Just got back from a Pacific Coast tour, Klamath Falls to Los Altos. My friend and I had planned to do the Lost Coast, the dirt part of the northern California Coast from Honeydew south to Usal Road. Sadly, we had a lot of rain, and we decided that the Lost Coast, which would have been a challenge for us in dry weather, would be too difficult in the wet with our smooth tires, so we had to go around it on the often unpleasant section of Highway 1 from Scotia to Leggett.
But we got through the unpleasant section, and made it further south. The last THREE times I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, I vowed I'd crossed for the last time-- it's awful. So this time we routed around it. From Point Reyes, we crossed over to China Camp, and camped there. On a Monday night in late September, or was it early October, the campground at China Camp is gloriously empty. We expected China Camp to Half Moon Bay would be a long day, and even though I live nearby, we'd be riding city streets unfamiliar to me, with a lot of navigation all morning, so we got an early start, leaving just at sunup. As we circled along the quiet morning shoreline of San Pablo Bay, we saw joggers, some turkeys looking for breakfast, but no cars. As we got to San Rafael, more and more commute traffic showed up, but we managed to get through it and, with some help from a kind truck passenger on his way to a construction job, we found the new bike path to the Larkspur ferry. By luck, we arrived just in time to get our tickets and get on the ferry. Oh, and guys-- if you see a 57-year-old woman struggling to carry a loaded touring bike up a steep flight of stairs, it is OK to offer to give a hand. My friend did get some help, from a nice young woman, but the hordes of young men remained glued to their smartphones. One of the best things about the Larkspur ferry is that it takes you to the San Francisco Ferry Building, foodie heaven, a place that overwhelms me with deliciousness. After a stop at Peets Coffee, and a visit to the Cowgirl Cantina for sandwiches for later (Ham and Tam, yum) we crossed San Francisco. The City by the Bay was showing itself off for us, as we rode through Chinatown and past colorful Victorian rowhouses in brilliant sunshine. The route from Lake Merced to Pacifica is tedious, but then we got to the excitement of the day: Planet of the Apes, otherwise known as Old San Pedro Mountain Road, a Manny favorite. Manny showed us a photo essay of the misery of riding Planet of the Apes in the dark and the rain, but we were riding in sunshine. Planet of the Apes the old Highway 1, before they built the road across Devils Slide, that famous road that kept sliding into the ocean every three or four years. My friend and I had done a similar tour a few years ago, and ridden Devils Slide at rush hour. Both of us are very experienced tourists, and he is also a randonneur who has ridden PBP twice, so we're not novices, but we literally thought we were going to die. Never again. Now there is a tunnel through Devils Slide, with a bike lane, so it's reportedly much less dangerous, but nevertheless we were excited at routing around it. Planet of the Apes is AWESOME. It was a road, but it's now a trail, with remnants of asphalt, that winds up and around chaparral-covered hills. In the early afternoon, with plenty of time to enjoy the ride, we picked our way through the potholes, the dirt, and the washouts. Every time we thought we'd reach the top, we discovered we had to climb the next ridge. But eventually it was down, down, down to the ocean. Somehow we had still air on Planet of the Apes but when we got back to Highway 1 a stiff tailwind was blowing, something we had been sorely missing for the previous days of the tour. We barely had to pedal to get to our campsite at Half Moon Bay. Gorgeous day, wonderful trip. My Atlantis performed flawlessly as usual. P.S. China Camp will make a great Jamboree location. -- -- Anne Paulson It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
