3: Big Sur

After Carmel, I went towards Point Lobos and hiked out to see the lobos. I met some cyclists there from New Hampshire who were day-tripping from Pebble Beach. also, I was passed by the first of two tour groups I'd see in Big Sur. For some reason they didn't stop to see the lobos.

Shortly afterward, I met with tailwinds for the first time. You really get the sensation of flying when they're on your side. I got to experience the part of Highway 1 we had to drive last year, including the wonderful "curvy road next 63 miles" sign, as well as see the rest in the different light of afternoon. Rocky Creek, the site of last year's slide, only had a single lane open with traffic light control. This meant car traffic came in bursts, in between which I could actually experience some peace on the road.

Unfortunately the Point Sur lighthouse was not open. I went on to the store at River Inn for a ginger smoothie and information. Finding that Riverside was just up the road, I set off and checked in. It was a mixed camping and cabin site. I was in a cabin room on the bottom of a slope.

While trying to ascertain the source of good music I was hearing, I met there a guy named Tim from SLO, who had put aside his desire to see the Grateful Dead in concert to treat his wife to a nice birthday "glamping" (in her words). On noticing I had come by bike, he offered me beer, water, and anything really, even his second-to-last can of Red Bull. The next day he would even offer me pancakes and breakfast (but I was too polite to take his food).

I walked back to "town" for dinner at the pub. Sitting at the bar, I chatted with a woman from England named Lucy, who was on a tour of her own through California prior to meeting a friend in LA. Naturally she was impressed to find a pub in such a remote place. Though she'd been on some long cycling trips in the UK, she was having enough of a challenge driving on the right side of the road.

A burger with fries was delicious. I returned to go to bed early, since I'd been having some sinusitis all day and I had nothing better to do anyway; there was no cell service, of course, but there was some free wireless that I couldn't reach from inside my cabin.