We knocked it off...

We arrived at the fence alo g the border on Monday. We had a couple og great days cycling along the coast in fantastic sunshine. I can understand why folk like southern California - great beaches, great weather and great food.
From Hueneme we cycled through a military training area and Marine camp - a good 20 milesof wilderness before dropping into Oceanside. A great town on the beach. The marina full of yatchs and the sea full of surfers.
La Jolla overnight before skirting San Diego down the ocean front on a cycle path and then a ferry across to a sandspit  and 10 miles to our accommodation in a Days Inn Motel. We drpped our bags and rode unloaded bags to the border. A complete anti climax - no cheering couds, no signs saying end of the road just a border guard telling us that we were not allowed to be where we were (we had passed a keep out or be shot sign) but he was happy for us to take some pics.
Back the 5 miles to the Motel and relax.
We had done it.The final odo reading was 1955. Gilly who had to return to UK for a bereivement missed out Oregon and cycled1516 miles and Di cycled over 1000 miles and won her golf tournament. A great trip and one of the classic cycle journeys of the world.

We are now in Tijuana relaxing win the US Governor Generals pad for a few days - fantastic - before Pat & Di fly back to Atlanta and Gilly & I fly to Las Vegas to loose what little money we have left

Gilly is recovering well from her injuries - bruising to her thigh and a shoulder problem I think she will be OK in a few days.
That's it from me - bye.

The end is in sight...

A quiet cycle route for the first 10 miles into Newport Beach and then it got busy. Pat sort out a bike shop in Newport as his front wheel squeels every so often - he found one and his front front wheel bearing is stuffed but should get him to the border. My rear pannier support has snapped and is now held together with Gorilla tape. Our bikes maybe falling apart but we are still in good heart. As I write this Pat is sorting out accommodation for our last couple of days as it is a holiday weekend. We arrived here in San Clemente and went to the San Clemente Inn, we negociated withe recepionist for a room only for the manager to tell her that the Inn was suddenly full - we think he was holding out for a 2 night booking - we were not happy cyclists - however we are in a nice place Hampton Inn - if you come this way give the unfriendly San Clemente Inn a wide berth.
Back to the journey, the road was busy and for long stretches we lost the cycle lane and the shoulder which put us very close to the traffic. We survived and in the end had a good day.
We met numerous folk all interested in our journey - a gentleman from Maidstone spoke to Gilly for some time , he was visiting family and was out for a short 100 mile ride. 10 years ago he and his wife had ridden around the world - it certainly puts us in the shadows.
Our odo is 1868.3

Gilly bites the dust ......

Back down to the beach for 9 miles along the beach bike path. Beach volley ball, runners of all shapes and sizes and cyclist - this a fantastic facility - I can imagine that it is crowded in the summer.
We are now continually stopped by folk wanting to talk, this does suprise me because there must be a few thousand Pacific Coast End to Enders each year - perhaps they are humouring us.
What I must reportis numerous overtakes - old and young have been left in our wake - fantastic as it has taken us 1700 miles to be able to do this!
We were looking for coffee and the bike path went through a car park with dark areas and unfortunately Gilly hit the kerb- bang , straight over onto her right side and took the fall on her right shoulder. No major damage but very bruised and cannot take weight on that side or change gear with her left thumb. She'll recover and there appears to be no damage to the bike.
We had a longer coffee break before heading east across LA, we found the LA River and followed a bike path to Long Beach and yet more bike paths on the beach.
We made good progress and we are now in Seal Beach (or there abouts) in a cheapo motel.
40 miles today The odo is 1830 with maybe 125 to go.
Weather remains good - dry, sunny and warm - just how I like it.

Back to the city - LA....

A great days biking - almost flat, beautifully warm and a gentle following breeze.
We started by circumnavigating Point Magu Naval Air Station  and we then hit the coast and followed it for 40 miles past Malibu and Santa Monica and into Venice. After a bit of scary traffice our route went on to a great cycle route first by the beach and then along it.
While searching for a motel we bumped into Miss Chicargo - what a coincident. She had just seen the Scots lad Sandy offf at LAX and was going to stay with a friend - it's a small world.Throuhh LA tomorrow and just 150 ish to go.
Odo 1789.4

To Camp or not to Camp ........

