January 30, 2012
Pigeon Point and South: Dora's Dilemma
Dora the Explorer is a simple, formulaic cartoon much beloved by Avi and Violet (and Noam). At the end of each adventure, Dora asks the "audience" what they liked best. She pauses, and then agrees that she liked that also. The dilemma is that it seems you can only name one thing. On the other hand, I guess you can "like" a whole list of stuff, if you talk fast. Dodie played Dora and asked about our cycle today, South from Pigeon Point lighthouse (still just 80 km along the coast from San Francisco). I chose the colors and the landscape, so subtle in themselves and so different from home. Dodie chose the smooth way her bike was working, and what fun it is to ride. That was going to be my second choice.
Overall though, we are still comparing this area with the best rides we know. We are thrilled to have found it, really pleased with the Spring and Kirkendall guide book, and already planning to come back and ride the coast end to end.
Today not long after we set off we came across another rider, sitting at the roadside seemingly most of his bike and all of his kit spread beside him. It turned out to be Gary, a team rider on a jaunt out of Boulder Creek, about 50 km South. His problem was a slash in his sidewall and consequent blowout. It seems a common and simple thing, but sometimes problems can snowball. Gary used up his patches trying to reinforce the sidewall, and his Presta pump O-ring was not sealing. We had patches, but they were on the old side, and we had a number of false starts trying to figure out how our pump converts to handle Presta. Plus our patches were too large for Gary's skinny tubes and at first we could not find our scissors. Between not being sure the pump was working properly and not being sure where the punctures were and whether the patches were secure, the situation called for patience.
Fortunately, there is nothing as persistent as the Grampies, and Gary too had an ample supply of calmness and patience. An hour later, he sped off into the distance on a tire repaired with a piece from a mylar balloon (thanks for the tip, Art Birkmeyer!) and a patch trimmed with Dodie's sewing kit. We watched him go with some satisfaction. Strangely, that was really fun. Gary, we hope you made it home ok!
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