What a difference a day makes! Blue skies and sun after a fresh start to the morning, great views, wide shoulder, very few lorries or RVs, smooth road surface and, to top it all, a strong tail wind! This is California at last! This is what I was expecting - it's only taken 1670 miles of cycling, 52 days of inclement weather, ? number of (small - Rob's editorial insertion) contretemps and loads of dosh but I think we've finally got it!
Despite the racoon attack on my bar bag during the night (they'd actually dragged it out from under the fly sheet whilst we were sleeping!), we set off all intact and in good spirits.
61 miles seemed relatively easy, punctuated by regular views of rows and rows of pumpkins as it's the annual pumpkin festival here this weekend. We arrived in Santa Cruz after 52 miles of easy navigation but the Adventure Cycling maps and our book detailing the route for cycling the Pacific Coast diverged significantly at this stage of the day. So, having cycled 52 miles in 4.5 hours, the final 10 miles took us 2 hours but, personally, I enjoyed the diversion from US1.
We arrived at New Brighton State Beach campsite just after 5pm, pitched our tent in the hiker/biker section (a bargain $5 each as opposed to the extortionate $7 each last night!) and feasted on boiled pasta mixed with lentil soup - yum! Shortly after we arrived, Jackie from Toronto, a girl we have met several times on different camp sites turned up and we shared our travel experiences and routes since we last saw her - good camaraderie with people who really have nothing in common other than cycling the Pacific Coast at the same time.
Dark by 7pm so early to bed but you really do feel physically tired on a long cycling holiday. And it's great to fall asleep to the sound of waves breaking on the beach only a few metres away.
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