October 15, 2023
[Oct 15] Day 4 - Lucia to San Luis Obispo (SLO)
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Woke up at 5 am and rolled out by 5:45 am to account for the Highway 1 road closure. We had been researching and chatting online with cyclists online who had been biking it recently. Seeing the star-filled sky over the ocean was breathtaking.
After Lucia there was virtually no traffic due to the road closure behind us, so we were the only ones at the pristine views of the sunrise over the ocean.
We reached Ragged Point where I got an everything bagel with scrambled eggs and bacon inside. A person with a fully loaded bike arrived as well. He introduced himself as Edgar, a teacher from Mexico and is currently biking from Belize to SF. He started his trip in July so has been biking for ~90 days and is less than a week away from finishing. We traded advice from what we saw and knew from the north and he told us about the south. Edgar also mentioned his biked across the Mexico coast and invited us to do it some time.
It started to warm up but we got to see the famous elephant seals in the water and lying on the beach.
We had lunch in the town of Cambria. I got a tuna avocado sandwich and a smoothie. A cyclist was riding the Pacific Coast from south to north so we traded tips.
Further in Cayucos, the route was blocked off for a big antiques street fair. I would have considered taking a look but I wouldn’t have been able to carry anything anyways.
The route map pointed us onto the Highway 1 onramp, but I’m always hesitant before biking onto a freeway.
A group of cyclists passed and one lady in the group asked if we were looking for the Pacific Coast Route. We said yes and she said to follow her. She explained that the Highway 1 on-ramp was correct, but there is a residential side street that runs parallel to it and is much more pleasant to bike on. She said they were cyclists from the San Fernando Valley and we ended up following them to Morro Bay where they were headed.
At Morro Bay we took a detour to visit the Morro Rock. Loaded bikes are usually a conversation starter so a lady sitting next to us asked where we came from and where we were headed. She had biked some of the islands around Spain years ago.
We initially planned to only ride a short distance today, but it was still early afternoon so we rode to San Luis Obispo (SLO). The wind was blowing southbound in our favor so we were able to maintain 20+ mph.
Since SLO is a big city we stayed at a motel. Nikhil was talking to the person working at the front desk and found that he was originally from the same city in India.
Nikhil and I decided to swap saddles with each other. With both have Brooks B17, but his is firm since it is brand new, while mine is softer since it’s been broken in already.
Nikhil and I biked to dinner on the excellent SLO bike lanes / infrastructure: tri-tip sandwiches at Old SLO BBQ Company and then ice cream at Nite Creamery.
Overall difficulty today: 3/5 (southbound wind in our favor)
Caffeine consumption: 100 mg
Today's ride: 87 miles (140 km)
Total: 286 miles (460 km)
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