Morning and I’m snacking on the Ohio people’s almonds for breakfast. I had half a bagel (dropped the other half on the ground, whoops) and skipped the oatmeal… along with the lack of shower I was out of camp by 9:15am. (The camp also had signs all over the place saying the faucet water was not potable, though everyone including the campground host was saying it was fine to drink… I think I’ll pass on that one.) The two big climbs of the day were within the first 20 miles of riding today; I just had to get through that and it would be smooth sailing all the way to wherever I was going.

That was the thing though… I wasn’t sure when I left where I would be heading to. I’d planned previously to stop in Morro Bay for Steve to pick me up and give me a lift to his place in Atascadero. I’d be dropped off later in San Luis Obispo. As I rode though I thought about it and realized I would end up regretting not riding those 12 miles or whatever it was between Morro Bay and SLO. It would make for a long day, but if my legs were up for it, I was going to push for SLO.

But back to the morning. I was riding smooth over the initial hills and was at the first steep climb in pretty short order, about 900 feet of elevation gain. The second was maybe 600 feet but was right after the first. I kept my pace under control and made my progress up the hills, and was through the tough part of the day in under 2 hours.

turkey vultures chilling out on a cliff

Just as I was making it over the crest of the second hill and beginning my descent downward, I noticed the Ohio people pulled over on the side of the road. The guy pumped his fists in the air and shouted out “YOU CAN DO IT!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!” I was laughing all the way down… until I was passed by a couple of sportscars I didn’t recognize initially as they were covered up in protective sheets. They were exploiting the curves of the road, zooming along aggressively… not just two, but another, and another… there were at least seven of them that zoomed by, all Vipers. They were numbered on the backs; I assumed it was some sort of dealer transfer or bulk purchase or something. Must be fun delivering them though.

I stopped in Ragged Point for lunch, a bleu burger and an It’s It bar for dessert (Ryan from the Seattle Three had mentioned it, and I was able to snag one as I was moving out of the Bay area’s sphere of influence). Some time to digest and I was on my way again.

The road was mostly flat or rolling hills from this point forward and I was cruising. I reached the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse just as my odometer hit the 1000 mile mark. I stopped for a brief celebration, which consisted of some picture taking and stuffing my mouth full of Sugar Babies.

hooray for big round numbers!

I stopped for a break in Cayucus. They had a candy store; I ate gelato, an almond turtle, a white chocolate truffle, and a box of chewy Lemonhead and Friends. Yes, I do love this metabolism I’ve worked up. Onward to San Luis Obispo.

are these sea lions or seals? they are bigger than what I’d seen before.

I made it to SLO at 5pm on the dot and rendezvoused with Mr. Evans, who was shocked at the weight of my bike as he mounted it on the car rack (and that was after I took off the bags). We headed to Atascadero where he treated me to a salmon dinner, which was made more exciting by the liberal usage of flames throughout the preparation process.

We closed out the evening with a soak in the hot tub under the stars. Tomorrow I’d be taking the day off, my first of the trip… some time for those legs to rest before the final five days through southern California and into San Diego.

Most Exciting Moment
Outside of San Luis Obispo there was a bicycle sign that said “WATCH FOR SHOULDER CRACKS”. I thought to myself “gee, isn’t that nice they have signage like that for bikes” while the persnickety part of my brain simultaneously thought “my shoulders are perfectly fine!” and then the instinct part of my brain went WAAAAAH! as I was suddenly barreling down a hill at 37mph, dodging cracks in the pavement to and fro. The car traffic was up to 65mph at this point, and also had filled-in lines between the concrete they were driving on, so the cars made the thump-thump-thump sound like they do when they are driving over the shoulder divots to run you over. In short, I was flying down a hill filled with cracks while cars were zooming by sounding like they were about to kill me each time they passed. Whee!

Roadkill Report

• a snake
• a deer (this time the front portion)
• a mouse
• a pair of aviator sunglasses with one lens missing
• a piñata, viciously beaten
• a gopher
• a creature resembling a ferret, but most likely a rat or gopher
• a large dragonfly or small hummingbird