Mile after mile

Last year October I finished cycling from Seatlle to San Francisco. It was my 1st solo tour in USA. I was very fortunate that my friend Behrooz from Seattle had invited me to ride with him for 3 days after which I would continue on my own. This was so wonderful as it helped me over my fear of cycling solo. Behrooz got me started. I felt confident, strong and certain that I could do this trip! This was in 2022.

However, in September 2021, Behrooz, Anne and myself had planned to bike from San Jose to San Diego. But mother nature had other ideas. Fires and mudslides prevented us to cycle passed Santa Maria and we had to turn around. A huge disappointment. 

Fast forward to September 2021. 2nd attempt to finish the Pacific Coast Route. I made it as far as San Francisco. The motor of my bike had a problem: it would intermittendly shut down. She needed a good tune up. 2 weeks later, the bike supposedly was fixed and ready to go. Unfortunately, too late for me to continue. Maybe next Springtime?

Hence the huge excitement when Vicki invited me to cycle the Southern Tier (ST) with her while suggesting to start in San Francisco rather than in San Diego. Thus we will start where I finished last year which is at The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Our plan is to bike from San Francisco to San Diego then turn East to Saint Augustine, a total of 3800 miles or about 6100 km. Quite an ambiguous adventure for sure. However, we are well into the planning stages. We have had, and continue to have, calls and messages back and forth to make sure that we are on the same page. Vicki and I met via FB when Vicki invited me to cycle the ST with her. Opportunities like these are like gifts to me. I embrace them, love them, and run with them.

We start our adventure on March 4th when we cycle from Rachel's home to the Half Moon Bay camping. This camping is right on the ocean. From there it will take about 11 days to get to San Diego riding mainly beside the Pacific Ocean. Initially, it would have taken longer but there remains a huge mudslide near Big Sur. 

In January of this year California experienced relentless storms from a series of atmospheric rivers saturating the steep mountains surrounding Big Sur causing huge mudslides and much destruction. It will take months before this damage will be repaired.

This forces us to take the train from Salinas to San Luis Obispo California, a 3.5 hour ride shortening the bike ride by about 3 days.

Here are the maps of the Pacific Coast Route and the Southern Tier Route

3800 miles one stroke at a time. Intense anticipation, intense planning, and intense joy.