PowerCycle

10/06 Left camp early this morning and set out under sunny skies for like the 3rd week now. Love it. I should clarify– by early I mean 10am. The ride along Hwy 1 was uneventful other than a stop I made at an organic strawberry farm. The signs announcing 10% off for bicycle tourists was what did the trick. Had a great strawberry custard and some coffee. No one was working in the hostel-like store–instead they had an honor system set up with a register of cash/coins so people could pay. I also bought a jar of fresh strawberry/rhubarb jam. They even had games set out on picnic tables inside. Very cool place.

Ran into Chris and Chris on the road in Santa Cruz. They were the guys I hadn’t seen in a couple weeks. Turns out we were only a day or two apart almost the entire time. They ended up riding further down the road so I have the CG to myself so far. I don’t think this CG is on the ACA printed map so I might be on my own tonight. Speaking of being alone, I’ve had 2 people give me a look of shock in the last couple days when I replied yes to doing this trip on my own. I should have asked why they thought it was so bizarre but my guess is that they can’t fathom anyone being “alone” for that long. I’d rank being lonely on my things that worry me right behind not having enough food/water, not being able to find a place to sleep, getting creamed by a car, being mauled by a dog/bear/raccoon/hippie or having my bike stolen. In other words it isn’t something that keeps me awake at night. Being annoyed by small-minded people keeps me awake at night though. This is kind of like the people that see my bike and say, “Gee, that’s a lot of stuff.”. Anyway, 2 people just rode in to camp here so now I have someone to talk to. I’ll try to be lonelier tomorrow.

Staying at new Brighton State Beach CG which didn’t start off very well. They charge $5 dollars to stay in the hiker/biker area here which is fine. So I handed over my cash and then the guy asked for my driver’s license. I looked down just to make sure I hadn’t been driving this whole time. He actually wouldn’t let me in the park without showing either my DL or my passport so I flashed my passport and kept giving him a hard time about it. The absolute stupidest thing about it is had I shown up after the Nazi-booth closed I could have used the self-registration booth without showing ID. So what good does it do? Just another way for the government to track/control people that’s what!!! Couldn’t resist.

GPX Track