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The last thing I expected this tour to be about was a quest for air conditioning. Weather as hot as I experienced is the exception rather than the rule along the coast. I planned on a fun challenge but the heat turned it into an adventure with all the attendant mental and physical peaks and valleys. Still, I am so happy I did it.

Gear: I took what I had on hand or could borrow. Thanks to brother Patrick, the man who has all things outdoors, for the loan of the tent and sleeping bag. I used canvas saddlebags from Rivendell. If it didn’t fit in there I didn’t need it. My 3.5” sleeping pad was a pound heavier than my 1.5” pad but worth it to me. I didn’t bring any cooking gear because I knew I would be able to pick up food all along the way; that worked out well. The only thing I brought but didn’t use at least once was a silk t-shirt but the weight and space was negligible. I brought a fleece jacket which I wore for a few minutes in Monterey but thereafter used only as my pillow. I wish I’d used it as an insulator for my extra water during the hottest days.

Tan lines: Cyclist tan lines are weird. Bent rider tans are even weirder. For example, since I wore capri pants - or should I say pedal pushers - my legs were tan from just below the knee to the sock line, but only on the front of the leg. This amuses moi.

People: Best part of the trip as always. Thanks to everyone who drove around me or waited patiently for a chance to pass safely. Thanks to the cyclists in cars who let me take the lane on the downhills. Thanks for all the thumbs-up and “you go girl”s yelled out car windows. Thanks to the nutcases in the Big Sur campground who had me laughing so much, especially Tony, Chuck* and Matt. Thanks to my friends and family who sent texts and tweets to keep me going. Thanks to my sister Susan for taking the time to ferry me and Pokey back home. Thanks to Sue Grafton – the 23 letters of her Kinsey Millhone alphabet mystery series (A is for Alibi, e.g.) she’s written so far were whispered into one ear while I trained for this ride. And of course thanks to my wife BJ for everything. 

Pokey: I was really pleased with how well the trike handled the load. I have no idea how heavy it was but it didn’t seem like much. Until I took it off. I also loved how I could lean back and enjoy the view and the ride.

Wildlife: Aside from the raccoons in Kirk Creek campground, I enjoyed many lovely wildlife sightings. To wit: nuthatch on a redwood; whales off Garrapata State Park; numerous large water birds from Monterey to Morro Bay; the monarch butterflies from Monterey to Morro Bay; golden eagles near SLO, kingfishers in Big Sur campground, and more jays and sparrows and songbirds than you can shake a stick at. 

Scents: This was something I hadn’t considered but when you’re going so slowly out in the air you get more. So, a selection: redwoods, wine, sea lions, kelp, grasses, ocean, eucalyptus, apples, strawberries, brussels sprouts, diesel, cooking grease, sunscreen, blackberries, horses, dead thing, mountain creek, portapotties, chlorine, blacktop, pine, cypress. And the smell of the SPF 45 orange-vanilla-aloe lip balm that I bought in the Summit Store will be the scent that takes me back to this ride the quickest.

Riding a trike on shoulderless winding roads: It was a concern but you make up a strategy and adjust as needed. I would usually have at least the left wheel over the fog line unless it was a wide shoulder. That gave drivers a heads-up and it gave me a little room to maneuver, and to even look like I was politely moving over. When there was no shoulder I just plodded along and moved over as soon as I could, or the drivers passed when they felt they could. I wasn’t afraid to take the lane, especially on downhills where I go zoom. Plus, there were always other bicyclists on the road behind me to alert people to the fact that other modes of transpo were about. The locals were pretty savvy about that but the tourists were the ones I worried about. I had no trouble pulling over at every pullout to let traffic past. If a big truck came by I would always pull over; they're good drivers but oncoming traffic not so much.

Phone / Power / Connectivity: I found it hard to be without power a couple of days, mostly because my phone was my camera. I didn’t care too much about being on the interwebz and I knew if I had to I could somehow get in touch with home, but I let trying to find an outlet be a little extra stressor. I would have liked to leave on the camera’s location feature but it was a big power suck. Next time, a power pack or solar charger.

Track My Tour: Map with photos. The locations through Big Sur were approximate. http://trackmytour.com/pF7JS#617362

* Edit 12/22/2014: Heard the sad news that Chuck died last week. From a forum he was a member of: "The story is that Chuck had reached home from his long coast to coast trip. He was returning from the bike shop, on his bike, when he went off the sidewalk and hit a "sinkhole" big enough to catch his front wheel and catapult him over the bars. He landed on his head. This broke several vertebrae in his neck and severely damaged the nerves in his neck. He never regained consciousness and he was taken off life support on the 19th." He had the time of his life riding across the country. He finished his tour in LA a week after I met him. Learn more about him at chattalotchuck.com. So, hug your friends and family and get out there because you just never know ....