek Bridge I could see the sun ahead of me again. The wind was still smacking me in the face, but this was getting better!
Descending across the bridges, wind and cold mist aboveAnother view of the Bixby Creek Bridge
The further north I traveled, the better the weather became. Before long the cold fog was a thing of the past. As the road wanders along the coast, I get my first peek at the Monterey Peninsula. Entering the Peninsula, the wind finally starts to die back.
My first peek at the Monterey Peninsula
I can tell I am getting closer to less remote areas. The traffic begins to pick up. For the first time in days, I actually notice the traffic. There are lots of houses here, and lots of intersections. Stop lights. I am definitely back into the populated part of California again.
It warm again! The cold weather cloths come off and I’m back in shorts and t-shirt! Things are really looking up now! Its close to lunch time, and I’m in The Carmel Highlands. Just a few short miles away from the lovely little village of Carmel-by-the-Sea. There I can get a great lunch, I can get cell service to call Nancy and I can decide what route to use to get myself into Monterey. I’m happy and feeling good. I stop to grab a quick photo of the beautiful flowers growing along the side of the road
Wildflowers in the Carmel Headlands. The sun is out and it’s warm again
I’m really looking forward to the afternoon’s ride!
But….today is the 13th day, remember? My new found optimism was soon to be dashed! I begin to climb the last hill before entering Carmel. It feels like the the road has rumble strips. Thump, Thump, Thump with every revolution of my wheels. Hmm – its getting harder to pedal. This hill isn’t that steep. What’s going on? Do I have a flat tire?
I hop off the trike to take a look. The rear wheel seems to be pretty solidly jammed up in y parking brake. Take a closer look……..DISASTER!
The rim on my rear wheel has split open! It has a crack running most of the way around the rim. This cannot be ridden on, and this is not repairable. I’m definitely going to need a new rim.
Disaster! The rim is split almost all the way around. This can’t be repaired, it will need to be replaced. Does this spell the end of my ride?
Looking around, I notice my surroundings. Directly across the street from me is a bike shop! How amazingly fortuitous.
I drag the bike into Bay Bikes store. Employees there are very understanding, but have no 20″ rims. “We can order one – 5 days”. We make some phone calls – every bike shop in Carmel/Monterey. No one around here seems to have 20″ rims. Well, these folks won’t be able to help today.
What to do? Right next to the bike shop there is a hotel! Well, I can get settled in and can figure out what to do later. How fortunate was the location of this breakdown? Within walking distance of both a hotel and a bike shop. If the bike is going to break down, this is the best possible location for it! If this had happened 15 or 20 miles earlier, I might have been alone on the top of a mountain in the cold, wind and rain and with no cell service. This is far better.
The very spot where I broke down. A bike shop and a hotel across the street. If I had to break down, this might have been the best possible location
I’m safe. My bike is in a safe place and all my stuff is OK. Sadly, it seems my ride will probably need to end. Getting a new wheel built is going to take some effort. Nancy is in San Francisco visiting a girlfriend. She can come get me tomorrow……
