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Saturday 07/12/08 - Half Moon Bay State Beach to Sunset State Beach

I was up and moving around at 7:00 am. A good start after sleeping in a tent. It was heavy overcast so no sun this morning. Everything was dry allowing us to put things away without have to wait to dry them out. We got breakfast going, ate, changed into the clothes for the day, packed up, and headed out on the road by 8:20 am, not bad.

The map shows that there isn't much on the road as far as services, it was very correct. The 1st 10 miles gave us a warm up hill as we climbed to 500 feet and then flew down the other side. I was amazed at how wide the shoulders were. This isn't the Highway 1 I was used to. Soon we began seeing more and more cyclists on the road enjoying their Saturday ride. At mile 20 we stopped at Pigeon Point Lighthouse to enjoy a break.

Mile 30 found is at Nuevo State Reserve. They allowed us in without having to pay a day use fee. We were able to use the restrooms and fill up on water. The sun was finally out and it felt good to sit and warm up a bit in the sun. After 20 minutes or so it was time to get back on the road, don't want to sit too long.

Mile 37 found is in Davenport and it was right on time for lunch because we were hungry. As you come into town you'll find 3 stores on the other side of the street; a little deli grocery store, a Mexican restaurant, and a bakery, bar, and grill. We chose the last one. Everyone was there, motorcyclists, tourists, and lots of cyclists. It wasn't cheap either, $10 for a sandwich and soda, but it was good. We sat there enjoying the food and drink, but by 1:30 pm we were back on the road. From this point on it was fairly flat.

As we came into Santa Cruz County there was a large section of cliffs to the left, they had this large barrier setup to catch falling rocks. You could hear small pebbles and other debris falling down as we cycled along. As we climbed up and over another small hill Steve hit a patch of sand on the side of the road and fell down. I was down at the bottom waiting for him to catch up. I didn't see him go down so I was wondering what was taking so long. It wasn't until he finally caught up that he told me. It had bent his rear derailleur pretty good. (This would be the start of a number of problems along the trip.) He had scrapped up his shin pretty good but other than that was okay.

Soon we came into Santa Cruz and quickly got confused by the route that we were supposed to take. As we stood there looking at the map another cyclist asked us if we needed help getting through town. He offered to get us to the other side just follow along. So we followed along. Before long we had managed to get to the other side of town where Frederick and Soquel Street start. That is where we needed to be, so much easier than reading the map.

We stopped at an AM/PM for a bit to fuel up on drinks and take a break. Not too much more after this we'll be at camp. The weather had warmed up a bit and we had shed the arm/leg warmers long ago. We followed the road through Soquel and Aptos, much of it parallel to Highway 1, a busier road than before. After we crossed Highway 1 we had a few hills to climb and then we had a few pieces to fly down.  I almost lost it as we came around a fast corner, there was a bump you couldn't see and I almost lost my balance.  Steve came around the same corner and almost lost it as well.  

As we came up and around just before our turnoff to Sunset Beach we were met with an aroma of Strawberries, fresh Strawberries, it was the best smell ever on a bike. You can't get that in a car. I just took in a few deep breathes and enjoyed, man that's good. Overall the riding was great today along Highway 1. I was amazed how many cyclists were out for a Saturday ride. The shoulder was the best all along the way.

We made our way down Sunset Beach Road and checked in at camp. That's when I remember the two big hills you climb to get to the campground. Once past those we arrived at the hiker/biker site for the weekend. Tomorrow would be a rest day for us.

The restrooms and campground aren't as nice as Half Moon Bay. The big problem though was the adjacent farm. The field was in the process of being tilled. A large tractor was working it until 8:00 pm that night. More on that later.

After getting camp setup Connie arrived with dinner for the night, Little Caesars Pizza, it didn't last long, we were hungry. After dinner we headed down to the beach and spent the next hour doing some boogie boarding. After that we went back and changed and ran into Watsonville to get some food for the next couple of days.

After a bit Connie headed out and we finished up writing and such. The tractor finally went to bed so hopefully we'd get a good night sleep.

 

Pictures for the Day
Heading out of Half Moon Bay.	Notice the nice wide...	...shoulders we have most of the way....	...to Santa Cruz.	Catching a view of Steve climbing the hill.
The climbs weren't so bad...	...because the views were so nice.	More of Highway 1.	Pigeon Point Lighthouse up ahead.	The Coastal view at Pigeon Point.
Taking a nice break near the lighthouse.	Steve road down to get a close up view of Pigeon Point Lighthouse.	The fog won't last much longer and then the sun will be out.	Santa Cruz county line and the cliffs to the left raining down on the road.	This is the infamous hill that Steve took a fall on.  Up near the top the sand comes out to the highway a bit.
Still plenty of shoulder on Highway 1.	Welcome to Santa Cruz.	Following our friendly guide through Santa Cruz.	Heading along Soquel Road.	Getting through Aptos...
...and then through Soquel.	You can't enjoy this in the car! The smell of red ripe strawberries...	Our hiker/biker site for the next two nights.	Steve showing his war wounds for the day.	We weren't the only ones enjoying the beach late in the day.
Devin riding a wave in.	Connie catching the surf as well.	Enjoying another beach sunset.

 

Video Clip
	Connie on the wave: When we got to Santa Cruz we were able to get in a few waves.  Connie is seen here riding it in to the shore.
	Devin on the wave: They weren't big but it was still fun.
	Devin on the wave: One more short clip of Devin riding the wave in to the shore.

 

Daily Stats
Rider: Devin Holmes Time Left: 8:20 am Time Arrived: 4:15 pm Max mph: 36.5 Avg mph: 11.6 Distance:  68.31 Actual Time Riding: 5:53:02	Camp Fee: $5.00 Lunch: $10.00 Groceries: $34.00 Shower $0.50 Laundry: $0 Total Cost for today: $49.50

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