January 29, 2012
California: This really is not Kansas anymore
When we (or anyone else) travels we notice the changes in landforms, plants, people, economy. culture. On a bike these changes can be very gradual, though sometimes not. In last year's blog I wrote about our "spaceship bikes", noting how often they dropped us in a day or two into some dramatically changed environment.
With our slow but van assisted transit down the coast, these sudden changes are once again apparent. Crossing from Oregon, the Redwoods suddenly appeared. Now approaching and passing San Francisco, first there were Eucalyptus type trees:
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Next came lots of "tropical" looking evergreen varieties, and finally, just south of San Francisco - the beach with Ice Plants and flowers. Some palm trees are even now on view.
Culturally, the cheerleaders and sports broadcasts in McDonalds are now joined by "Pump Top" TV at the gas station. Surfers in bare feet stroll across Highway 1. We are a long way from our cold misty Island!
Scanning the Cycling the Pacific Coast book, we have cherry picked some nice rides. Tomorrow we will be along the Half Moon Bay to New Brighton State Beach (Santa Cruz)section, and the next day, New Brighton to Vets Memorial Park (Monterey). We chose these for road with shoulder or at least low traffic, and not so many hills. But the real WOW factor is the ocean, the shore line, the plants. There are many gorgeous places to cycle in the world, and many bad spots. This is most definitely way up there in the first group!
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