Yesterday all our camping stuff was packed into a couple of boxes at the UPS Store and despatched to Atlanta much to Di's relief. She is not  outdoors girl and does not embrace the freshness and freedom of sleeping under a towering redwood or as at Refugio Beach State Park - listening to the trains as they passed every hour or the trucks as the use their compression brakes.
We have been advised that the Hiker/Biker State Park campsites have been invaded by hobo's - all coming south for the winter. We have had a good run and it would be a shame to spoil it at the end - Motels for the last 4 or 5 days - only about 200 miles ish to go.
We left Matt & Bria's with warnings of gangs near Guadaloupe - we decided to circle the wagons to get through - Pat at the front, the ladies in the middle and me protecti g our rear. We thought we would get through with noone noticing but as we were wearing bright yellow  in the end we thought someone would notice. We notice the lookout on the edge of town make a call to Mr Big and he then overtpok us to track our progress. I guess we looked too strong and we got through withput incident in the end.
Monday saw us tackling our last big hills - 1 very steep to about 900 ft and the last along steady climb also of about 900 ft. The first was up "Harris Grade Hill" To Longpoc - we had just started when a pick-up screeched to a halt coming in the opposite direction and out jumped an off duty fire fighter who said we should not cycle up the hill and the lady in front (that was Gilly) was unlikely to make it up. What was all the fuss? Steep, windy with no shoulder and irrisposible drivers. We shpuld turn round. Just how he thpught we would get over the hills I have no idea the other route was a 30 mile detpur and not reccommended in our cycling guide. He offered to turn round and put our bikes on his pick-up which politely declind and then a delecate vpice from behind me saod 'you can give me a lift' and before he could reply Di tossed her bike in the back and was sitting in the passengers seat. Off she went N
as Pat said to me once the car had gone "I haven't cycled 1600 miles to sit in the back of a fxxxing pick-up!".I agreed and off we plodded. In the meantime Gilly was pedalli g upwards and the only time she was nearly knocked off was when the Fireman slowed next to her that aDi could speak to her. He was a concerned citesen for which we thank him.
It was a long day and we ended up camping - the site was regularly payrolled by the State Police which reinforced our view to use Motels from now on.

It is flat, flat
, flat and this morning had a great ride by the ocean through Ventura. We could only another 10 miles as we have our last stretch off wilderness coast - about 40 miles  with no Ccommodation. Tomorrow it is Malabu and beyond nd then LA to get througj.

Some flat ground at last .....

Some flat ground at last. What a pleasure to to cruise off Big Sur, thro' San Simeon around Morro Bay and into San lLuis Obispo.
We went to Hearst Castle while in San Simeon - the ranch on a hill built by Randolf Hearst , the Grandfather of Patty Hearst who was kidnapped by a terrorist group and became one of them and was eventually caught and convicted. She would be about 60 now.
Speaking from the point of view of someone who has little interest in the goings on and lifestyle og the rich and famous, this held only limited interest to me. A rich mans dream which took 28 years to build and where he entertained young movie stars, politicians and bosses of industry. At least he used his own money although it has been given to the State of California who now maintain it. I believe Gilly and the others found it more interesting  but they too were bemused by the whole thing.
On to Morro Bay - fantastic little place and with a following wind we made good pro50 mls of flat followed by 2 big hills to get us back to the coast. Our host Matt has warned us to be careful where we stop tonight as there is a gang culture just sputh of here.
Weather remains good.

gress.
We are now in a shed at the bottom of Matt & Bria's garden - she is the granddaughter of Bud & Gurt who we met in Monterey and are friends of Pat & Di. Their shed sleeps us all - 2 downstaors and 2 upstairs with a walk to the garage for those who need to get up in the night!
The hospitality yet again has been fantastic - Bbq chicken etc.and lots of wine.
Our Odo is 1550 .We have our last big hills over the next few days -

Big Sur ........

