End of the line: La fin

The answer to the detour or not to detour question is... 🥁 🥁 🥁

 

 🚊

 

After having such an easy time on the coast compared to the rural stretches of Wyoming et al, I couldn't bring myself to face the harsh weather and the corresponding "water logistics" of needing to worry about how much water to carry with respect to the heat and distance between towns. To the station!

 

I found myself on the Salinas Amtrak platform the next morning but still somewhat doubting my decision

I was finally committed to the train when an Amtrak employee showed up on the empty platform with a tag for my bike

I had to load it into the baggage car, which cruelly has its doors on the upper deck

It was a little thrilling to be on a train after so long! So smooth and fast. This is the observation car

The train line goes through the Salinas valley so I could see what I was missing by not riding the detour. I ended up being very glad to be in air conditioning instead of outside in the 90F sun

Near San Luis Obispo the track does a crazy tight circle to drop elevation in a confined area

San Luis Obispo was idyllic compared to almost every other place I've seen on this trip. Great temperature, shady downtown and surrounded by rolling golden hills. It's one of the few places I could see myself wanting to stop for a while. I stayed with a Cal Poly chemistry professor, his nuclear powerplant engineer wife and their two crazy 4 and 6 year old sons! The kids were super excited to have me stay and wanted to show me all their toys. A unique and memorable experience on the trip

I found a viewing area at the regional airport, with a button to listen to the radio live!!

Riding out of town the next day through backroads in wine country. Definitely has similarities with the scenery I saw in France last year

Rolling through dusty Guadalupe. I had a taste of the type of riding I would have experienced on that Salinas Valley detour — flat and lots of fields with workers bent over rows of plants in the heat. Some fields had strong smells, like strawberry. On the shoulder I saw some lost broccoli — very different from the construction nails in Oregon and ammo in Idaho!

It was a very Hispanic town, and I got a nice burrito and imported juice in a small market

I passed Vandenberg Space Force Base and refilled water in the visitor's center outside the entrance. I felt like I could have snuck in as a pilot with my new sunglasses (see end of the post)

The Gaviota State Park campground has a railway bridge for the coastal Amtrak track. I had seen those trains running while I was riding earlier in the day. The campground host kindly gave me some shower tokens for free, but I found out the hard way some of the showers were broken after they swallowed up all my tokens 😔 I ended up having to "shower" with baby wipes and water I could bring into the stall with my bottles

The penultimate day's riding had more big shoulder, two lane and heavy traffic roads that's been disappointingly common on the coast

The bike route broke off from the main roads in Santa Barbara and it finally felt like I had arrived in Southern California!

Highways 101 and 1 split and I had a glorious tailwind with much less traffic most of the way to Oxnard, where I stayed the night with Todd, who I met on the TransAm in Wyoming! He got home from visiting his parents in Calgary, Canada THE SAME DAY I was passing through

SoCal traffic experience on 101

The last day and my final destination: Santa Monica

I feel the need... the need for speed! Which is faster? (Hint: only one can move 😉) Taken in Missile Park

The dreaded Malibu section. Multiple abnormally narrow lanes of heavy traffic, irregular shoulders with parked cars and trash cans — I eventually stuck myself in the middle of the outside lane and let the drivers deal with getting around me. With that and the overcast sky, I can NOT agree with the "21 miles of scenic beauty" claim from the sign. It was a once in a lifetime experience (meaning I'll never do it again)

But the Santa Monica beach bike path then materialized and I reached my final destination!!!

The famous pier and the unofficial finish line of the trip! Also featured are my new sunglasses

My second Jack in the Box drive through, for a celebratory milkshake this time

Sip sip hooray indeed!

 

Since I finished I've been staying with my aunt in nearby Brentwood and I'll be heading back up to the Bay Area soon. So far I've been able to avoid the post-tour blues — I think the anticipation of starting a new life is keeping me occupied — but only once you stop do you realize the incredible freedom of being on the road with a bicycle. It's my favorite part of the experience — only worrying about water, food and a place to pitch a tent.

I've got some ideas about future trips, including big changes to my setup and new terrain! But for now I'll be putting my tent and sleeping pad away and finishing the same place I start each ride.

Thanks for following along with my adventure! I'm glad to have been able to share it with you.