Huntington Beach

Today I survived LA. It actually wasn't all that bad, lots of traffic and endless (50 miles) of urban sprawl, yet I managed to make it in good time. The last few days have been tiring, I've biked 80, 85 and 75 miles for the last 3 days to get to Huntington Beach before my friend Leah leaves town. Now I have a warm place to spend the night and shower to finish the last leg of the trip. I could potentially be down in San Diego in 2 days, but I'm going to take it a little slower than that to give myself a break and see some of the southern California.

Alone

So, with another change in the trip, Ryan and Erica decided not to continue south with me to San Diego. The trip was getting too expensive and long, so they are back tracking to Santa Cruz to stay with Erica's parents. At this point, I am continuing south to the Mexican Boarder at a faster pace. Being alone on the road has its pros and cons. It's much faster because I don't have to stop as much, but it can also make for long days on empy roads. Luckily there are about 15 other people heading south in various places that I've been able to camp with. It's a small comunity of adventurers on the coast. I can't imagine what it's like in the summer. It would almost feel crowded. Tonight I am going to be staying south of Ventura and then hit the big city of LA tomorrow morning to stay in Huntington Beach that evening. I have some long days but the road is flat down here on the beach. I hope the fog lifts soon; the sun north was amazing warm.

San Francisco

At long last we made it to San Francisco. We have been pushing hard to get here and enjoy the city with clean clothes and showers. We're staying at a friend's apartment which is a welcome change from tents and picnic tables. The biggest news is that just after we crossed the California boarder, two of our group members decided that they were still not getting better and that they were going to go home. So now, we are just a group of three and are still planning on going to the Mexican boarder. We have been averaging about 50 miles a day and will try to make it there by the end of the month. The weather has been fabulous with lots of sun, although it's been foggy in the mornings here around the San Fran Bay area. A few days ago we ran into an interesting couple riding recumbent tricycles who are cycling from Prudhoe Bay Alaska. You can check out their blog at: where2pedalto.com. There is also a picture of me in the journal section. It's fun to meet other cyclists along the way. We have seen about 12 other cyclists racing south to escape the weather up north. Now we are stocking up at the San Fran coop for some good food for the ride south. We are about 2 days from Santa Cruz where we will be staying for a few days with Erica's parents before we make the final push to San Diego. Until Santa Cruz, adios.

sickness

So we made it through a big wind and rain storm on the sand dunes of Oregon. We had 60 mile and hour winds off the ocean and some sickness as well, so our pace got slowed down significantly. It's now almost the end of October and we're stuck in Brookings Oregon with three people sick in bed. I was laid up yesterday and two others today. After 36 hours of sleep and some easy food everything is back to normal. Hopefully it was just something we ate or a quick flu. Luckily, Brookings is on a beautiful beach and the weather is warm and sunny. Tomorrow we hope to finally cross the boarder into California and follow this weather south. The ocean is so beautiful every day with the waves crashing on the beach and rocky shore. We are looking forward to Eureka, California in a few days to add another brewery (Lost Coast Brews) to our list of coastal stops on our trip. Anyway, time to go do some groceries in town and back to the beach. The rough life of a cycle tourist.

Lincoln City Oregon

So this is my blog that I would be updating more often if there were more internet places on the west coast. We made it across the Astoria bridge into Oregon a few days ago. All of my group was glad to put Washington behind us and turn our attention south. We have been riding US 101 along the Oregon Coast. The weather and sights have been incredible. We spent an extra day at a Osweld West St Park just so we could soak up some rays on the sunny beach. It was in the 60's and not a cloud in the sky. Oh how the miles fly by. We are in Lincoln City, Oregon for an early night with interet and laundry. We have been warned that there will be weather on the way so we are anxious to quickly get south. Other than the beautiful scenery, the wonders of being on a bike every day, the trip has been incredible. We have been very lucky and haven't had any major mechanical problems other than a few flat tires. Until the next larger town with WiFi goodbye.