The Big Sur is about 90 mls of rugged coastline with very few services. There are hills of 1000ft and more with drops down to the ocean of sheercliffs with no fences and very narrow shoulders for cyclists. The views are superb. We camped a couple of nights ago at the foot of Big Sur mountain in a redwood forest.What magnificent trees. The ride from Carmel was uneventful but it was great to be on the move.
Big Sur day dawned bright - we immediately climbed 1000 ft but the grade was just cyclable and almost within the hour we were relaxing onthe sumit. Down we plumited to a welcome coffee with views right down the coast. It was a hard day to Kirk Creek Camp - a State Forestry Site with no water and a long drop but right by the ocean where we watch the sun go down while cooking pasta in our jetboils. A bit silly realy as we could not wash them out so could not have a brew. I dropped half our pasta on the grass when draining and the raccoons had a feast overnight. We met a couple plus a single of about 30 who were realy loaded carrying various  musical instruments - they had started in the Yukon  and were going to Tiera del Fuago and then up to Bunos Aries. Sold most of their stuff, rented their house for a year and ahalf on the road.
Everyone we have met on this leg have been great - seeing us churn up the hills seems to make them talk to us when we stop - they all seem tothink 4 old crocks sweating and puffing are some sort of inspiration. Well on a couple of the hills I could hve done with a tow. The traffic has been OK with everyone giving us plenty of room.
We are now in Sam Simeon in a motel and off to see Hearst Castle tomorrow morning before continuing south. I am pleased to say there has been lots of PMA floating around and we are making good progress.
Odo 1527.5mls

Pfaffing in Carmel.........

Yep we are still here. Our journey over Big Sur  and the wild coast  has been delayed by a day.
We briefed last night abput the next 90 miles which will take about 3 days. Di is nervous about cycling on roads without a bike lane or wide shoulder was apprehensive about the route. She had picked up information about busses to traverse the area in Monterey and spent much of last evening surfing the net reading blogs of folk who have cycled the route. I also looked at the blogs and some were skeptical about the shoulder and the safety of the route. However come morning there we were eager to start on a morning that promised rain. Off we went onto Highway one and down a big hill with a narrow shoulder.It started raining as we arrived at Safeway to pick up supplies. I looked after the bikes and after the shopping Pat mentioned that Di now wanted to hire a car.
No car hire in Carmel.
We have heard from Marlene & Jim and they have called it a day after 1500mls and returned to Canada. Di called Marlene to ask about the route. Marlene reassured Di that there was a shoulder most of the way. Having made the decision to stay in Carmel to sort out a car from Monterey we rebooked our rooms in the Comfort Inn - the forecaste for tomorrow is no rain. Di then decided to that she would cycle with us unless it was raining. So here we are pfaffing in Carmel !!
Gilly and I are alittle concerned that the trip is stalling a bit  but we still have about 5 days spare before we need to call it a day as we have flights to Las Vegas booked on 16th.
Lets hope for less pfaffing and more PMA to get us to the Mexican border.
What about Carmel I here you say - twee, full of arty farty shops for RAFA's to spend there money in and golf courses at 600 bucks a round - I guess you can tell my kind of place !!
P.S. When in Norway Pat and I were speaking to some locals about the seaplanes we saw near the islands as we got close to Oslo - he said they belonged to RAFO's - Rich Arsoles From Oslo - hence I use RAFA'swhen refering to Carmel.

Lucky to be alive.......

Underway again after a fantastic stay with Nigel & Elen. San Fran and Yosemite are now behind us. However we were in a Motel just outside the National Park - I believe it was called the Yosemite Motel. All was good until the meal - we were seated, our orders taken - the meal included soup and salad so off we go for soup - it was cold so the cooks helper said just 5 mins and it will be sorted. We got our salad and waited for the word. Another 10 mins we were told so we ate our salad. We wated and after another 10 mins we were told it was ready and this coinsided with the arrival of our main meal. Pat said to the serving lady that this was unacceptable and she replyed that there was no problem as the soup was now available. Pat ask what she was going to do about it and she said nothing as soup was now available. Customer service zero. We spoke to our waitress and eventually got a 20% discount.
So off we set on our last leg. We had gone but 15 miles and I was belting down a big hill - I think I was doing 34.9 mph when I had a rear wheel blowout - very exciting as I had cars overtaking at 60 mph and a very narrow shoulder. I managed to come to a halt and found the rim had split and was at right angles to the rest of the wheel. I guess I must have hit a stone.  We call  Jane who we were going to stay with the following night and she drpped everything and came to my rescue. She took me to Santa Cruz - new wheel and then returned me to camp with the rest of the gang.
Jane and Neville live on top of a hill and so when we arrived in Santa Cruz Jane and her friend Laurie picked us up in their big American cars and took us 10 miles inland and 1000ft up to Janes  house. A great view to the Monterey Peninsular over the hills. Great hospitality but we could not do the offered single malt justice as we were pedalling the next day.
We are now in Carmel in a Comfort Inn. The next 80 miles look remote and hilly. But it is meant to be a stunning ride.- the odo is 1428 mls and all's well.

Stuff and things.......

We have heard from Jim & Marlene and they are well and making good progress - maybe 150 or so miles ahead of us. I was musing while cycling and wondered what they thought when we met up.
Hi I am Sandy and I have dicky ticker so cannot go up hills very fast or in fact go anywhere fast.
Hi I am Pat and I have new knees, one of which won't bend too well and hampers my cycling
Hi I am Michael and I suffer from a hand problem so in the cold I cannot change gear or use my brakes.
Hi I am Di and I just do not want to be here.
Hi I am Gilly and I guess I just put up with these old  crocks.I just thought it interesting to look at it from there point of view.
From early in my life I lived by 3 very simple rules:
1. Never trust a man who does the top button of his shirt up without wearing a tie.

2. Never trust a man who tucks his vest (underdshirt in Yankee speak) into his underpants.
3. Never trust a man who wears socks with sandals.
I regret to say that when camping in Albion it was bitterly cold with a strong east wind. I resisted until I got frost bite in my toes but then had to put my sealskin socks on with my sandals. I then cycled about 10 miles with them on! Just think of my shame.
We have done a bit of tourosm - it amazing what they stick out of wondows around here.
Yosemite was spectacular - there were some climbers - just specks on the 3000ft rock face.
Our odo is 1308 mls. We have about 500 plus miles to go which sho

uld take us 16 days or so. Looking forward to getting on the road again tomorrow.

Resting in San Francisco ......

We are safely ensconced in Elen & Nigels house high up over Half Moon Bay. A fantastic oasis in which to mend our bikes, bodies and minds.
We cycled from Tomales (where's that you may ask)to Cortes Madera about 10 mls north of Golden Gate Bridge.It was a good day with continual , energy sapping up and down terrain giving way to flatter and more built up roads. We found a Budget Motel - boy was it budget! In our room the wall boiler had burnt out  we had two tv,s I guess just to fill the space, peeling pai t and just outside our room was a van withgraffitti all over it. But sheets were clean - I thinl!
We have had yest more punctures pn Pats bike  but it did get us here. Di sent his spare wheel (bought in Norway on our last trip when his previous Mavic wheel broke) to Half Moon  Bay and it is now on his bike. Gilly has a complete new rear mech to replace the one s

he had (jockey wheel fell off). I digress - we had an early start from Cortes Madera and immediately had a 500 ft hill to get over - quite a shock as it was not mentioned in the guide! We then had a climb of about 200 ft up to the Golden Gate Bridge. We were following the bike guide when a Lady said if I were you I would not go this way.After much discussion when she thought us much too thick to follow her directio s  - she said I will show you. Pow - she was off, up the hill, on her unloaded road bike  with Pat and Gilly wallowing in her wake - I was left to follow the hot rubber marks on the road.Kind lady.
The Bridge was shrouded in fog - the cold California Current starts in the arctic and sweeps down the west coast of the States, the warm interior drags air in and across the currant cooling the air causing fog.  We cycled through this, the air was very cold and we saw very little. Once across we had 3 more very chalenging hills before Half Moon Bay plus we had got the milage wrong when planning the day - we had an extra 10 mls we had not bargained for. All in all a hard day.
We met our hosts in a cafe by the harbpur and they gave us a lift to their abode. Their road is steep man  a couple of miles pushing bikes would not hVe been welcome.
Di was also there to meet us flush with success from her golf. We are now 4

We have done some tourism in SF a d we are off to Yosemite today.